The Iowa Lakes softball team opened up Friday with two wins against Southeast Community College in Beatrice, Nebraska. The Lakers took game one 6-5 behind the arm of freshman Bibiana Rosales. Freshman, Laurie Custard stepped up huge driving in five of the six runs for the Lakers. Naomi Tolmachoff, freshman, got the 11-5 win in game two.

Game 1- ILCC 6, SCC 5

In her first ever appearance for the Lakers, Rosales threw a gem. She pitched all seven innings, allowing just two earned runs. She kept the batters off balance all night, giving up just five hits.

The Lakers came out on the attack mode, with a leadoff walk by sophomore, Julia Sullwold. Sullwold proceeded to run on the Storm, stealing both second and third base. Sullwold then slide into home safely on a ball off the bat of freshman, Emily Owen.

Southeast was quick to answer scoring two runs in the bottom of the inning. They led off with two bloop hits and advanced on a past ball. The first run scored on a perfectly executed squeeze by the storm. The second run crossed the plate on the next ball, which was a sacrifice fly to right field. Rosales got the final batter to ground out to second baseman, Lexi Pallisco.

Both teams were held scoreless in the second inning, before Southeast got two runs in the bottom of the third. With two outs and two runners on, the Storm hit a hard ground ball that resulted in an error and two runners scoring. The final out of the inning came off a fly ball that was caught by Sullwold.

The Lakers chipped away at the lead, with a one out single by Owen. Owen then stole second before sophomore, Kenlee Frank, drew a walk. Owen was then forced out at third by a ground ball to the shortstop. Custard then drove in her first two runs of the game with a double to right field, scoring both Frank and Montanna Popp.

Southeast Community College again answered in the bottom half of the inning with one run off of a two out double and two passed balls.

The score remained 5-3 until the top of the sixth inning. Frank started the rally with a one out single to center, before advancing to third on two passed balls. Popp then walked and stole second base. This brought up Custard in another big situation. With a 2-0 count, Custard blasted the ball over the left field fence, giving the Lakers a 6-5 lead and eventual win.

Custard led the Lakers at the plate, going 2-3 with a double, homerun, and five runs batted in. Sullwold, Owen, and Frank each had a hit. Sullwold also had two stolen bases, while Owen and Popp each had one.

Game Two- ILCC 11, SCC 5

The second game saw the Lakers win as a team. They had seven girls with multiple hit games and both Tolmachoff and Rosales pitched in the circle.

The Storm came out firing in the first inning, scoring two runs on three hits and one Laker error.

The bats for the Lakers remained quiet until the top of the third when sophomore, Kaitlin Walsh, hit a leadoff homerun over the centerfield fence. Owen followed with a single to second base, before advancing on a Storm error off the hit of Sulllwold. Lopez singled to centerfield, scoring Owen. Both Sullwold and Lopez advanced on the play before crossing the plate on a two out double off the right field fence from freshman, Kacie Salazar. This made the score 4-2 in favor of the Lakers.

Southeast Community College got two runs back in the bottom half of the inning. They drew a one out walk, before hitting a homerun over the centerfield fence to tie the game at four a piece.

The game remained tied until the top of the sixth when the Lakers scratched across one run. Leilani San Pedro singled to right field, stole second, and then advanced on a Custard to left field. Frank then doubled to right to score the go ahead run.

The Storm always seemed to have an answer for the Lakers. In the bottom of the sixth, they led off with a single before sacrificing the runner over to second base. With two outs, they drove the ball off the right field fence scoring one run and tying the score back up.

Iowa Lakes countered with a six run seventh inning. Sullwold singled to center, advanced to second on a Lopez single, and to third on a San Pedro single. Kacie Salazar then doubled down the left field line, scoring both Sullwold and Lopez. Custard got her fourth hit and sixth RBI of the day on a single up the middle to score San Pedro. Frank followed with a double to score Salazar before both Custard and Frank scored on a Walsh single.

The Storm went into the bottom of the seventh needing six runs to keep the game going. Rosales allowed a leadoff walk, followed by a single. The next batter grounded to Salazar at third. She stepped on the base and threw across the diamond to complete the double play. Rosales got the final batter of the game to line out to San Pedro at short.

Naomi Tolmachoff got the win for the Lakers, pitching six innings. She allowed just three runs, two earned, on three hits, three strikeouts, and two walks. Rosales pitched the final inning for the Lakers, allowing one hit and walking one. Salazar led the Lakers at the plate, going 2-4 with two doubles and four runs batted in. Walsh was also 2-4 with three runs batted in and Frank was 2-4 with two runs batted in.

The Lakers will continue this weekend with three games Saturday at the Cloud County Community College Spring Tournament. They will take on Central Community College- Columbus at 10:00 AM.

Photograph by Cecil Ramsey