Rams softball team settles for second place in conference

By SUE RIEDER
sports@beeherald.com

Greene County’s softball team finished their conference games with a 15-3 record. This is better than their 13-5 record a year ago when they tied with PCM and North Polk for the league title, but this year PCM topped the league with 16 wins and two losses, and the Rams had to settle for second place. Two of their losses were to teams who finished the season with losing records.  

The Rams softball team had a setback on July 2, when they lost a 10-8 decision at North Polk. The scored was tied 1-1 at the end of the first inning, but the Comets scored another run in the bottom of the second inning to up the lead to 2-1. The two teams were knotted 3-3 at the end of the fourth, but North Polk put up three runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 6-3 advantage. Greene County answered with two runs in the top of the sixth, and then followed that with three more in the top of the seventh. Unfortunately, the Comets scored four in the seventh, and North Polk won the game when Comet freshman Cali Capaldo belted a walk off 2-run home run. Marissa Promes was the losing pitcher and gave up a season high 12 hits and nine earned runs, while walking three batters and striking out five.

Emily Christensen connected for three of Greene County’s 10 hits with two singles and a double. Marissa Promes and Sydney Koch both had two hits, and Kayla Mobley, Hannah Onken, and Bailey Godwin each had one hit. Godwin led the team with two RBIs. The loss knocked the Rams out of first place in the conference race. The squad had been tied with  PCM for the top spot.

Less than 24 hours later, the Rams put the loss behind them and got a convincing 7-0 victory over Gilbert. The team  improved their overall record to 23-7 for the season. Junior Marissa Promes pitched a dandy on her eighteenth birthday, giving up only one hit, striking out seven, and walking no one. Since the Gilbert player who got the lone hit was thrown out in a double play a few minutes later, Promes faced the minimum 21 batters in the seven inning game. The squad frustated the Tigers with 13 hits by eight different batters. Lead off batter Emma Saddoris walloped her second home run of the season in the first inning and also hit a double. Promes ripped three singles, Carleigh Paup pounded a triple and a double, Christensen smashed a double and a single, and Mobley, Tressa Rasmussen, Godwin, and Onken all got one single apiece. Onken led the team with three RBIs, and Paup and Saddoris each drove in two runs. “This was a nice win for us,” said coach Tom Kennedy. “It was good to see the girls come back strong after last night’s loss. We were more patient at the plate, and waited for good pitches to hit.”

Nevada proved to be quite a challenge for Greene County in their last conference game of the season. The Cubs entered the game with a 5-17 overall record, and four wins in the Heart of Iowa Conference. The two teams were tied 3-3 at the end of seven innings. The Cubs went ahead 4-3 in the top of the eighth, but in the bottom of the eighth, the Rams scored two runs on a Nevada error and won 5-4. Marissa Promes improved her pitching record to 20-4, giving up seven hits and four runs, while striking out eight and walking one batter.

Although the Rams got 11 hits off of Nevada pitcher Alex Van Dam, the Cubs retired 16 of the Rams by catching the fly balls that they hit. Saddoris got two hits including a lead off solo home run in the first inning. Other Rams with multiple hits were Promes, who belted a double and a single and Carleigh Paup, who had two singles. Rasmussen whacked a double,and Mobley, Koch, Godwin, and Onken all hit one single each. “We just didn’t seem ready when we started the game,” said coach Tom Kennedy. “I think I had Marissa warm up too soon, and as a team, we just didn’t seem sharp.”

             1    2    3    4    5    6    7    R    H    E
Rams    1    0    0    2    0    2    3    8    10    3
NP        1    1    0    1    3    0    4    10  12    5

             1    2    3    4    5    6    7    R    H    E
GHS      0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    1    0
Rams    5    1    1    0    0    0    0    7    13  0

            1    2    3    4    5    6    7  8    R    H    E
Nev     3    0    0    0    0    0    0    1    4    7    2
Rams  1    0    1    1    0    0    0    2    5    11  1