MISSOURI VALLEY, Iowa - Missouri Valley and Logan-Magnolia took turns smacking shots around the ballpark on Tuesday, finishing with 11 hits each.
The difference was that when the ball was hit to Missouri Valley, it made the plays. The same could not be said for the Panthers.
Logan-Magnolia committed eight errors, turning good innings into great ones for the Lady Reds as they advanced with a 15-5, six-inning victory in a Class 2-A regional softball opener.
Missouri Valley made just one error. Senior Maggie Hawley knows she's not a strikeout pitcher and is always happy to get a little help from her friends.
"I have a lot of confidence in my defense," Hawley said. "As long as I put the ball in play for them, they'll make the plays for me. All we've got to do is come back out and hit more than the other team."
Missouri Valley (20-10), rated seventh in western Iowa (Class 2-A/1-A) by The World-Herald, advances to Thursday's 7 p.m. quarterfinal at home against WI No. 1 Tri-Center (18-6), which received a first-round bye. Western Iowa No. 8 Logan-Magnolia finished its season at 13-12.
Even though the teams have similar ratings, Missouri Valley entered as the favorite. The Lady Reds started four seniors, while Logan-Magnolia has no seniors on its roster and started three freshmen along with eighth-grade pitcher Abby Straight, the daughter of football coach Matt Straight.
The Panthers didn't give their pitcher a chance, consistently giving Missouri Valley extra outs to work with.
"Like I told them, we haven't been beat by a team that's outhit us all year," Logan-Magnolia coach Trent Kuhl said. "But you can't make errors and play with a good team."
Logan-Magnolia took a 4-2 lead in the top of the third when junior Ashley Bradshaw singled in a run and then junior Kendra Holcomb pounded a two-run double off the left-field fence. Center fielder Hailey Hellstrom fired a strike from deep in the outfield to easily throw out Holcomb trying to stretch it into a triple, one of two Lady Reds defensive gems.
Missouri Valley broke it open with six runs in the bottom of the third. Hellstrom led off by slamming a 0-2 pitch over the fence in right into a slight wind, her third homer of the season. Megan Housh and Lexie Dooley also had RBI singles in the inning, and Ayla Sulley drove in a run. Four of the Panthers' errors came in the inning.
Freshman shortstop Baily Janssen's outstanding running catch in short left helped limit Logan-Magnolia to one run in the fourth, as the Panthers had runners at second and third at the time.
The Lady Reds ended it with a six-run sixth. Janssen's two-run double made it 13-5 and Hawley added a two-run single to left.
"When we want to hit, we can hit," Missouri Valley coach Rick McHugh said. "They came ready to hit, and if it was going to be a slugfest, it was going to be a slugfest. ... If they score 10, we score 11. That's kind of our mindset."
Dooley finished 2 for 3 with three RBIs, while Janssen and Hawley added two hits and two RBIs apiece, and Ashley Nelson had two hits.
Holcomb ended 3 for 3 with two RBIs for Logan-Magnolia, while Rife and Oviatt added a pair of hits.
Kuhl said a good group of eighth-graders will help the program next year. And Straight will continue to get better.
"She's grown. She's been a leader as an eighth-grader," he said. "I know the family, I know her. She'll be a competitor. There's teams that are going to hate to see her for four more years."
The Lady Reds split two games with Tri-Center during the regular season, losing 2-1 and winning 3-2.
"They're very good, and luckily we did split with them, so confidence-wise, we're going to go in there knowing that we can win," McHugh said. "It should be good."
Logan-Magnolia (13-12)..................103 100-5 11 8
Missouri Valley (20-10)....................206 106-15 11 1
W: Maggie Hawley (19-10). L: Abby Straight (13-12). 2B: LM, Haleigh Rife, Courtney Oviatt, Kendra Holcomb, Joeona Healey. MV, Baily Janssen. HR: Hailey Hellstrom (3).
Contact the writer:
402-444-1055, kevin.white@owh.com
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