The Iowa Lakes Softball team travelled to Council Bluffs, Iowa to take on Division I Iowa Western Community College in a conference double header. The Lakers finished the regular season going 22-20 in conference.
Game One: ILCC 4, IWCC 2
The Reivers got on the board first, scoring one run in the bottom of the first. They did this with two singles and a hit by pitch.
The score remained 1-0 until the Lakers tied things up in the sixth. With two outs, Lexi Chase walked and then scored from first on a double from Kailey Maksim.
With the game still tied, the Lakers and Reivers went into extra innings to decide the ballgame. Kiley Hill led off the eighth with a walk and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from Amanda Franke. Another Chase walk, a passed ball, and stolen base put runners at second and third with one out. Maksim hit a slow roller to shortstop, that allowed Hill to scamper home and give the Lakers the lead. Iowa Lakes was not done scoring yet though, as Maksim put herself in scoring position with a stolen base. Eliya Johnson scored Chase on a ground out to second and Maksim quickly followed on a passed ball.
With the Lakers now up 4-1, Iowa Western put up a fight in the bottom of the eighth. They got a one out solo homerun that was followed by a double. Chase got the next two Reiver batters to fly out to Maksim to end the game and give the Lakers the 4-2 victory.
Lexi Chase earned the win in the circle. She scattered ten hits in eight innings, allowing two earned runs. Kailey Maksim led the Lakers at the plate, going 2-4 with two runs batted in and one run scored. Kamryn Buntrock was 1-2 with a walk in the game as well.
Game Two: IWCC 9, ILCC 5
The Lakers took a quick 1-0 lead in game two. Lexi Chase led off with a single to center and then advanced to second on a passed ball. Eliya Johnson then blasted a ball off the wall to score Chase and give the Lakers the lead. Iowa Western quickly tied the game back up, scoring one in the bottom half of the inning on two hits.
Iowa Lakes scored another run in the top of the third, when Amanda Franke led off with a single. She then stole second and then scored on a Chase double to right. Unfortunately, three hard hits from the Lakers were snagged by the Reivers to end the inning. Iowa Western took the lead in the bottom of the second and never relinquished it. They scored three runs on three hits and one walk. The Reivers tacked on three more runs in the fourth on four hits.
Allie McCabe started a two-out rally in the sixth with a single. Mackenna Otte followed with a single of her own. Emma Kral then drove a ball to the second basemen that was misplayed to allow McCabe to score. The Reivers put another two runs on the scoreboard in the sixth on a dropped third strike, one hit, and one Laker error.
Iowa Lakes was down six runs to start the seventh and tried to mount a comeback, scoring two runs. Chase led off the inning with a walk and then advanced to second on a Maksim line drive to left. Some crafty baserunning from Chase and a stolen base from Maksim put two runners in scoring position. Kaitlin Roundy took advantage of this, hitting a single to left and scoring Chase. Buntrock followed with a single of her own, scoring Maksim and the final Laker run of the game.
Johnson took the loss for the Lakers, allowing nine runs, six earned, on ten hits. Lexi Chase led the way for the Lakers, going 2-3 with a walk, two runs scored, and one run batted in. Amanda Franke was also 2-3 with two stolen bases.
The Lakers will now enter regional play, traveling to Boone, Iowa on the weekend. They will take on Northeast Community College at 1:00 PM on Saturday to start the tournament.
Photo ID: Photo of Madison Hough running bases attached.
MEDIA: For more information, please contact Head Softball Coach, Katie King at (712) 362-8367 or the Iowa Lakes sports information office at (712) 362-7928.