The #17 ranked Iowa Lakes Community College Softball team finished out the regular season with two wins over North Iowa Area Community College. The Lakers won game one 14-2 in five innings and game two 24-2 in five innings. Iowa Lakes has completes conference play with a 17-7 record and a 36-10-1 overall record.
GAME 1: 14 (ILCC), 2 (NIACC) 5 innings
The Lakers quickly loaded up the bases with back to back singles by Lexi Chase and Bryn Bohmann, followed by an Eliya Johnson hit by pitch. MacKenna Jones then hit a deep fly ball to score the tagging Chase. Kaitlin Roundy put the Lakers up 4-0 with a three run homerun. Chase quickly shut down the Trojans in the bottom of the inning with two strikeouts and a fly out to Alyssa Thorson.
Amanda Franke reached first base to start the second inning when she was hit by a pitch. Franke then stole second and scored on a Chase single. Bohmann followed with a line drive down the left field line to score Chase from first. Paige Grafton entered the game at second and advanced to third on a passed ball. Johnson then hit a sacrifice fly to center scoring Grafton and putting the Lakers up 7-0. Chase again shut down NIACC in their half of the inning, striking out the side.
The third inning opened up with walks to Roundy and Allie McCabe. Both runners advanced on a passed ball and Roundy quickly scored on a Karisa Hernandez sacrifice fly. Franke followed with a one out double to score McCabe to give the Lakers a nine run lead. The Trojans went down 1, 2, 3, in the third on two fly outs and a strikeout.
Grafton led off the fourth with a double before Johnson found herself on first with a walk. Mackenna Otte hit a sacrifice fly to advance both runners. On the throw to get Grafton at third, there was a Trojan error allowing her to score. Roundy was hit by a pitch to again put runners at first and second. The second Trojan error of the inning allowed Johnson to score on a dropped pop fly. With the Lakers now up 11-0, NIACC showed some offensive life in the bottom half of the inning. With Jones now in to pitch, she allowed the first batter of the inning to reach on a single. A fielder's choice to Jones retired the first out of the inning, but back to back singles loaded the bases. Jones got the second out of the inning on a strikeout but surrendered a double to allow two Trojan runners to score.
The Lakers put three more runs up in the fifth when Thorson was hit by a pitch. Thorson reached on a fielder's choice and Johnson homered to complete the 14-2 win.
Lexi Chase earned her sixteenth win of the season when she shut down nine of the nine batters she faced. She did not give up a run or hit in the game, but she did strikeout six batters. MacKenna Jones allowed two earned runs on six hits, two walks, and three strikeouts. Lexi Chase and Bryn Bohmann each had two hits in the game. Eliya Johnson was 1-1 with four runs batted in and three runs scored.
GAME 2: 24 (ILCC), 2 (NIACC) 5 innings
Iowa Lakes took an early 9-0 lead in the first inning of game two and never looked back. Chase led off the game with a single and advanced to third on Bohmann's double to left. Chase then scored on a NIACC error on a groundball off the bat of Johnson. Jones followed with a groundout to score Bohmann and put the Lakers up 2-0. With Johnson at second, Roundy hit a double to score her and then she advanced to third on a Grafton single. McCabe walked to load up the bases, before Franke was hit by a pitch to score Roundy. Four straight singles from Thorson, Chase, Bohmann, and Johnson made the score 9-0. Johnson allowed one runner to reach in the bottom of the inning on a walk, but then made quick work getting a groundout and back to back strikeouts to end the inning.
Singles by McCabe, Franke, Thorson, and Chase gave the Lakers an 11-0 lead. With Thorson and Chase on base, Bohmann sent a ball over the scoreboard to make the score 14-0. Johnson followed with a line drive double, before advancing on a NIACC error on a groundball from Otte. Brielle Hogan came up the plate and delivered a single to center to score Johnson. Grafton followed with a single of her own to load up the bases for McCabe. She continued her hot hitting with a double off the fence to score two runs and give the Lakers a 17-0 lead. The final two runs of the inning came off groundballs by Brielle Bartelt and Kiley Hill. The Trojans got one run back with a solo homerun.
With two quick outs in the top half of the third, back to back homeruns from Grafton and McCabe put the Lakers up 21-1. Bartelt then drew a four pitch walk to get herself to first base. Singles from Hill and Kaitlyn Halsbnd scored Bartelt which was the final run of the inning. Jayda Staige entered the game to pitch for the Lakers. She quickly retired two batters on a line out and groundout, but then gave up a homerun to allow the Trojans to score. She recorded the final out herself with a strikeout.
Olivia Funk stepped up in the fifth inning and drove the first ball she saw over the centerfield fence to give the Lakers their first run of the fifth inning. Bartelt singled and Hill reached on a Trojan error to bring up Halsband. She delivered her third hit of the game with a double to score Bartelt. Baylee O'Donnell threw the last inning for the Lakers. She recorded the first out of the inning on a strikeout. That was followed by a walk, fly out, walk, and Laker error to load the bases with two outs. O'Donnell then struck out the final batter of the game to complete the 24-2 victory.
Iowa Lakes saw thirteen different people record a hit in the game. Bryn Bohmann was 3-3 with four runs batted in and two runs scored. Kaitlyn Halsband, Lexi Chase, and Allie McCabe were all 3-3 at the plate as well. Eliya Johnson earned her fourteenth win of the season, allowing one earned run on one hit, one walk, and four strikeouts. Jayda Staige allowed one earned run on two hits and two strikeouts in her two innings of work, while Baylee O'Donnell allowed zero hits, two walks, and two strikeouts.
The Lakers will head into conference tournament play as the three seed. They will be in bracket play with #2 Kirkwood Community College, #5 Northeast Community College, and #6 Ellsworth Community College. The four team tournament will take place at Kirkwood Community College starting on Friday, May 6th. The Lakers will start the tournament taking on Northeast Community College at 4:00 PM.
Photo ID: Picture of Lakers celebrating after a Bryn Bohmann homerun.
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.
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDIT: Cecil Ramsey Photography