COLUMBUS, GA.-It wasn’t the result the Central College softball team wanted but coach George Wares did see the improvement he was seeking Sunday as the Dutch dropped their final two games of the NFCA Division III Leadoff Classic. Chapman University (Calif.) topped Central 6-4 while No. 11 Bethel University (Minn.), last year’s NCAA Division III regional champion, held on 3-2.
The Dutch (3-4) posted a 1-4 record in the elite event, with a Friday game against Roanoke College (Va.) rained out.
“When you’re 1-4 it’s never a good feeling, and particularly losing four straight, which we don’t do that often,” Wares said. “There’s disappointment but there should not be panic. It’s just where we are and I think we’re getting that across to our players. Long term, this is going to help us more than hurt us.”
The Dutch did stage a two-run seventh-inning rally against all-American Bethel hurler Kayla Simachek and had the potential tying run on at second base before faltering. Central used its only two hits of the game, an infield single by center fielder Emma Johnson (5th-year, Davenport, Assumption Catholic HS) and a double by third baseman Franie Burnett (senior, Ankeny, Centennial HS), combined with an error for its two tallies.
But Bethel (3-1) jumped on top with two runs in the first inning off Dutch starter Sydni Huisman (5th-year, Treynor) and added another in the fifth. Huisman (1-2) threw 4.2 innings and gave up three runs on nine hits. Morgan Schaben (5th-year, Portsmouth, Harlan HS) tossed 1.1 innings of one-hit relief.
An early 2-0 Central lead didn’t hold up in the opener against Chapman (8-5). Pitcher Emma Beck (sophomore, Holland, Grundy Center HS) shut out the Panthers for three frames but was tagged for three runs in the fourth inning and one in the fifth. Only two of the runs were earned as Central was charged with an uncharacteristic five errors. Beck (2-2) allowed four hits and two walks while striking out four in 4.2 innings. Schaben allowed two runs on two hits in 2.1 innings of relief. Second baseman Haley Bach (junior, Council Bluffs, Lewis Central HS) had three hits and scored a run while catcher Rylee Dunkin (freshman, Hamilton, Twin Cedars HS) had two hits and scored twice. Each player had a double.
“I thought we made progress,” Wares said. “The outcome was disappointing because we made five errors in a very winnable game. Too many freebies and critical mistakes that changed the momentum of the game. But the Bethel game was encouraging. I thought that was as good as Sydni (Huisman) has looked and she held them in check after a rough first inning. We had some really good at-bats and making a rally in the seventh inning is a favorable sign.” Burnett remains the team’s leading hitter through seven games, with a .381 mark, and has eight stolen bases. Dunkin is hitting .364 in her rookie season and Bach is batting .333. Bach was Central’s top hitter for the weekend with a .438 mark.
