Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

NORTH LIBERTY – City High and Liberty High each have the type of teams poised to play high-stakes softball in late July.

The two cross-town rivals are good enough they could see each other in one of those win or go home games later this summer possibly in Fort Dodge.

For now the two settled for a top-10 season-opening showdown in North Liberty.

The two overwhelming favorites in the Mississippi Valley Conference Mississippi Division split a conference doubleheader Tuesday with Class 5A eighth-ranked Liberty High winning the opener 2-1 and fifth-ranked City High taking the nightcap 15-4 in six innings.

“When I saw the schedule I thought ‘o.k.’ and then when I looked at the division I thought it’s probably between us in our division and we play right out of the chute,” Liberty High coach Jeff Kelley said. “It is what it is in terms of the schedule but I think we are two of the better teams in our division for sure.”

Kara Maiers struck out 11 in a five-hitter to propel Liberty High in the opener and City High slugged out 13 hits while salvaging the split in the nightcap.

Each coach agreed it was a lot of what was expected from an early season matchup between two teams that believe they can play with the best in the state.

“I liked what I saw tonight,” City High coach Jeff Koenig said. “Overall, I was happy with our two pitchers, I was happy with our hitters and I thought our defense overall was pretty good and the second game we got some timely hitting.”

Maiers outdueled City High senior Ayana Lindsey in the opener holding the Little Hawks to just five hits and one run while striking out 11.

Liberty High scored a pair of second-inning runs on a leadoff double by Kennedy Daugherty, a single by Olivia Davenport, an RBI single by Ashlyn Geasland and a sacrifice fly from Kylie Hamers.

Maiers made the early lead standup escaping jams in the fourth and fifth innings.

“I think Jeff (Koenig) would agree we have two of the top pitches in Eastern Iowa in that first game,” Kelley said. “That’s what you would expect in the first game it was a pitchers’ duel.”

Maiers stranded two runners on in the fourth and escaped an even bigger jam in the fifth striking out Carey Koenig and getting Ella Cook to pop out to third to wiggle out of a bases loaded, one-out mess.

“I think she would probably agree tonight that she wasn’t as sharp as she’d like to be but again it’s the first night out,” Kelley said. “There were a couple of situations where they had runners on and she made a couple of really good pitchers when she had to.”

Maiers walked three, including one to Cynthia Hull with the bases loaded in the fifth, in her first outing of the season.

“My rise ball and changeup worked really well tonight, I always think I could be better,” Maiers said. “It would have been nice to be sharper but it did the job.”

Eight different City High players had hits in the nightcap as City High hammered out 13 hits in the 15-4 win.

City High scored three runs in the first inning as Lindsey led off with a triple and scored on a Hull single.

“We’ve been struggling to hit a little bit and hitting is always behind and when you see a good pitcher like that right out of the gate you are going to try to battle through the night,” Koenig said. “I thought that was two good pitchers that went at it in that first game but we were better in the second game and got some timely hits.”

City High broke the game open with five runs in the third and added seven more in the sixth.

Ayana Lindsey, Makayla Ribble, Hull, Cook and Avy Lindsey all had two hits for the Little Hawks in game two.

“We couldn’t find the strike zone in the second game and when you have a good hitting team like they’ve got and you make a few mistakes and put too many people on that’s what can happen,” Kelley said. “I told our girls, it’s the first night. If this were the third or fourth week of the season then I’d be really concerned but it’s the first night.”

Game 1

City High         000  010  0  –  1  5  0

Liberty High   020  000  x  –  2  7  0

W – Kara Maiers        L – Ayana Lindsey

2B – ICL: Kennedy Daugherty

Game 2

City High          305  007  –  15  13  3

Liberty High    200  200  –   4    7   0

W – Ella Cook            L – Kinsley Robertson

2B – ICL: Ava Fort. ICH – Makayla Ribble, Carey Koenig, Ella Cook

3B – ICL: Brynlee Slockett. ICH – Ayana Lindsey

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