By Becky Walz,
Lani Hubka slides safely into second during a game between the Vikings and Crestwood Thursday night. (Photo courtesy of Nate Troy/Cresco Times Plain Dealer)
The Decorah softball team (15-14, 10-3 NEIC) is looking to gain momentum before the postseason begins, getting a pair of conference wins over Crestwood Thursday. The series win sealed the deal for the Vikes to at least share the Northeast Iowa Conference title with second place Charles City, a team Decorah played Monday.
Falling short
Wednesday, the Vikings traveled to Dike-New Hartford (22-7), falling 4-1.
A solo home run in the first gave the Wolverines a 1-0 lead. D-NH broke away with three more in the third, denying Decorah a run until the seventh.
Decorah scattered five hits. Lauren Luzum had two of them, along with Lillian Olson, Paige Werner and Sydney Kipp with one apiece. Clara Hjelle threw all six innings, taking the loss with five strikeouts.
Dec 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 5 5
D-NH 1 0 3 0 0 0 x 4 9 3
Clara Hjelle (LP) – 6IP, 4R, 9H, 5K
1B – Lauren Luzum 2; Lillian Olson 1; Paige Werner 1; Sydney Kipp 1; RBI – Bryar Duwe 1
Double wins
Playing at Crestwood (13-16, 5-9 NEIC) Thursday, the Vikes picked up wins.
Decorah came out with the bats swinging in game one with lead-off batter Bryar Duwe coming up with a single and stealing third. Lani Hubkas then singled to score Duwe and set up a sac fly by Autumn Schaller to drive in the Vikes’ second run of the game. Crestwood got one back in the bottom of the first and another in the second to tie the game 2-2. It took until the fifth for either team to score again. This time it was Lauren Luzum driving in two runs on a double after Hubka and a sac fly to centerfield. In all, Decorah scored three times. The Cadets pushed one across home plate in the fifth as well; however, a Sydney Kipp double in the sixth scored the final runs for Decorah, giving the Vikes a 7-3 advantage. Crestwood managed to score one more time in the seventh, but that would be it for the Cadets.
One inning was all the Vikes needed to secure the game two victory, as Decorah scored five times in the first frame. Crestwood managed to score one in the first, one in the second and one in the third and came up short, 5-3.
Clara Hjelle got the double win with Kipp starting game two.
Throughout the night, Decorah tallied 13 hits. Luzum and Kipp each had three hits, including a double and drove in three runs to lead the offensive charge.
Dec 2 0 0 0 3 2 0 7 8 2
Crest 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 4 3 2
Hjelle (WP) – 7IP, 4R, 3H, 2BB, 5K
2B – Duwe 1; Luzum 1; Kipp 1; 1B – Hubka 1; Luzum 1; Autumn Schaller 1; Hjelle 1; Kipp 1; RBI – Hubka 2; Luzum 2; Kipp 2; Schaller 1; SB – Olson 2; Duwe 1; Hubka 1; Lydia Frank 1; Jasera Tweten 1
Dec 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 5 2
Crest 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 3 8 4
Hjelle (WP) – 4H, 4K; Kipp (SP) – 3IP, 3R, 4H, 2BB, 1K
1B – Lani Hubka 1; Luzum 1; Olson 1; Werner 1; Kipp 1; RBI – Olson 1; Hjelle 1
This week
Decorah hosted Charles City in the final NEIC series Monday and will face the Comets again in first-round regional action at home Thursday, July 6, at 7 p.m. The winner advances to the semifinal against Western Dubuque in Farley Saturday, July 8, at 7 p.m.
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