Cardinals escape Red Oak with win

Just a day after a tough loss on the road at Clarinda, Red Oak was back at home hosting the Cardinals in a Hawkeye 10 Conference softball tilt Friday.
After allowing 20 runs in Thursday’s loss, the Tigers tightened up defensively and played well despite the 10-0 loss on the scoreboard, said Red Oak coach Alec Ruskell.
“We managed to play potentially even better,” Ruskell said of his team’s second matchup with the Cardinals in 24 hours. “This was the first game all season I can truly say that we got out hits in terms of hard-hit balls, and it’s not because we struggled but the Clarinda bats were hot. The gloves were ready for the Cardinal defense as well, covering space extremely well and limiting our offense to ‘balls in play.’
“Looking at the game as a whole I would assume it wasn’t a 10-0 loss with how competitive we played, just the difference of one team being able to chain things together and find the gaps a touch more.”
Lilly Cooper started in the circle and took the loss after scattering three hits, six earned runs and walking five.
“Looking back at the stats, they surprised me,” Ruskell said. “The stat line looked worse than how the game felt live. We all thought she pitched very well.”
Ruskell did replace Cooper with Emma Wingert after three innings to give the Cardinals a different look, but they adjusted well, the coach said.  
“On shots that didn’t find the gap we fielded well, only committing one error, and hustling getting to balls limiting free bases for the most part,” Ruskell said.
Rayne Chandler, Kaylee Erickson and Cooper each notched hits for Red Oak.
“Offensively we continued our trend of putting the ball in play with some hard shots, still confident that we will find the gaps if we continue to do what we are doing,” Ruskell said. “We also showed great patience at the plate with the majority of girls seeing over 4 pitches per plate appearance and drawing three walks while only striking out twice as a team.

Audrey Gray tossed a complete game for the win.

Clarinda 20,
Red Oak 3
Red Oak scored the game’s first three runs but couldn’t hold off Clarinda in a 20-3 loss Wednesday on the road in Hawkeye 10 Conference softball.
The Tigers plated three runs in the top of the second before the Cardinals pushed seven runs across in the bottom of the frame and 13 in the third to pull away.
Red Oak coach Alec Ruskell said his team got off to a strong start both defensively and offensively, but it didn’t go their way.
“We came out and Lilly Cooper pitched an excellent first inning going,” Ruskell said. “An early error by Clarinda got us rolling and we were able to chain some things together and come out with three runs. After that the pitching got away from us a little and we walked more batters than desired. Add some errors and well-placed shots by Clarinda the game got out of hand before we knew it. We continued to put the ball in play with some good shots but were unable to find the gaps and we couldn’t score any more for the game.”
Cooper took the loss in the circle, allowing three hits and nine earned runs in 2 and 1/3 innings.
Grace Fidler was credited with the win for the Cardinals. The freshman scattered two hits, ranged four and did not allow an earned run.
Rayne Chandler and Kaylee Aughe had two hits for the Tigers.
“All-in-all there were a lot of good things to take away from the game and even this late in the season some learning moments that hopefully we have gotten a grasp on and will grow without committing the same errors,” Ruskell said. “Always room to get better, always room to acknowledge the good things when they come.”
Annika Price had two hits and drove in four runs for Clarinda.

Glenwood 16,
Red Oak 0
An eight run second inning and two-hit shutout from pitcher Ryan Reckinger propelled Glenwood to a 16-0 win over Red Oak in Hawkeye 10 Conference softball last Tuesday.
The Rams plated two runs in the first and then blew the game open with an eight run second inning on their way to the win.
Reckinger allowed two hits, walked one and struck out two in the four-inning victory.
Emma Johansen had three hits and drove in three runs to lead Glenwood at the plate. Adelynn Thiesen drove in a run and Aubree Faust two.
Lilly Cooper took the loss for the Tigers. The eighth grader scattered 10 hits, walked five and hit four batters while striking out three.
Emma Wingert and Kaylee Erickson had the hits for Red Oak.
“Tough outing all around for the Tigers tonight,” said Red Oak coach Alec Ruskell. “We made adjustments at the plate late in the fourth just a little too late. We got away from the fundamentals on defense and made more errors than the sound defense we have played for the most part this year. The girls are determined and won’t let a bad outing define them as we look to bounce back against a tough Clarinda team the next two nights.”

Tigers drop two to Denison
The Red Oak softball team dropped a pair of games to Denison 19-5 and 20-0 in a Hawkeye 10 Conference double-header last Monday in Red Oak.
“Both games, hats off to Denison they were able to find gaps with contact and then capitalize with hard shots when runners were in position,” said Red Oak coach Alex Ruskell. “It’s the great unfortunate circumstance of this season so far it seems that soft hit shots find the gaps where our hard driving balls find the defenders. They also showed great patience at the plate taking a lot of walks and taking opportunities we gave to them.”
In the opener, Lilly Cooper started in the circle and had a rough go to start the second inning before being replaced by Emma Winger.
“Lilly came back strong after the inning off and found the zone at a more consistent rate looking like the pitcher that has come on stronger as the season has progressed,” Ruskell said. “We had a couple errors but for the most part the damage was done with gap shots just out of the infield in that ‘dead zone’ between outfield and infield.”
The Monarchs collected 10 hits to the Tigers’ nine in game one.
“Offensively we hit the ball very well and showed aggression at the plate putting the ball in play across the board with a good bit of those hits finding spacing and getting us on base,” Ruskell said.
Josie Simpson and Lucy DeMasi each had two hits and combined to drive in three runs for Red Oak.
In the nightcap, Kenzie Wilcoxson started on the mound and struggled to find her rhythm, according to Ruskell. The Monarchs plated six runs in the first and eight in the second.
“Pitchers will have those days anyway but especially with a younger pitcher it can feel even more out of whack than normal,” the coach said. “I have full confidence that she will bounce back and continue her strides forward.”
Wingers came back in relief in game two and did an excellent job of finding the zone; unfortunately that worked in favor of Denison who notched 11 hits in game two.
The Tigers’ eight errors led to nine unearned runs in game two.
“Quite a few more errors in this game where we had lapse in concentration on the routine plays which we always say are the easiest plays to mess up on because you allow yourself to go into autopilot and distract yourself,” Ruskell said. “Offensively we continued to hit the ball well, we had a lot more strikeouts but typically came off of longer at bats in which we battled fouling off balls.”
DeMasi, Cooper, Kaylee Aughe and Kaylee Erickson each had hits in game two.
Hailey Lutz picked up the game two victory in the circle after scattering four hits and striking out seven.

Clarinda edges Red Oak on diamond
Clarinda smacked 10 hits and picked up the season sweep of Red Oak in an 8-1 win in Hawkey 10 Conference baseball Thursday at Red Oak’s Legion Field.
The Cardinals (7-9) led 1-0 after an inning and blew the game open with a four run second frame.
“We played a pretty clean game tonight,” said Red Oak coach Tristin Johnson. “We did well getting in the zone early and often but credit Clarinda they hit the ball hard and found gaps. We seemed just out of reach of their hits for most of the night.”
Osiel Pedersen started on the mound and threw four innings, giving up seven runs on 10 hits while walking one and striking out two.
Jordan Butt tossed a complete game to pick up the win for the Cardinals. The senior scattered five hits and struck out six.
Cale Hall led Red Oak with three hits. Hudson Fisher and Seth Lydon each added hits. Fisher scored the lone run.
“On offense we were putting the ball in play just right at their players,” Johnson said. “We are doing much better having an approach at the plate and not striking out as much which is nice to see.”

Red Oak 9,
Glenwood 2
Reese Montgomery tossed a complete game on the mound and helped his own cause driving in two runs for Red Oak in a 9-2 win over Glenwood in Hawkeye 10 Conference baseball last Tuesday in Glenwood.
Montgomery scattered three hits and one earned run while striking out four in his 92-pitch victory.
“We played well tonight,” said Glenwood coach Tristin Johnson. “Reese started us out strong on the mound. He did a great job settling in early and getting all his pitches over the zone. He kept hitters guessing and working out of some jams later in the game. We also did a great job making plays behind him having only one error and turning two double plays in the game.”
Johnson also felt like his team did a great job of making adjustments at the plate all game long against the Rams’ two pitchers.
“The first time through the lineup we were out in front hitting weak grounders and pop ups,” Johnson said. “After that we did a great job sitting back and letting the ball travel which equated to hard-line drives which were finding gaps today.”
Ram starter Ben Carlo allowed nine hits and four earned runs over 5 and 2/3 innings before giving way to reliever Charlie Hutchcraft. Carlo was credited with the loss.
 Kaleb Sebeniecher, Carson Roeder, Masen Fisher, Ferree and Montgomery each had two hits for the Tigers.
Brennan Anderson, Trey Williamson and Myles Stanton collected one hit each for Glenwood.

Denison takes two from Red Oak
Red Oak struggled at the plate in a pair of losses to Denison in a Hawkeye 10 Conference double-header at Red Oak’s Legion Field last Monday.
The Monarchs’ Camdyn Nemitz no-hit the Tigers in a 3-0 complete-game victory in game one.  In game two, Red Oak dug itself a 10-0 hole they could never dig out of in a 13-3 loss.
Nemitz set the tone for the Monarchs in the opener striking out 14 in a dominant 83 pitch performance.
“We struggled getting the bats going, credit Denison’s pitcher,” said Red Oak coach Tristan Johnson. “He was doing a good job working fast, staying in pace, and keeping us off balance with his off-speed and fastball. He was very good at mixing it up.”
Reese Montgomery was the lone Tiger to reach base after drawing a ball.
Osiel Pedersen started on the mound for Red Oak, going 3 and 1/3 innings and allowing two earned runs and six hits.
The Tigers’ bats finally came alive late in game two, but it was too little too late.
“I liked our approach at the plate in this game,” Johnson said. “The first game we weren’t making adjustments after at bats for our next one whereas this one we were making those adjustments and saw some outcome from it.”
Seth Lydon and Dalton Ferree and both notched hits and drove in runs.
Lydon started on the mound, and he did a much better job getting in the strike zone and getting out of jams, Johnson said. The sophomore allowed four earned runs on six hits to take the loss.
Cole Kastner picked up the win on the mound for the Monarchs. The senior scattered is six hits and three earned runs while striking out seven.