The Greene County Rams felt the double wallop of the Class 3A pitcher with the lowest earned run average and the leading home run hitter in all classes when they played the Benton Community Bobcats in a semifinal game at the girls state softball tournament Thursday afternoon in Fort Dodge.
The Bobcats grew their season record to 42-3 with the 8-1 win over the Rams. Twenty-four of the Bobcats’ wins have been shutouts. Junior pitcher Amber Fiser has allowed just two earned runs this season, one of them at the state tournament. The Rams’ run was not earned. Her ERA is .05. Fiser struck out 10 Rams and walked two.
Bobcat junior Alyssa Wiebel hit home runs Number 20 and 21 against the Rams. In the first inning her hit knicked Ram centerfield Tressa Rasmussen’s glove but then went over the fence to score two runs. She hit hard to leftfield for a two RBI double in the second inning, and she hit a three run homer with two outs on full count pitch in the fourth inning.
Wiebel, the third batter in the Bobcats’ order, accounted for seven of the Bobcats’s eight RBIs. The first batter in the order, Lea Brunssen, hit three singles. Shelby Huslebus, the second batter, also hit three singles and had the Bobcats’ other RBI. Jessie Havlik, seventh in the order, was the only other Bobcat to get a hit, an infield single in the second inning. The Bobcats scored two runs in the first inning, three in the second, and three in the fourth. Ram pitcher Marissa Promes retired them in order in the third and fifth innings. They left three runners on base in the sixth inning.
All the Rams can hit the ball, and they shared six hits. In the top of the fourth inning (the Rams were the visiting team) Carleigh Paup got the Rams’ first hit, a long hit to the centerfield fence, but it didn’t clear the fence and was good for two bases. Kayla Mobley walked, but neither was able to score as Emily Christensen struck out, Hannah Onken’s foul was caught by the catcher, and Tressa Rasmussen popped up to shallow left field.
The Rams had base runners again in the fifth inning. With two outs, Sydney Koch hit a single to the shortstop, and Bailey Godwin followed with a single over the pitcher’s head. Paup walked and the bases were loaded, but Mobley struck out and the inning ended.
The Rams got on the scoreboard in the top of the sixth inning. Christensen was called safe at first when she ran on a passed ball on the third strike. Onken hit to the fence in deep right field but it was good for only a single. Christensen advanced to second and Megan Carey was put in to run for Onken. Rasmussen hit to deep left field for the Rams’ first out. Emma Saddoris hit a single past the shortstop and was safe, but Christensen was out when she over ran third base. Promes got the RBI with a single and an error by the leftfielder that let her advance to second base. Carey made it home and Saddoris advanced to third base. Koch batted last, a hopping ball to the shortstop, and was out at first. The Rams had three hits and stranded two.
The Rams went down in order in the top of the seventh inning to end the game on the small side of the 8-1 score. For the game, Paup hit a double and Onken, Saddoris, Promes, Koch and Godwin had singles.
Promes had four strikeouts and three walks.
The Rams are now 31-7 on the season. They play Center Point-Urbana (30-14) Friday at 11:30 am. The winner will be third in the state and the loser will be fourth. The Rams played Center Point-Urbana in the first game of the 2014 state tournament and claimed a 2-1 victory. Pitcher Samantha Croghan returns to the mound for the Stormin’ Pointers. Croghan is 17-8 on the season and has an era of 2.08.
Friday’s 3A final matches up Solon (41-3) and Benton Community. Both teams are in the WoMaC Conference and split their regular season games. They’ve traded the Number One and Number Two spots in rankings all summer. The Rams finished the season ranked fourth, while Center Point-Urbana was ranked eighth. East Marshall was ranked third but was upset by Saydel 1-0 in district play.
Center Point-Urbana is also in the WoMaC.
