The Greene County Ram softball team earned a repeat trip to the state softball tournament with a 16-2 win over the Atlantic Trojans in six innings in Stuart. The Rams are Region 8 champions and will open play at Harlan Rogers Park in Fort Dodge next Tuesday, July 21.
The Rams batted as the visiting team and were down by two runs after the first inning. After the Rams were retired by Atlantic senior pitcher Tori Bruck in only nine pitches in the first, Ram pitcher Marissa Promes walked Brooke Newell and Alexis Handel hit a home run to put her team up 2-0.
In the second inning with two outs the Ram bats started rattling. The Rams got six hits that scored six runs. Bruck pitched her way through the batting order before a pitching change put freshman Ally Anderson in to make the last out. Promes, Sydney Koch, Carleigh Paup, Kayla Mobley, Emily Christensen and Hannah Onken all had hits that inning, and the Trojans committed two errors.
The Rams added a run in the third inning with an RBI double by Koch bringing in Emma Saddoris, who was on base via a double. Saddoris advanced to third when Promes hit and was out at first.
The Rams batted through the order again in the fourth inning and scored four runs on six singles and a walk. Promes retired the Trojans in order and the score was 11-2 after four innings.
The Rams hit two singles in the fifth inning but stranded both runners. The Trojans got a runner to third base on an error, a wild pitch and a passed ball, but she was stranded and didn’t score.
The entire Ram batting order went up to the plate in the sixth inning as well and added five more runs on three singles, two doubles and a triple. The Trojans’ first batter got on base on a Ram error but after a strikeout and a caught fly ball she was tagged out at second on an Alexis Handel hit.
For the game, the Rams unofficially totaled 24 hits with the entire lineup getting at least one hit as follows: Paup – a double, three singles and a triple; Mobley – three singles; Christensen – two doubles; Onken – three singles; Tressa Rasmussen – two singles; Emma Saddoris – two doubles and two singles; Promes – two singles; Koch – a single and a double; and Bailey Godwin – one single.
The Rams’ team batting average is .336. The entire starting lineup has batting averages over .300 except for Promes, who bats at .268. Emma Saddoris has the highest on base percentage at .522, while Christensen has the highest slugging percentage at .661. Sydney Koch has the highest batting average at .441.
To see season stats for the Rams, click here: QuikStatsIowa
Promes struck out five batters, walked one, and allowed two earned runs on two hits. The Trojans stranded two runners and committed three errors.
The Rams (30-6) will play Crestwood (25-5) Tuesday, July 21, at 5:30 pm. The winner of that game plays Thursday at 1 pm; the loser plays Wednesday at 10 am. The eight teams in the Class 3A tournament in addition to Greene County and Crestwood are Solon (39-3), Clarke Community (20-17), Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley (31-3), Center Point-Urbana (29-13), Benton Community (40-3), and Mount Vernon (29-9).
Pictured with the District 8 banner are (front, from left) Emma Saddoris, Samantha Hardaway, Carleigh Paup, Tressa Rasmussen, Bailey Godwin, Marissa Promes, Hannah Onken, Laurin Lyons and Emily Heupel; and (back, from left) Kayla Mobley, Jenna Beyers, Emily Christensen, Hannah Promes, Sydney Koch, Megan Carey, and Megan Durbin.
