It was a week in which Cowgirl Nation saw the team score 26 total runs. While it didn’t produce any wins, they were right in several of those games as they close in on putting it all together on the right night. This ever-improving team will rise up to catch someone sleeping on them just enough to get that first win for coach Terhark very soon now.
It started on Monday in a 5-3 loss at Iowa Falls-Alden. The team plated two scores in the third and added another in the sixth. Indy Johnson and MacKenna Hasty both showed strong bats in going 2 for 3 with Hasty scoring a run. Kennedy Trca blasted a double in her only connection and scored a run. Brooke Askelsen singled in a run, with Kendall Lienemann getting a hit as well. Mady Hennigar scored the other run. Karlee Lehman, Kaylie Dow and Hennigar all reached once on an error.
Alaina Friesleben went the distance in the circle, allowing just four earned on eight hits. She walked six, hit two and threw three strikeouts.
“This was a decent game for us,” stated head coach Steve Terhark. “We did have several early errors on defense, and those cost us runs. Offensively, we just couldn’t get the key hit.”
The next night at Belmond-Klemme, the final margin was one-run closer in a 5-4 Bronco win. The Cowgirls posted two runs in both the fourth and fifth innings. Lehman, Trca and M. Hasty all rapped out a double each, while Clarissa Hasty and Lehman added an RBI each to their stat line. Trca also singled for a 2 for 3 night, while Hennigar reached on a base hit. Johnson drew a walk, with C. Hasty reaching twice on errors and Lehman and Dow once each. C. Hasty stole two bags and Trca one.
Friesleben pitched well in giving up only one earned run on a three-hitter. She gave out four walks and hit five batters, but also fired five K’s across the plate.
“We were up 4-0, then ran into trouble in the sixth with walks and errors,” said the coach. “We also had a lot of pop-ups. After a good effort for 5 1/2, we just couldn’t finish it.”
A 14-8 loss at Clear Lake on Wednesday saw the team produce three scores in the fifth sandwiched between two runs each in the first and sixth. C. Hasty swung the big lumber here, going 4 for 4 with a double, two RBI and three runs scored. M. Hasty, Lehman and Dow all drove in a run each. Askelsen went 2 for 3 and scored a run, while M. Hasty, Trca, Lehman, Lienemann and Dow all reached on singles and all but Trca and Dow crossed the plate once. Hennigar also scored a run.
Trca and Johnson drew a free pass to first each, while M. Hasty, Lehman, Dow and Hennigar all reached on an error. C. Hasty and Lehman stole a base each. Friesleben allowed 10 earned on 13 hits. She walked five. Nyla Wibholm came on in relief.
“We changed up the batting order for this one,” said Terhark. “We came out swinging, but the Lions bats were a bit better for the night. We were also thrown out at home on a play.”
A Thursday trip to Osage almost had the ladies celebrating a win on the ride home in an 8-7 loss to the Green Devils. The Cowgirls felt like it was their night in going up 3-1 after four innings and 6-1 after 4 1/2 were in the book. However, a five-run fifth tied it up with the home team taking an 8-6 lead going into the seventh. The Cowgirls got one back, but that was all they could muster.
Dow’s bat was smoking after a 4 for 4 night with an RBI and two runs scored. Hennigar and Askelsen were both 2 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored. Johnson got a hit and drove in a run with it, while C. Hasty brought in a run after reaching on an error. M. Hasty had two hits and Lienemann one, with Kendall reaching first twice on errors and Lehman once. Lehman was also hit by a pitch to reach first. M. Hasty, Dow and Askelsen all sped to a steal each.
Wibholm started in the circle and gave up six earned on five hits with two K’s. Friesleben came on in relief and gave up two earned on two hits with a strikeout.
“We tried to rest Alaina,” said the coach. “We had a five-run lead, then let it slip away. Again, too many walks and not being able to throw strikes really hurt us.”
They closed out the week by hosting St. Edmond and dropped a 12-4 game to the Gaels. The home team crossed once in the first and three times in the third. C. Hasty ripped a double for one of her two hits and scored twice. Lehman, Lienemann Hennigar all reached on a single, with Lehman scoring once and getting an RBI. M. Hasty scored the other run, while Trca and Lienemann had an RBI each.
Johnson drew a pair of walks, with M. Hasty, Trca and Askelsen all reaching on an error. Friesleben threw 4 1/3 innings, giving up three earned on nine hits. She walked five, hit two batters and had one strikeout. Wibholm pitched the rest, allowing only two earned on two hits with two strikeouts.
“The Gaels were on a winning streak coming into this one,” said Terhark. “To our credit, we fought back. We’re getting there, and the girls are staying positive and learning every night out.”
