City High Bounces Back From Tough Weekend With Sweep of Liberty High
Pat Harty
Your Prep Sports
CEDAR RAPIDS – One mark of a good team is the ability to bounce back from disappointment and adversity.
The City High softball team showed that ability on Tuesday by sweeping Liberty High in a doubleheader by scores of 12-3 and 6-1 at the Mount Mercy Softball Complex.
Tuesday’s sweep came just three days after the Little Hawks lost two of three games at the Muscatine Tournament this past Saturday.
“We just have to keep our heads up and move on to the next play,” City High sophomore Ayana Lindsey said when asked what she learned from this past weekend’s disappointment. “You can’t get down about one thing, one error. You just have to move on keep working hard.”
Lindsey scattered eight hits while going the distance on the mound in the first game.
The Little Hawks scored five runs in the first inning and five more in the third, and they had a chance to end the game on the 10-run mercy rule until Liberty High scored all three of its of runs in the bottom of the fifth.
Sophomore Ella Cook then pitched a 3-hitter in the second game while also going the distance on the mound.
City High coach Jeff Koenig knows that he is extremely fortunate to have two reliable starting pitchers who routinely go the distance.
““It makes my job easy,” Koenig said. “I constantly think in the back of my mind; what would I do if I had to, but I never really get any farther than just thinking about what I’d do because my pitchers are doing a great job this year.
“They’re moving the ball around and they’re two different pitchers. You don’t see the same style pitcher. Ayana throws one way and then Ella comes in and does something completely different.”
Class 5A fifth-ranked City High improved to 23-6 overall with the sweep, while Liberty High fell to 11-15.
The Lightning struggled on defense throughout the doubleheader, combining for 12 errors, including seven in the second game.
Liberty High committed three errors in both the second and third innings of game two and quickly fell behind 3-0.
Liberty High sophomore shortstop Raquel Trolliet then belted a run-scoring double that trimmed the deficit to 3-1 in the bottom of the fourth.
However, that was the closest Liberty High would get as Cook allowed no more runs.
The sixth inning ended when a hard line drive bounced off Cook’s glove near the pitcher’s mound and was caught by Lindsey, who played shortstop in the second game.
“I know if a ball gets passed her I’m right there behind her anytime anywhere,” Lindsey said.
Junior Sydney Fellows had three hits for City High in the first game, including a two-run double that made the score 9-0 in the third inning.
“We all worked together and strung hits together and played good defense and pitched really well,” Lindsey said.
Koenig was pleased with how his team bounced back after some shaky moments on defense over the weekend.
“Tonight, I thought we played a lot cleaner,” Koenig said. “I thought we had some timely hits. I thought we took some extra bases. And I thought we pitched well tonight. I thought we really pitched well.”
Koenig thinks the adversity from this past Saturday could be beneficial down the stretch.
“I think all of those little things are going to add up by the end of the season and give us a good run and see what we can do,” Koenig said.
Liberty High junior Brylee Klosterman combined for four hits in the doubleheader, including a triple and two singles in the first game.
The University of Iowa softball commit entered Tuesday’s doubleheader with a .517 batting average.
Game 1
City High 505 000 2 – 12 10 0
Liberty High 000 030 0 – 3 8 5
W – Ayana Lindsey L – Kara Maiers
2B – ICH: Sydney Fellows
3B – ICL: Brylee Klosterman
Game 2
City High 012 003 0 – 6 8 1
Liberty High 000 100 0 – 1 3 7
W – Ella Cook L – Kinsley Robertson
2B – ICL: Raquel Trolliet
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