Last night was a thrilling doubleheader for the Oskaloosa softball team, as they looked to stay undefeated heading into tonight’s big game with Dallas Center-Grimes.
Game one was very iffy the whole time, as visiting Washington took a 2-1 lead in the third, which was the first time Oskaloosa had trailed all season long. The Indians would plate a run to tie it in the fifth, but Washington responded, plating two in the sixth and an important insurance run in the seventh to put Oskaloosa against the ropes 5-2 heading into the bottom of the 7th. The top of the Osky order was due up, and leadoff hitter Anna Jones drew her third walk of the game. Following her, Bethany Rowley lined a single off the fence in left field. That brought up pitcher Kylee Silliman, who was charged with all five earned runs in the game, but had both Indian RBI at that juncture. On the second pitch of the at-bat, Silliman hit a moon shot over the left field wall, tying the game with a three-run homer, her second of the season. After an Alexis Westercamp flyout and an Aubrey Miller walk, senior Peyton Zickefoose came to the plate, and swung at the first pitch and deposited it into the woods in left field for a walk-off home run, giving Oskaloosa the win 7-5 and moving them to 12-0 on the year.
Game two saw the Indians take control early, scoring five runs in the first two innings. They wouldn’t score again, but Alexis Groet and the defense held Washington to only two runs to get the win 5-2 to move to 13-0 on the year.
The second-ranked Indians have their biggest game of the season so far tonight, as they face #3 Dallas Center-Grimes on the road. DCG is the two-time defending state champs and they have been the premier team in the Little Hawkeye Conference since entering it a couple of years ago. That single varsity game can be heard on the Mahaska Zone Network, 99.5 FM and AM 740 KMZN and on kboeradio.com. First pitch is scheduled for 7:30 pm and our pregame show will begin around 7:15.
The Oskaloosa baseball team took care of business last night as well, trouncing visiting Mount Pleasant 14-4 in six innings of work. The Panthers scored three early runs, but the Indian offense exploded out of the gates, grabbing the lead in the bottom of the first and never looking back en route to the run-rule victory. The baseball squad is now 7-0 this season and will face Dallas Center-Grimes in a big doubleheader on the road tonight in conference play.
