Pat Harty

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – The fourth-ranked City High softball team wants to be known as a power-hitting team and Thursday’s performance against West High certainly helped that cause.

What started as a much-anticipated doubleheader between crosstown rivals quickly turned into an incredible display of power and depth as the Little Hawks belted four home runs in the first game and six more in the second game while cruising past West High by scores of 12-2 in both games.

The first game was stopped after six innings due to the 10-run mercy rule, while the second game only lasted five innings as City High improved to 6-0 on the young season.

“We spend a lot of time hitting and that’s one of our things as a team we want to be known as a team that hits the ball really hard,” said sophomore Ella Cook, who hit three of City High’s 11 home runs in the doubleheader. “We came out and we proved that today. So that was nice to see.”

West High actually led early in both games, including 2-0 after the first inning of game one.

However, the Little Hawks just needed an inning to get warmed up as they would go on to score at least one run in each of the next five innings, including five runs in the bottom of the fourth.

Sophomore Ayana Lindsey smacked a three-run home in the fourth inning and also went the distance on the mound in the first game while allowing just three hits.

Cook hit one home run in the first game and two in the second, while junior Sydney Fellows hit two home runs in the first game and sophomore Carey Koenig smacked two solo home runs in the second game.

All of City High’s home runs were hit to left field, or to left center, and three of them hit by Cook, Lindsey and Koenig sailed over the scoreboard in left field.

One of Cook’s home runs also bounced off the top of the fence in left center.

“I did not think that one was gone,” Cook said. “I was running and I saw it bounce and I was like, hey whatever works. In the book, it’s a home run.”

The Little Hawks also benefitted from seven West High errors in the first game, which ended on a two-run home run by Fellows in the bottom of the sixth inning.

“You’ve got to give a lot of credit to City High,” said West High coach Barb Lynn. “They’ve got great hitters. They came ready to go. They played really well.

“I would have liked to have seen a little stronger defense out of us tonight, and a little bit more offense. But it’s early in the season, and as long as we keep improving, good things will happen down the road.”

City High coach Jeff Koenig expects good things to happen whenever his team is on offense.

“Tonight, they went ahead of us right away and we didn’t panic and we just said, that’s okay, we’ll find some balls to hit,” Jeff Koenig said. “I mean this team here can do damage. They clearly like to hit.”

Cook, Lindsey and Carey Koenig have been playing softball together since kindergarten and they constantly push each other to get better.

“We just know how each other works,” Cook said. “We just work really well together as a team, and we’re starting to have a lot of success.

“We’re just building in practice and we know what we’re capable of and it just carries over.”

City High has the rare combination of youth and experience, considering that Cook, Lindsey and Carey Koenig all have been playing at the varsity level since eighth grade, but still are just sophomores.

“It’s extremely rare, extremely rare where you can have three of them,” said Jeff Koenig, who is Carey’s father. “A lot of times a team will get one or maybe two.”

Fellows, second baseman Kelli Potter and infielder Brook Bormann also form a strong threesome in the junior class.

“We’ve got three in the sophomore class that can produce every single night,” Jeff Koenig said. “And when one of them doesn’t produce, somebody else just steps up.

“That’s the thing they’re starting to figure out is okay, maybe tonight I’m not on, but my teammates are just on. And then the next night I’ll be on.”

Game 1

West High   200  000  –   2   3  7

City High     012  513  –  12 12 0

Ryleigh Mulcahey and Rylee Goodfellow; Ayana Lindsey and Carey Koenig.

HR – ICH: Sydney Fellows (2) Ella Cook, Ayana Lindsey

Game 2

West High  101  00  –   2   5  2

City High    103  52  –  12 13 2

Eva Burbidge, Ella Nelson (5) and Goodfellow; Ella Cook and Jayden Young

HR – ICH: Cook (2) Carey Koenig (2), Ayana Lindsey, Kelli Potter