Lakers Earn Split with Iowa Central

Iowa Lakes Community College softball team traveled to Fort Dodge to take on Iowa Central on Wednesday, April 11th. They took game one 15-5 in five innings and lost the second 9-1 in six innings. The Lakers are now 12-18 overall and 3-7 in conference.

Game One: ILCC 15, ICCC 5 (5 innings)

Yasmine Nix pitched game one for the Lakers. She allowed five runs, three earned, on five hits and two strike outs. Desiree Lopez was 3-4 with three runs scored, one run batted in, and two stolen bases. Julia Sullwold was 2-4 with two runs scored and one run batted in, while Kaitiln Walsh was 2-3.

The Lakers struck first in the third inning when Sullwold hit a one out single and advanced to second on a Triton error. Lopez then followed with a single and stole second to put runners at second and third. Leilani San Pedro hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Sullwold and the first run of the game. Lopez then used some crafty baserunning to score and put the Lakers up 2-0. Iowa Central quickly responded, scoring two runs on two hits and one Laker error.

Iowa Lakes broke things open in the top of the fourth, scoring nine runs. Gabby Heckard reached on a one out single, followed by a Montanna Popp walk, and a Lexi Pallisco single to load the bases. Sullwold and Lopez each singled to put the Lakers up 4-2. San Pedro drove a ball to the shortstop that was misplayed, to score both Pallisco and Sullwold. Kaitlin Walsh hit a bloop single to left and some aggressive running by Lopez scored her and advanced San Pedro to third. Kacie Salazar walked, which brought up Heckard with two outs and the bases loaded. She walked to score San Pedro, before Popp singled to right to put the Lakers up 9-2. Pallisco hit a ground ball up the middle, but Popp beat the play to second to score Salazar and Heckard. Iowa Central hit a solo homerun in the bottom of the inning to make the score 11-3.

The Lakers started off the top of the fifth with a single by Lopez. San Pedro then walked before Lopez scored on a bunt from Walsh that was misplayed by Iowa Central. With San Pedro at third and Walsh stealing second, Salazar hit the ball to the shortstop, who attempted to make a play on San Pedro at the plate, but the throw was too late. Nix then singled up the middle to make the score 14-3. The Lakers scored their final run of the game when Salazar scampered home on a passed ball. The Tritons scored their final two runs on a two run homerun.

Game Two: ICCC 9, ILCC 1 (6 innings)

The Lakers scored their only run of game two in the top of the first inning. Lopez hit a one out triple before scoring on a San Pedro single. The Lakers held the Tritons scoreless in the bottom of the inning.

The Tritons then scored four runs in the bottom of the second. They did this on two homeruns and two free bases by Bibiana Rosales.

Iowa Central scored another run in the third on two hits and a suicide squeeze. This put the Tritons up 5-1. The Tritons scored another three runs on three hits, one walk, and one Laker error in the bottom of the fourth. They scored their final run in the bottom of the sixth on a solo homerun.

Bibiana Rosales took the loss for the Lakers. She pitched 1.2 innings, allowing four earned runs on three hits, three walks, and one hit batter. Yasmine Nix pitched 1.2 innings, allowing four runs, three earned, on five hits and one walk. Julia Sullwold also pitched 1.2 innings, allowing one earned run on one hit and two walks.

Desiree Lopez again led the Lakers at the plate, going 2-3 with a triple, one stolen base, and one run scored. Montanna Popp was also 2-2 in the game.

The Lakers will travel to Boone, Iowa on Thursday, April 12th, to take on Des Moines Area Community College at 2:00 and 4:00 PM.

Photography by Cecil Ramsey