Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

SOLON – First Solon had to wait out the weather on Friday night.

Once the Spartans got on the field they made quick work of West Marshall.

Class 3A No. 11 Solon hammered 12 hits in a 10-0 five-inning win over West Marshall (7-20) in a Class 3A, Region 7 semifinal delayed more than two and a half hours by rain.

“That is always a concern when you have a long weather delay like that, that is when upsets happen,” Solon coach Dave Johnson said. “I reminded the players of that prior to the start of the game and I thought they handled it really, really well because it was a long delay.”

Freshman Kendall Jensen struck out eight in a two-hit shutout and every player in the Solon lineup had a hit as the Spartans posted their second consecutive postseason win that ended by rune rule.

The win sends Solon (26-12) to the Region 7 title game on Monday at 7 p.m. against top-ranked Davenport Assumption (36-3) which advanced with a 11-1 win over Maquoketa in the other semifinal.

“The energy was up even after the long break we had energy going into this game,” Jensen said. “We bonded as team, we watched some TV and ate a lot of food but when we came back down we were all focused.”

The game scheduled to start at 7 p.m. was delayed for two hours and 33 minutes by thunderstorms that passed through the area.

Solon didn’t need long to get rolling after the delay.

After a scoreless first Solon used three doubles to score a pair of runs in the second.

Sarah Heick led off the inning with a double and Carly Ellison and Addie Miller each had RBI doubles in the inning.

“We were trying to refocus and we were all very energetic,” Heick said. “We came out and got ready and got our bats going.”

Solon tacked on two more runs in the third.

Monet Barnhouse started the rally with an infield single, stole second and later scored on a wild pitch.

Heick walked and scored after consecutive singles by Jensen and Ellison.

“I was just trying to stay focused on my at bats,” Heick said. “I wanted to make sure I having good energy and staying positive.”

Solon broke the game wide open in the fourth.

The Spartans sent 11 batters to the plate and scored four runs in the inning getting RBI singles from Tiffany Primmer, Ava Stebral and Hilary Wilson.

Six different Spartans scored a run on Friday and six different Spartans drove in runs.

“It seems like every time through the lineup someone different is getting a hit,” Heick said. “If 1-2-3 aren’t getting on someone else is picking it up and we have scored a lot of runs with two outs which I think is impressive.”

That was more than enough for Jensen who allowed just two baserunners on two-out singles in the third and fourth innings.

“My riseball and curveball were working really good,” Jensen said. “My changeup was working too.”

Jensen retired the first eight batters she faded and didn’t issue a walk on Friday throwing just 49 pitches in the five-inning complete game.

“I thought that’s probably one of the best game that Kendall has thrown all season and maybe all of her high school career so far,” Johnson said. “I thought she took it up a notch or two tonight and throughout the game I thought if we can get a similar performance out of her on Monday we will have a chance and that’s all we can ask against number one.”

West Marshall                       000  00  –   0     2    3

Solon                                      022  6x  –  10   12   0

W – Kendall Jensen                                        L – Bella Borgos

2B – SOL: Sarah Heick, Addie Miller, Carly Ellison

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