No. 3 Louisa-Muscatine takes lead, and game in the seventh

By Jeff Yoder
Posted 6/19/21

The Huskies needed just one more out to get to the bottom of the seventh inning in a 2-2 tie with No. 3 Louisa-Muscatine. 

But that out proved hard to get. 

A soft fly ball made it …

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No. 3 Louisa-Muscatine takes lead, and game in the seventh

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The Huskies needed just one more out to get to the bottom of the seventh inning in a 2-2 tie with No. 3 Louisa-Muscatine. 

But that out proved hard to get. 

A soft fly ball made it over the infield and dropped in right field to score two runs. Another two-out single was followed by a home run and suddenly the Huskies were down by six. 

The matchup between the conference leaders was much closer than the 8-2 final score would indicate, but L-M left with a win and sole possession of first place in the SEISC North. 

Grace Batcheller scored on a Jessica Kraus single to tie the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the sixth. 

“I’m super happy with the way they performed, and they kept fighting to tie that game up,” Highland coach Carrie Wieland said. “I just think we weren’t sharp on defense and we made some major mistakes… I told them, it's that one percent  — 99.0 percent of the time they're hustling, they're doing everything they're supposed to do. It's that one percent that fails.”

Through the first six innings, Batcheller had allowed just two runs on eight hits and two errors. The Falcons had six hits in the final inning, including four with two outs. Batcheller did not walk or hit a batter. 

Kraus doubled in the bottom of the second inning. MyLei Smith put the ball in play and reached base on an error to score Kraus, tying the game at 1-1. Katelyn Waters drew a walk to put two on, but a pair of strikeouts stranded the runners. 

Sarah Burton had a single, reached on error and stole two bases. Batcheller had a hit and drew a walk. Grace Prybil stole a base as a courtesy runner. 

Some close calls at first base kept Highland from extending innings earlier in the tight contest.

“You know, you’ve gotta pick yourself up and move forward,” Wieland said. “It is what it is and next week we’re packed, we can't even think about it by the next week.”

Van Buren 4, Highland 0

Grace Batcheller had the only hit for Highland in a 4-0 loss at No. 13 Van Buren. 

The Warriors scored two runs on two singles in the first inning. Van Buren led 2-0 until the sixth inning when a two-run shot doubled the lead. 

Batcheller had a leadoff single in the second and Jessica Kraus walked with two outs, but a groundout ended the threat. Kraus walked again in the fifth, but she would be the last Huskie baserunner. 

Kraus allowed three earned runs on six hits over six innings. She struck out five. 

Highland 13, Lone Tree 1

The Huskies scored three times in the first inning and stayed hot in a 13-1 win at Lone Tree on Tuesday, June 15. 

Highland senior Jenna Sands was 3 for 3 and drove in four runs as Highland defeated its rival for the second time this season. 

Sarah Burton tripled to lead off the game. Sands gave Highland a 3-0 lead with a two-out hit to center field. 

Grace Batcheller was 2 for 2 with two walks and four RBIs. She hit a three-run homer in the top of the fifth and also picked up the win in the circle. She allowed a run on four hits and no walks over five innings. 

Abbi Stransky started the fourth inning with a solo shot over the center field fence. She also walked once and scored three times. Jessica Kraus and Sarah Burton each had two hits and an RBI and Katelyn Waters had a hit and an RBI.