EAGLE GROVE - Kaitlyn Biere earned herself a good night's rest on Friday.
But not before she visited the medicine cabinet for a few Band-Aids.
The Webster City junior right-handed pitcher, already a three-time first-team all-North Central Conference selection, gave 16 innings of service in the circle to lead the Lynx to a pair of fingernail-biting one-run wins over Eagle Grove, 2-1 and 8-7 in 9 innings, in a league doubleheader.
Article Photos
DFJ photo by Troy Banning
WCHS junior Tiffany Constable slides into third base with a stolen base before Eagle Grove’s Rachel Meyer can apply the tag during Game 1 of a North Central Conference doubleheader in Eagle Grove on Friday. The Lynx took both ends of the twinbill, 2-1 and 8-7 in 9 innings.
"Anytime you can come out on top, whether it's one
run or 10 runs, it's a win," WCHS head coach Jess Howard said. "That's always going to help the girls' confidence and that's what we need right now."
Biere withstood two hard collisions running the bases in the opening inning of Game 1, the second of which opened up a cut on her knee when she slid into the shin guard of Eagles' catcher Sam Kruckenberg, but a little pain didn't stop her from doing what she does best in the field.
Fact Box
| FRIDAY | |
| Game 1 | |
| Eagle Grove | 100 000 0—1 5 2 |
| Webster City | 011 000 x—2 5 1 |
| Shelby Carlson and Sam Kruckenberg. Kaitlyn Biere and Kaylee Schnathorst. W—Biere. L—Carlson. 2B—EG: Megan Crail. RBI—EG: Carlson; WC: Abbey Fuhs. | |
| Game 2 | |
| Webster City | 410 100 002—8 8 2 |
| Eagle Grove | 401 000 101—7 12 4 |
| Mikaleh McCoy, Kaitlyn Biere (1) and Kaylee Schnathorst. Shelby Carlson and Sam Kruckenberg. W—Biere. L—Carlson. 2B—WC: Allie Flaws. RBI—WC: Flaws, Schnathorst, Biere, McCoy, Tiffany Constable, Erin Anderson, Hannah Myers. | |
| SATURDAY | |
| Webster City | 000 000 0—0 8 2 |
| PCM | 021 002 x—5 8 0 |
| Kaitlyn Biere and Kaylee Schnathorst, Erin Anderson (3). Sierra Scaranati and Abigail Gilson. W—Scaranati. L—Biere. 2B—WC: Schnathorst, Mikaleh McCoy, Hannah Myers. | |
| Southeast Warren | 821 01—12 9 3 |
| Webster City | 016 00— 7 7 4 |
| Brandi Putz, Delaney May (3), Serria Dorsey (4) and Haley Seuferer. Mikaleh McCoy and Erin Anderson. W—Putz. L—McCoy. 2B—WC: Kaitlyn Biere. 3B—WC: Kaylee Schnathorst. RBI—WC: McCoy, Allie Flaws (2), Abbey Fuhs (2). | |
| Williamsburg | 773—17 14 1 |
| Webster City | 010— 1 2 4 |
| Lindsay Schlabaugh and Lindsey Spratt. Mikaleh McCoy and Erin Anderson. W—Schlabaugh. L—McCoy. |
"Yeah, I have a nice gash on my knee, but I like running the bases," Biere said after the double-dip sweep. "I want to be out there on the bases."
She allowed just five hits and fanned six in the opener. She started the nightcap at third base, but was quickly called back to duty when starter Mikaleh McCoy got into trouble in the first inning. Biere recorded all 27 outs and whiffed eight more batters, but Eagle Grove found a modicum of success the second time around, touching her for nine hits and three earned runs.
"I should have worked the zone more (in Game 2), I'm not real happy with that," Biere said. "They'd seen me a lot."
WCHS (3-3, 3-2 NCC) notched single runs in the second and third innings to take control of Game 1, and the Lynx finished with five hits - all singles. Kaylee Schnathorst had two base knocks, while Biere, Hannah Myers and Abbey Fuhs all had one.
Fuhs tied the game at 1 in the second inning with an infield single to the left side of the diamond that brought Hannah Myers - aboard with a line-drive hit - sprinting to the dish. An inning later Schnathorst reached on a bunt single and eventually scored on Myers' fielder's choice grounder.
Eagle Grove's lone run came amidst controversy in the first frame. Megan Crail hit a two-out blooper to left field that Lynx freshman Molly Gilbert dove for and bobbled, but appeared to catch. The entire WCHS team trotted off the field and left the ball in the circle, but the home plate umpire signaled no catch and Crail raced to second while the Lynx scrambled back onto the field.
Two batters later Shelby Carlson lofted an RBI single into right field.
Biere controlled most of the game though. She sat down 10 consecutive batters during one stretch, five on strikes, and ended the game with four straight outs.
"(Biere) was solid all the way through," Howard said. "She was moving it enough so that they were hitting just blooper-type hits that we were getting. She did a great job and kept us in the games."
Carlson pitched both games for Eagle Grove (2-7, 1-4 NCC), and the repetition of both pitchers translated into a combined 20 hits in Game 2.
"Whether it's a fast pitcher or a slow pitcher, if you see them eight times you're going to start hitting the ball," Howard said.
Eighth-grader Allie Flaws went 3 for 4 with a double, RBI and run scored in the nightcap. She also made a highlight-reel diving catch near the pitcher's mound for the third out in the fifth inning when the Eagles had the bases loaded and WCHS was holding onto a 6-5 lead.
"You can see the confidence in these younger girls," Howard said. "They're actually smiling when they're playing instead of fearing for their lives, and they're going to have to mature real fast for us. Right now they're progressing at the right pace."
Schnathorst and Kenady Highland both laced two hits and Tiffany Constable added an RBI single. Schnathorst, Biere, McCoy, Myers and Erin Anderson also plated runs.
Eagle Grove forced extra innings with a run in the last-half of the seventh, and it remained knotted at 6 until the ninth when WCHS plated two runs to move ahead 8-6. Constable hit a grounder that scored Highland and two batters later Biere drew a bases-loaded walk to plate Fuhs.
The Eagles got one back in the bottom of the ninth, but had no one on base when Biere ended it with a fly-out to center.
Up next for WCHS is a home date with 12th-ranked (Class 3A) Humboldt tonight at 7:30 p.m.
Lynx softball loses 3 at B-F tourney
BONDURANT - The Webster City softball team dropped three games and finished at the back of the eight-team Bondurant-Farrar Tournament on Saturday.
The Lynx (3-6) fell to Prairie City-Monroe, 5-0, in the opening round, and then lost to Southeast Warren, 12-7, and Williamsburg, 17-1, in the consolation bracket.
"It was a good experience for (the players) to get up against some pitchers that threw a little bit harder than we're used to seeing," WCHS head coach Jess Howard said.
Kaylee Schnathorst, Mikaleh McCoy and Hannah Myers all laced doubles in the loss to PCM. Tiffany Constable, Kaitlyn Biere, Abbey Fuhs and Allie Flaws all singled.
Biere took the loss in the circle. She allowed eight hits.
McCoy pitched the second and third games.
Schnathorst ripped a triple, and Biere had a double against Southeast Warren. Flaws slapped three singles and drove in two runs; Fuhs plated two runs as well, and McCoy added a RBI single.
Williamsburg scored seven runs in its first two at bats. McCoy and Erin Anderson accounted for the Lynx only two hits in the loss.