Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports 

SOLON – After dropping a doubleheader to postseason opening-round opponent West Delaware on Monday Solon was in search of a late-season spark.

The Spartans got exactly what it needed on Wednesday in the form of doubleheader sweep of rival Clear Creek Amana in a WAMAC cross-divisional showdown in Solon.

Class 3A ninth-ranked Solon earned a walk-off 12-11 win in the opener and rallied from an early two-run deficit for a 6-4 win in the nightcap to secure its first sweep of the Clippers since 2019.

“We definitely needed it, we needed something to get us going into the postseason,” Solon junior Mia Stahle said. “They are a very good team, they are very solid, they have good hitters, good players and to get those wins was great and hopefully will carry on into this weekend and the postseason next week.”

Solon was swept by West Delaware on Monday and closes the regular season with three games against ranked opponents at the Ottumwa tournament before hosting the Hawks in a regional quarterfinal on July 6.

Before that 3A, Region 7 rematch with West Delaware the Spartans needed to gain some momentum.

They did that on Wednesday.

Stahle scored the game-winning run in the opener after leading off the seventh inning with a double and eighth-grader Maddyn Gates tossed a three-hit complete game in the nightcap as Solon improved to 22-13.

“Our defense wasn’t perfect tonight but we made a lot of plays and got really good pitching from Maddyn in the second game,” Solon coach Brad Holub said. “I preach to the girls all the time, good defense, good pitching and good hitting. If you get two out of three you are going to be a real good team and if you get three out of three you are almost unstoppable and hopefully we are starting to peak at the right time.”

Solon used a late run to win a wild opener.

The Spartans scored six runs in the first inning and led 11-2 after adding five runs in the fourth.

Clear Creek Amana (17-15) responded.

Avery Allan had an RBI double in a four-run fifth for the Clippers and Clear Creek Amana pulled even with five more runs in the sixth.

Kyla Schulte and Aeslyn Massey each homered in the five-run Clipper sixth that was capped by an RBI single by Schulte.

“We talked about lets get back in this thing a couple of runs at a time and lets keep fighting away at it,” Clear Creek Amana coach Jodi Scheetz said. “That’s what we did.”

Suddenly in a tie game Solon didn’t panic.

Stahle led off the seventh with a double and scored on an Izzy Frees bunt.

“I just knew I needed to be calm and when my pitch comes to hit it,” Stahle said. “We just needed to do our thing and we did it.”

Clear Creek Amana scored runs in each of the first two innings of the nightcap on an RBI single by Reese Stockman in the first and an RBI groundout by Stockman in the second.

Solon again answered taking its first lead with two runs in the fourth on an RBI double by Kassidy Lietz and a two-out RBI single by Stahle.

Gates was strong in the nightcap allowing four runs, one earned, on three hits while striking out seven and walking three.

Gates also doubled twice, joining Lietz and Stahle with two hits in game two.

“There is something about them that whenever we play them we hit a different gear,” Stahle said of Clear Creek Amana. “It’s a rivalry we want to beat them so bad and I think we definitely hit a different gear tonight because we all really wanted it.”

Game 1

Clear Creek Amana              000  245  0  –  11  11  5

Solon                                      600  500  1  –  12  10  7

W – Kendall Jensen                            L – Adalynn McElvain

2B – CCA: Reese Stockman, Avery Allan

HR – CCA: Kyla Schulte, Aeslyn Massey

Game 2

Clear Creek Amana              110  001  1  –  4  3  3

Solon                                      010  212  x  –  6  8  6

W – Maddyn Gates                             L – Kyla Schulte

2B – SOL: Maddyn Gates (2), Kassidy Lietz, Addie Miller

HR – CCA: Addie Campbell

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