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GENOA – Since putting up four runs in an April 10 loss to North Boone, the Genoa-Kingston softball team has scored at least seven runs in every game.
The Cogs averaged almost 11 runs per game against a trio of Big Northern Conference opponents, but the bats cooled off Monday in a 9-4 loss to Winnebago.
“I think we were all in our heads,” said sophomore catcher Arielle Rich. “We did really well last game, and everybody was going out there to kill the ball instead of to put it in play, including myself.”
The Cogs (7-8-1, 4-2 conference) scored three runs in the last two innings and put together a rally in the seventh. Olivia Vasak started things with a one-out single, moving to third on an Elizabeth Davis double and scoring on a wild pitch to make the score 9-3.
Davis scored on a groundout by Brooklynn Ordlock, but they wouldn’t score again.
Winnebago starter Vern Gilley-Amdal tamed the Genoa-Kingston bats, allowing one run and four hits through the first five innings. She finished with five strikeouts and did not walk a batter until the seventh inning.
“Their pitcher was good,” G-K coach Andrew Freund said. “I think we were a little impatient. We want them to be aggressive, but some balls were hit right at them. It’s really all you can do.”
The Cogs have gotten into gear since a 1-5 start that included games at a tournament in Jacksonville against 3A and 4A teams and a loss to 2A Marengo.
They played a wild 18-18 game at Plano in which Vasak and catcher Ari Rich each homered twice. They scored five in the top of the seventh to secure a 15-12 win against Byron. Elizabeth Davis homered in that one as she nears home-run records for the Cogs.
They scored three in the bottom of the seventh to beat Woodstock. They scored seven in the top of the seventh last week against Harvard to clinch a 15-7 win against Harvard.
They weren’t able to muster any of that magic against the Indians (7-8, 2-4).
“Our bats weren’t going like they have been,” Rich said, “but defensively we did pretty well.”
Rich made some huge defensive plays in the middle innings to keep things from getting too far out of hand for the Cogs.
The biggest was in the fourth with the Cogs down 6-1. Sammi Falnes popped up in foul territory, and Rich chased it down after colliding into the metal post of the fence. Grace Corl thought she could tag, but Rich collected herself and threw her out at second.
“My mask got stuck on my head, I couldn’t see at first,” Rich said. “I just kept running and hoped I could catch it against the fence. I heard people screaming she was going, just threw it, and we got her.”
She also picked off a runner to end the fourth and picked off another after a leadoff walk in the fifth to keep things at 6-1.
Rich is second behind Davis with a .473 batting average this year and has three home runs. Davis leads the team with a .490 batting average, eight home runs and 23 RBIs.
Vassak and Abigail Fellows are the only seniors, and that has allowed young players like Rich step up.
“She’s such a great player,” Freund said. “As a sophomore I’m real impressed with her. Hitting and fielding, she’s an all-around great player. I’m real impressed with how she’s done.”
Davis had a pair of doubles in the loss. Ordlock also had two of the Cogs’ nine hits.
Rich said she’s been impressed by the power the team has shown this year. She, Davis and Vasak all have on base-plus-slugging averages (OPS) over 1.100, and the team’s OPS is at 0.894.
“It’s been exciting,” Rich said. “We’ve had a lot of powerful hits this year, more than singles. When we do make contact, we have pretty good, to-the-outfield, solid contact.”