Marshalltown, IA—Sophomore Day proved to be full of excitement for the Marshalltown Community College Softball team as Tess Cheetham (Oceanside, CA/Oceanside) and Sarah Ghee (Carlisle, IA/Carlisle) both provided walk-off hits to help beat visiting Iowa Lakes Community College on Tuesday afternoon. The Tigers won game one 7-6 in nine innings and took game two 4-2.
The Tigers rallied in each game to finish the regular season 27-22. Cheetham's RBI-double in the ninth inning scored Jordan Carter (Sigourney, IA/Sigourney) for the game one victory while Ghee took full advantage of her final at bat at home as a Tiger, sending a 2-2 pitch over the left center wall for the game-winner.
Five sophomores- Ghee, Taylor Anderson (San Antonio, TX/Churchill), Raini Hilmer (Dysart, IA/Union), Kari Smith (Marshalltown, IA/Marshalltown), and Lauren Wolfe (Miles City, MT/Custer County) were honored prior to the start of Tuesday's contests for their contributions throughout their career at MCC. The sophomore class provided 11 of the team's 23 hits on the afternoon.
Along with Ghee's game-winning home run, the sophomore went out in style, tallying four hits on the afternoon. Freshman Paige Taylor (Coquitlam, British Columbia/Terry Fox) earned the win in both games, tossing a complete game in the opener and coming in relief in game two without allowing a hit to improve to 16-11 on the year.
A day after beating Iowa Western Community College for the first-time in program history, the Tigers started slow against Iowa Lakes in game one. The Lakers put four runs on the board in the first inning. Smith singled and scored in the first frame to control some of the damage while Hilmer doubled and later scored on an RBI from Courtney Fudge (Pleasant Hill, IA/Des Moines East) in the second.
Iowa Lakes regained momentum and took a 6-2 lead into the fourth inning. Ghee refused to let the Tigers go down without a fight in her final day at the Marshalltown Softball Complex and drove in two runs in the fourth to pull the Tigers within two, 6-4.
The Tigers stranded six runners on base through the first four innings, but Hilmer stepped up on Sophomore Day, delivering her 12th career home run in the fifth to tie the game at six. The offense cooled for both sides as Taylor limited baserunners, forcing extra innings. After a scoreless eighth inning, Taylor was able to leave the bases loaded to end the top half of the ninth inning, setting the stage for Cheetham's heroics.
With two outs, Carter reached base and advanced to second on a Laker miscue in left field. Cheetham drove the first pitch she saw to the left center fence to give the Tigers the game one victory.
Looking to carry the offense over to game two, the Lakers once again struck first, scoring a run in both the second and third innings. MCC finally got on the board in the fourth inning as Cheetham scored on a groundout from Wolfe to cut the deficit in half.
Carter, the game two starting pitcher struck out five batters through the first four innings to keep the Tigers within striking distance. Taylor relived Carter in the circle and kept the Lakers off of the scoreboard. The sophomore struck out four batters in 2.2 innings of work.
Down to their final at bat and still trailing 2-1, the Tigers went to the bench to spark the rally. Freshman Rieley Rodman (Ankeny, IA/Grand View Christian) led off the inning with a pinch hit single to right. After a sacrifice bunt from Fudge, freshman Samuari Jones (Louisville, KY/Seneca) made her first appearance of the day and doubled to deep center field, scoring Wolfe who re-entered to pinch run. Ghee stepped up to the plate and drilled a pitch over the fence, picking a perfect time for her first home run of the season.
The Tigers finish the regular season with an improvement of 24 wins from a year ago, largely in part to the play of the team's five sophomores this season.
MCC heads to the Region XI Tournament as the No. 5 seed this weekend in West Burlington, IA. The Tigers will take on No. 4 seed and tournament host Southeastern Community College at 10:00 AM on Friday. The two teams split the regular season series with two wins each.
