SOLON– One minute you’re up, the next you’re down.
After ripping off six straight wins to start the season, Solon’s varsity softball team has dropped five in a row, with sweeps at the hands of two quality teams– Benton Community and Williamsburg.
The Bobcats took two against the Lady Spartans June 1 at Van Horne, 6-3 and 2-1, and the Raiders kept their season perfect with 11-2 and 7-5 wins June 3 in Solon.
Added with a 10-9 ninth-inning loss to Charles City at a tournament over the weekend, and the Lady Spartans dropped to 6-5 on the year.
Solon was able to keep it close through the consecutive losses, with the exception of one-blowout by Williamsburg.
At Van Horne, the Lady Spartans made a late run to get back in the first game of the doubleheader.
Solon took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, but Benton came back with four runs in the bottom of the second inning and tacked on runs in the fourth and fifth for a 6-1 lead.
The Lady Spartans responded by plating runners in the top half of the sixth and seventh innings off Bobcat senior Katelyn Buscher, but could get no closer for the 6-3 final.
Junior Carly Ellison went the distance on the mound for Solon, allowing only two earned runs on 11 hits while walking three and striking out one.
Ellison and junior Camryn Keith provided most of the Lady Spartans’ runs on solo home runs. Sophomore Hilary Wilson scored junior Ava Stebral.
Keith went 4-4 at the plate; Wilson and Ellison each had two-hit games.
In the nightcap, Solon held a 1-0 lead until the fourth inning. Benton tied the game and then scored the winning run in the bottom of the fifth against freshman Kendall Jensen. Both Bobcat runs were unearned, and Jensen sprinkled five hits over six innings, striking out two and walking none.
The lone Lady Spartan run came in the top of the first when Keith singled in Wilson. Wilson, senior Sarah Heick and senior Monet Barnhouse each knocked two hits.
Runs continued to be scarce in the first game of a doubleheader against Williamsburg at home later in the week.
Wilson socked a solo shot over the fence and Barnhouse scored courtesy runner Mia Stahle, but the two runs were all Solon could muster with its 10 hits.
Keith was 3-4; Ellison and Heick were 2-3.
The Raiders took a 4-1 lead into the fifth inning, and then ran off a string of seven runs over the next three innings in an 11-2 win. Three Williamsburg batters went yard against Solon’s pitching.
Ellison suffered the loss, allowing 10 earned runs on 10 hits while striking out one and walking five. Incoming freshman Izzy Frees pitched 1 1/3 innings of relief, allowing one earned run on four hits.
The Raiders took an early 4-0 lead in the nightcap, but the Lady Spartans clawed their way back, tying the game 5-5 heading into the sixth.
It was Williamsburg breaking the knot, taking the lead with a run in the sixth and adding another as insurance in the seventh for the 7-5 victory.
Jensen took the loss, allowing seven runs (six earned) on nine hits while striking out five and walking three over seven innings.
The Lady Spartans had 12 hits, including a home run for Heick, who went 3-4 at the plate. Wilson, Ellison, junior Meghan O’Neill and Jensen came up with two hits each. Heick had two RBI.
After a road doubleheader against Beckman Catholic Monday, June 7, and a home twin bill hosting Center Point-Urbana Wednesday, June 9, the Lady Spartans head to Wellman to face Mid-Prairie Friday, June 11. Solon hosts Union and Pella, Saturday, June 12, then hits the road for a date with South Tama Monday, June 14. The Lady Spartans return home Wednesday, June 16, and Thursday, June 17, to face West Delaware and Vinton-Shellsburg in doubleheader WaMaC action.
Bobcats and Raiders sweep Solon
June 9, 2021
Solon’s Sarah Heick almost has the ball as a Williamsburg runner heads home during softball action June 3. The Raiders swept the Lady Spartans.
