Waukon softball team has season ended with first-round regional loss at #12 Beckman

What started with a display of power eroded into more of a one-sided result that ultimately brought an end to the 2016 season for the Waukon softball team. The Indian diamond dwellers traveled to Dyersville to match up with the 12th-rated Trailblazers of Beckman Catholic in a Class 3A Region 6 first-round tournament match-up Wednesday, July 6, returning home with an 11-1 defeat in five innings that closed out the Tribe’s summer campaign.

The Indians were limited to just three hits in the contest by Beckman freshman Sydney Steffen, who also drove in six of the Trailblazers’ 11 runs on the night in a three-for-three plate effort that included a two-run homerun and two run-scoring doubles. Steffen also got strong support from her teammates, who helped knock around a total of 13 hits on the night and also played nearly flawless defense to set the Indians down in order in the middle three of the game’s five innings.

What sounds like a dominant performance by the host Trailblazers didn’t necessarily start out that way, although Steffens’ two-run round-trip blast came right away in the opening frame after the lead-off batter was hit by a pitch. Two more Beckman singles and a passed ball made for a 3-0 Trailblazer lead for the host school that actually was forced to be the visiting team by the game-opening coin flip.

The Indian defense regrouped a bit following that early Beckman homerun, as the junior tandem of shortstop Regan Wasson and first baseman Deana Schlitter teamed up for a much-needed double play when Wasson scooped up a ground ball through the middle, stepped on second base and fired to Schlitter at first to prevent what could have been a much bigger initial outburst by the host squad.

Despite that initial 3-0 hole, the Indians showed they weren’t going away without a fight, and none more so than senior center fielder Madison Snitker. Leading off the Tribe’s first-inning at-bats in the bottom of the frame, Snitker let loose on the first pitch Steffens offered in the contest and blasted it over the right-center field wall for her own solo round-trip, instantly cutting the Beckman lead to 3-1. Two outs later, sophomore right fielder Audry Fahey legged out an errant throw and senior pitcher Leslie Sivesind drilled a single to renew the Indian offensive effort, but a final ground-out doused any further Indian threat and was the first of what turned out to be 11 consecutive outs for the softball Tribe that kept any further runners reaching base until the fifth inning.

Indian defense showed its continued fight by returning that three-up, three-down favor in the third inning, but that silent frame proved to be the only one the Tribe could hang on Beckman. Three Trailblazer singles and two Indian errors added four runs to Beckman’s side of the scoreboard in the second inning, and a double and four singles in the fourth took the game to the brink of an early end at a 10-1 Trailblazer advantage. One final Beckman single, a stolen base, a ground-out and a sacrifice fly put the finishing touches on an 11-1 Trailblazer lead in the top of the fifth frame.

Further proving their resolve, the Indians went to work to try and avoid an early end to the contest in the bottom of the fifth inning, getting a one-out single from senior left fielder Kaela Wood, who was then put out at second base on a fielder’s choice in Wasson’s at-bat. An error in Snitker’s at-bat allowed her to join Wasson on the basepaths, with an ensuing passed ball moving both into scoring position at second and third base. However, a final called third strike brought that Indian threat to an abrupt halt, along with the Tribe’s softball season, by an 11-1 mercy-rule result in five innings.

Sivesind suffered the pitching loss, giving up 13 hits and 11 runs - eight of them earned, without recording a walk or a strike-out. She also joined Wood in each stroking a single, with Snitker providing the only other Indian hit - that first-pitch blast that provided the Tribe’s only run of the ballgame.

Snitker, Sivesind and Wood were also joined by fellow seniors Kaley Benzing, Bethany Stock and Emily Hammel in having their high school athletic careers brought to a close with the loss, which also completes the Indians’ season with a 7-20 record that included a fifth-place Northeast Iowa Conference mark of 3-12.

The win advanced Beckman to a Friday, July 8 regional semifinals match-up with New Hampton, 13-3 first-round winners over North Fayette Valley. New Hampton escaped with a win in that semifinals contest by a 7-6 result in eight innings to earn a Region 6 championship match-up with top-rated Benton Community, who then earned a return trip to the Class 3A State Tournament with a 10-1 victory Monday, July 11 over New Hampton.