Tiger softball plagued by errors in Hawk 10 loss

Tiger softball fell to Glenwood 2-0 and 14-2 in a double-header at home on Monday, June 17.
“We played well defensively in game one and had some nice, hard-hit balls,” Red Oak head softball coach Tristin Johnson said. “Unfortunately, the balls that we hit hard were right at the defense. It’s nice that we hit the ball hard, because most nights those balls will be in the gap or over some heads, but Glenwood was in the right spots and ended up making the plays.
“Defense-wise, we played a good game and made the plays that were to us. Zoey Welter pitched a great game and most nights would be walking away with a win.”
Welter struck out one and gave up two earned runs off eight hits.
Kamryn Buntrock had two singles to lead the Tigers offense, while Alexa McCunn, Kamryn Wendt, Chloe Johnson, Maddie Wendt, and Ashlee Young each collected a single.
The Tigers fell 14-2 in the second game.
Lexi Johnson hit a double that went to the fence, and she was able to advance to third on the overthrow to third base before eventually scoring the second and final run for Red Oak.
Buntrock had the first run for the Tigers, and Kyndal Kells added a double.
“We played pretty well defensively again, just this time, Glenwood got their timing down and was hitting the ball hard and in gaps,” Coach Johnson said. “We hit well again, just right at the defense. We will continue to work at practices and try to find a way to get more of our hard-hit balls to left center and right center gaps, but for the most part, the ones we hit hard will soon start falling for big hits.”
Denison
Red Oak traveled to Denison for a double-header with Denison-Schleswig on Thursday, dropping both games.
In the first game, the Monarchs had a five-run lead heading into the fifth inning, when the Tiger bats lit up and they tied the game.
Denison answered in the home half of the fifth with another four runs, and the Tigers added one run in the sixth and two in the seventh ending the game in the Monarchs’ favor 9-8.
“We had a few errors to start the game, but got out of it and came back to play a pretty good game,” Coach Johnson said. “Denison hit the ball well with a lot of power.”
L. Johnson led the Tigers with a three-run homer, and scored two runs.
McCunn, Buntrock, C. Johnson, M. Wendt, Kells, and Cami Porter each added one run.
Welter recorded the loss.
Denison routed Red Oak 16-4 in six innings in the second game.
Emma Bierbaum recorded the loss with 5 1/3 innings pitched. She struck out one and walked nine.
“In this game, we had several hard-hit balls that went right at some of their players, and they also made a few diving catches that saved them from a few more hits for us,” Coach Johnson said. “Emma threw a good game, considering she has missed the last couple of games due to being ill.”
The Tigers had 10 hits collectively, all singles.
K. Wendt, Buntrock, Young, and Porter scored one run each.
Denison’s Sarah Heilesen hit two grand slam home runs, earning eight RBI in the second game to lead the Denison offense.
The double header with Kuemper Catholic, scheduled for Friday, was postponed due to wet field conditions. The game will be played on Friday, June 28, in Red Oak beginning at 5:30 p.m.
Red Oak (8-12) travels to Creston (13-10) for a Hawkeye 10 conference game tonight, beginning with a JV contest at 5:30 p.m.