Central split with Simpson yesterday afternoon in an American Rivers Conference softball doubleheader heard live on KRLS3 at kniakrls.com. Central won the opener 7-4, while the Storm took the nightcap 5-1. On the baseball diamond, Central lost a hard-fought game with Wartburg 3-2.
The Dutch fell behind 3-0 in the opener when Simpson’s Megan Crockett belted a three-run first-inning home run. Central answered with four runs in the bottom of the second, highlighted by a pinch-hit two-run double from Emma Lennox, and added insurance runs in the fifth and sixth innings on a pair of Haley Bach RBI singles and a Madison Farrington run scoring double. Simpson struck again in the top of the first inning of game two on a two-out two-run double by Karlie Hill, and this time the Dutch couldn’t recover. They got their lone run in the bottom of the first, then mustered just five baserunners the rest of the way. Central coach George Wares was disappointed afterwards, squandering a chance to start league play 2-0.
“A split is a split”, Wares said. “But when you have a chance to sweep it, and we felt we had a really good chance to sweep it, that’s disappointing.”
Despite having more hits than their opponent, the Central College baseball team fell to Wartburg Friday afternoon. The Dutch outhit the Knights by a 9-8 margin but were hampered by five double plays turned by Wartburg. Tanner Bigelow, Declan O’Hare, Colton DeRocher, and Garrett Finley each had two hits. DeRocher had the lone RBI with a third-inning single to plate Bigelow. DeRocher also got in a pickle between first and second, giving Lucas Farren time to score the second run. Sam Staley flummoxed the Knights bat for six innings, holding them scoreless with just two hits. Landon Thiele took the loss as the starter, giving up all three runs in the first three frames.
Central softball is 13-9 on the season and 1-1 in the American Rivers Conference. Their non-conference doubleheader against Wisconsin-Eau Claire schedule for tomorrow afternoon has been postponed to April 24th back in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. The Dutch baseball team fell to 9-7 overall and 0-6 in American Rivers Conference play and rematch with Wartburg today at noon for a doubleheader that can be heard live on 92.1 KRLS.