Solon softball’s rollercoaster season went back on the upswing splitting four games against highly ranked Clear Creek Amana (CCA) and West Delaware last week.
Solon claimed a 3-0 win and heart-wrenching 8-5 loss on Monday June 29, in Solon.
Beckitt Kabela grabbed her first win of the season throwing a complete game shutout in game one. The sophomore who has specialized in keeping games close with highly ranked foes, finally got a lead and made it stand up, holding the 9th ranked (Class 3A) Hawks to four hits in her second career shutout.
Solon got the only the run they’d need in the fourth inning. Liv Nelson’s double and Kabela’s single put runners on the corners. A West Delaware error allowed Nelson to score, and the Lady Spartans had a 1-0 lead. Solon added a pair of runs an inning later on singles by Kinley Strief and Laeni Hinkle, and three Hawk errors. Kabela threw only 83 pitches with just a single strikeout and the Lady Spartan defense held up well going errorless in the game.
Stats
Hits – Ashtyn Swancutt 1, Laeni Hinkle 1, Liv Nelson 1, Beckitt Kabela 1, Layla Knazze 1, Kinley Strief 1
2B – Nelson
RBI – Chloe Madura 1
Runs – Swancutt 1, Hinkle 1, Nelson 1
Pitching – Kabela (W) 7.0 innings, 83 pitches, 4 hits, 0 runs, 2 walks, 1 strikeout
Solon opened game two with another 1-0 lead on Kabela’s first inning RBI groundout. West Delaware would counter with a pair of runs in the second and made it 3-1 after 2 1/2 innings. Solon would get their bats going in the fourth. Kabela’s lead-off double was followed by Chloe Madura’s base hit. Dillon Ostrander and Beckett Kruse would drive in runs on RBI doubles and the game was tied at 3.
Each team went scoreless in the fifth and the Hawks would strike for two more runs in the sixth. The Lady Spartans would rally again though. Layla Knazze’s single was followed by Strief’s RBI triple and Ashtyn Swancutt’s RBI single tying the game at 5.
Junior Laeni Hinkle tossed the first six innings for Solon, but gave way to Kabela in the seventh, and she put up her eighth goose egg of the night keeping the score at 5-5.
Kabela then led off the seventh inning with another hit and Madura would follow with a double, but a perfect throw would nail courtesy runner Nora Sanderson at third base and the Solon rally would fizzle, as would Kabela’s pitching night.
Into her ninth inning on a very warm and humid evening, the right hander would crack, allowing three walks and a hit before Emerson Miller would take over. After two more walks, the junior would steady herself and get the next three batters, keeping the score at 8-5.
Kruse and Swancutt would walk in the bottom of the 8th, but a catch by left fielder Nora Peyton crashing into the left field fence and doubling off a Solon runner would end the game and leave the Lady Spartans feeling like a win had slipped away. The Hawks improved to 12-8 in conference play and 21-10 overall. Solon went to7-13 and 16-18 overall.
Stats
Hits – Chloe Madura 3, Beckitt Kabela 2, Beckett Kruse 2, Ashtyn Swancutt 1, Dillon Ostrander 1, Layla Knazze 1, Kinley Strief 1
3B – Strief
2B – Kabela 1, Madura 1, Ostrander, Kruse 1
RBI – Swancutt 1, Kabela 1, Kruse 1, Strief 1
Runs – Swancutt 1, Harlow Meade 1, Ostrander 1, Knazze 1, Strief 1
Pitching – Laeni Hinkle 6.0 innings, 85 pitches, 7 hits, 5 earned runs, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts. Kabela (L) 1.0 inning, 26 pitches, 2 hits, 3 earned runs, 3 walks, 0 strikeouts. Emerson Miller 1.0 inning, 20 pitches, 0 hits, 0 runs, 2 walks, 0 strikeouts
Solon travelled to Tiffin Wednesday July 1, playing their last WaMaC games of the year. Game one saw Emerson Miller take on one of the state’s best offenses, averaging over 7.5 runs per game. CCA senior Kyla Schulte entered the doubleheader leading the state in homers (21) and RBI (66).
Solon would take a quick lead on a Kabela RBI single scoring Swancutt who led off with a single. CCA would counter with two in the first and two more in the third. Nelson’s lead-off double in the fourth was quickly followed by another Kabela RBI hit to close the score to 4-2, but the next three Lady Spartans would be retired, and a six-run CCA fifth inning would end the game 10-2.
Stats
Hits – Beckitt Kabela 2, Ashtyn Swancutt 1, Laeni Hinkle 1, Liv Nelson 1, Beckett Kruse 1
2B – Swancutt 1, Nelson
SAC – Hinkle 1
RBI – Kabela 2
Runs – Swancutt 1, Nelson 1
Pitching – Emerson Miller (L) 4.0 innings, 95 pitches, 9 hits, 10 runs (7 earned), 3 walks, 1 strikeout
Solon refused to give in to the Clippers in game two though and would score in each of the first five innings. Kabela again opened the scoring when her two-run double scored Hinkle and Nelson staking pitcher Zoey Melloy to a 2-0 lead. Solon added two more in the second inning. Two out walks to Strief and Swancutt proved large when Nelson delivered a two-run single and Solon was leading 8th ranked (Class 4A) CCA 4-0.
Solon made it 5-0 when Madura led off with a double and a Maddy Bell RBI hit extended the lead. Melloy would allow an unearned run in the third, but Solon would get it back when Nelson walked and was pushed to third by Kabela’s fourth hit of the night and a Madura walk. A wild pitch scored Nelson and Solon could taste an upset victory with a 6-1 lead.
The Clippers would score a pair in the fourth closing the Solon lead to 6-3 but Solon would answer on Bell’s walk, Swancutt’s single, a Hinkle walk and an RBI single from Nelson, her fourth hit on the night. After another CCA run in the fifth, Solon went scoreless in the sixth and Hinkle would relieve Melloy with one out in the bottom of the inning. She would coast through five straight hitters to post her second save of the season, help Melloy to her fifth win, give the Lady Spartans a 7-5 win and lots of confidence for a potential rematch in round two of the Class 4A playoffs Saturday June 11.
Solon took a 17-19 record into a single game at 3A #8 ranked West Liberty, its 15th game versus teams ranked in classes 3A, 4A and 5A. They take on Maquoketa tonight (July 9) in Solon at 7 p.m.to open the Class 4A playoffs.
Stats
Hits – Liv Nelson 3, Beckitt Kabela 2, Chloe Madura 2, Ashtyn Swancutt 1, Maddy Bell 1
2B – Kabela 1, Madura 1
RBI – Nelson 3, Kabela 2, Bell 1
Runs – Nelson 2, Swancutt 1, Laeni Hinkle 1, Nora Sanderson 1, Bell 1, Kinley Strief 1
Pitching – Zoey Melloy (W) 5.1 innings, 121 pitches, 8 hits, 5 runs (1 earned), 6 walks, 3 strikeouts. Hinkle 1.2 innings, 24 pitches, 0 hits, 0 runs, 2 strikeouts
