Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – Abby Henderson helped West High get back on track last week with a four-hit shutout against Waterloo West that snapped a five-game losing streak.

On Tuesday Henderson may have helped the Women of Troy get over the hump.

Henderson tossed a second consecutive four-hitter to lead West High to a 3-1 win over Class 5A eighth-ranked Cedar Rapids Kennedy in the opening game of a Mississippi Valley Conference doubleheader.

“I knew we always had the talent, it was a slow start at the beginning but we are really picking up steam,” Henderson said. “We have confidence in each other as a team and we are coming together. Hopefully this is what puts us over the top.”

Skylar Ryan hit a three-run home run in the first inning and Henderson made the early homer stand up.

Kennedy (16-4, 10-4) won the nightcap 4-3 to salvage the split as West High moved to 5-11 on the season and 4-8 in MVC play with its third win in four games.

“We’ve had a good feeling the past five or six days we feel like we have been really coming together and this was one of those games where we will show up and find out,” West High coach Justin Lutjen said. “That is the West team that I am used to coaching, that’s the effort we are used to getting.”

There was plenty of frustration to go around in the West High dugout during a 3-11 start to the season.

Henderson felt her fair share, winning just one of her first six starts.

“I definitely was frustrated,” Henderson said. “I was more frustrated with my own performance because I felt like I was letting my team down at the beginning of the year.”

Henderson has been one of the biggest reasons West High is trending upward following its early season struggles.

The junior has allowed one unearned run on eight hits over 14 innings while winning each of her last two starts.  

“There is no doubt that I knew she had that type of effort in her,” Lutjen said of Henderson. “It’s just a little bit about getting consistency. That’s where we were lacking but she has put together a couple of good ones back-to-back and that’s what I expect out of her.”

The four-hit shutout against Waterloo West was the best performance of the season for Henderson before Tuesday.

Henderson was 2-5 with a 2.69 ERA before Tuesday but was brilliant against a Kennedy lineup that entered ranked second in 5A with a team batting average of .415.

“They are fantastic batters, I knew that coming in,” Henderson said. “I threw a lot of rise balls this game which I haven’t thrown a lot in the past. I was moving it around as much as possible because they are great batters.”

Henderson allowed just four singles against the potent Cougar lineup, striking out four and walking one.

Kennedy came into the game third in 5A in runs, averaging nine per game but managed a single unearned run off Henderson in the third inning.

“My coach does a really good job of knowing what to call and where to place it,” Henderson said. “I just really got into my rhythm and I was hitting my spots exactly where I wanted to.”

Ryan provided all the offense that West High would need with her fourth homer of the season in the first inning.

“I was just trying to hit a line drive or a hard ground ball,” Ryan said. “I was just trying to hit the ball hard.”

With a pair of runners on Ryan drove a ball straight into the wind that was blowing in from left field.

The ball bounced off the top of the left field fence and over for a three-run home run that gave West High a 3-0 lead it would never give up.

“I hoped it was gone but I kind of saw it fighting the wind a little bit,” Ryan said. “I was just hoping it would carry.”
Kennedy got an unearned run in the third but Henderson settled down after that allowing just two baserunners in the final four innings.

Henderson allowed a two-out single to Sydney Kinney in the fourth but retired the next nine batters she faced before Kai Johnson drew a one-out walk in the seventh.

After an Alyssa Martin sacrifice bunt moved Johnson to second, Henderson got Natalie Blank to ground out to second to end the game.

“Coming in I knew they were going to be a really tough team, I knew that,” Henderson said. “I knew they had great hitters and some great pitchers but I had total confidence in my team.”
Kennedy jumped to a 4-1 lead in game two and held on for a 4-3 win.

Kylie Heisdorffer tossed seven strong innings in game two but it wasn’t enough as Kennedy used a two-run home run from Megan Weber in the third to hold on.

Cynthia Hull homered for West High and Taleah Smith had two hits and scored a run and Brylee Klosterman had two hits and an RBI for West High.

I am feeling really good about where we are at right now,” Lutjen said. “I know the kids are getting locked in now which is good to see.”

Game 1

CR Kennedy 001  000  0  –  1  4  0

West High      300  000  x  –  3  6  1

W – Abby Henderson L – Jenna Schwartzhoff

HR – ICW: Skylar Ryan

Game 2

CR Kennedy 112  000  0  –  4  8  0

West High      012  000  0  –  3  6  1

W – Jayme Scheck      L – Kylie Heisdorffer

2B – ICW: Brylee Klosterman. CRK: Alyssa Martin, Ashley Hamilton, Kaylin Kinney (2).

3B – CRK: Camryn Jeffords

HR – ICW: Cynthia Hull. CRK: Megan Weber