No. 12 Crestwood softball team bounces Vikings, Comets, Go-Hawks

DECORAH - Strong pitching and just enough offense allowed the Class 3A No. 12 Crestwood softball team to sweep a doubleheader against Decorah on June 29 by scores of 1-0 and 6-4. The game one win gave Head Coach Doug Sickles his 400th career win at Crestwood.

Facing Charles City on July 1, the Cadets rallied from a one-run deficit to down the Comets, 5-1.

Playing Waverly-Shell Rock at home on July 3, Crestwood pitcher Laken Lienhard tossed a perfect game to help the Cadets down the Go-Hawks, 6-0, to improve their overall record to 9-0.

The Cadets will play at New Hampton on July 9 and will host a doubleheader against Decorah on July 13.

 

G1: Cadets 1, Decorah 0

In game one, Crestwood took a 1-0 lead in the second and shut down Decorah at the plate to notch the win.

In the top of the second, Keelee Andera drew a walk with two outs. Kailyn Erickson reached second on a Decorah fielding error, which allowed Andera to score.

Decorah’s best scoring opportunity came in the bottom of the second. Shelton singled, stole second and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt with two outs. However, Cadet pitcher Laken Lienhard struck out the next batter to end the threat.

“Laken threw the ball very well,” Cadet Coach Doug Sickles said. “I tip my hat to Decorah because they played well. Our pitching and defense played outstanding and we bunted the ball well.”

Both teams struggled overall at the plate. The Cadets finished with only two hits. Kyleigh Foster and Kailyn Erickson each had one single. Shelton had the only hit for the Vikings.

Lienhard was the winning pitcher. She went seven strong innings, allowed only one hit, no walks and struck out 17.

Score by innings

CW  0 1 0 0 0 0 0 - 1

Dec  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0

 

G2: Cadets 6, Decorah 4

In the second game, the Cadets rallied for four runs in the top of the sixth to erase a two-run deficit as they held on for a 6-4 win.

Both teams scored single runs in the first inning. In the top of the first, Lienhard singled, went to second on a wild pitch and moved to third on a ground out. Kryslynn Ruppert laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to score Lienhard.

Crestwood scored one run in the fourth to take a 2-1 lead. Ruppert singled and Tara Koshatka came in as a courtesy runner. After a sacrifice bunt by Emily Voyna and a ground out by Paetyn Blockhus, Koshatka scored on a bunt single by Keelee Andera.

Decorah answered with three runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 4-2 lead.

However, the Cadets bounced back with four runs in the top of the sixth to grab the lead back at 6-4. With one out, Voyna and Blockhus both reached base on Decorah errors. Andera singled to load the bases. with two outs, Lexi Hoppe singled to drive in Voyna and Blockhus to tie the game. Andera scored on a wild pitch to give Crestwood a 5-4 lead. Olivia Ollendick reached base on a catcher’s interference call. Kyleigh Foster was hit by a pitch, which allowed Hoppe to score.

“I was proud of our girls for keeping their composure after we fell behind,” Sickles said. “I was glad to see the girls continue to battle back.”

Keelee Andera tallied two hits, one run and two RBI. Laken Lienhard had one hit, one run and drew two walks. Olivia Ollendick had one hit. Kryslynn Ruppert had one hit and one RBI.

Emily Voyna and Paetyn Blockhus each scored one run. Kailyn Erickson had one hit. Lexi Hoppe had one hit, one run and one RBI. Tara Koshatka scored one run.

Lienhard pitched three innings in relief to earn the win. She allowed two hits, no earned runs and struck out eight. Starting pitcher Kyleigh Foster tossed four innings, allowed five hits, four runs (two earned) and struck out three.

Score by innings

CW   1 0 0 1 0 4 0 - 6

Dec   1 0 0 0 3 0 0 - 4

 

Cadets 5, C. C. 1

Playing at Charles City on July 1, the Cadets fell behind 1-0 after one inning before rallying for the 5-1 win.

Crestwood scored three runs in the second and one run each in the fourth and fifth innings.

“Charles City led off with a home run in the first but our girls did a good job of coming back to take the lead,” Sickles said.

Laken Lienhard ripped a two-run home run in the second and had a solo home run in the fourth. Paetyn Blockhus also drove in one run with a single.

“Charles City is an very good softball team,” Sickles said. “On defense, Lexi Hoppe played well for us at shortstop and Laken had another great game pitching. Offensively, we hit the ball well early.”

Laken Lienhard finished with three hits, including two home runs, had two runs scored and three RBI. Olivia Ollendick had two hits. Kyleigh Foster had two hits, including one double and one run.

Paetyn Blockhus had two hits and one run. Keelee Andera had one hit and one RBI.

Lienhard was the winning pitcher. She went seven innings, allowed four hits, one earned run and struck out five.

Score by innings

CW   0 3 0 1 1 0 0 - 5

CC    1 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 1

 

Cadets 6, W-SR 0

Excellent team play allowed the Cadets to crush the Waverly-Shell Rock Go-Hawks, 6-0, on July 3 as senior pitcher Laken Lienhard retired 21 straight batters en route to a perfect game.

“Laken really set the tone and was dialed in the entire game,” Sickles said. “In the 20 years I’ve been coaching the softball team, this was the first perfect game I’ve seen from a Cadet pitcher.

“Offensively, Lexi Hoppe, Britain Ferrie and Paetyn Blockhus stepped up with some big hits. Offensively, we’re starting to come alive but I’d still like to see us be more aggressive earlier in our at-bats,” Sickles said.

Crestwood took a 2-0 lead in the second. Keelee Andera, Lienhard and Olivia Ollendick all walked to load the bases. Kyleigh Foster was hit by a pitch to drive in Andera. Lexi Hoppe walked to score Lienhard.

The Cadets added one run in the third when Britain Ferrie singled to drive in Paetyn Blockhus.

Crestwood pushed the lead to 5-0 in the fourth. Lienhard walked and scored on an inside-the-park home run by Hoppe.

In the fifth, the Cadets added one run when Lienhard drew a bases loaded walk to score Blockhus.

At the plate, Blockhus tallied two hits and two runs. Hoppe had one home run, one run, two stolen bases and three RBI. Lienhard drew four walks, had two runs and one RBI.

Keelee Andera had one run and one walk. Emily Voyna had one hit. Britain Ferrie had one hit and one RBI.

Lienhard was the winning pitcher. She went seven innings, allowed no hits, no walks and struck out 11.