Published: July 08, 2008 10:59 am            

Saber girls fall short against Assumption

DEWITT — Kevin Roling waited and waited for his Central DeWitt softball team to show people why it was ranked 10th in the first Iowa Class 3A softball rankings of the year.

Even though it was in a losing effort, he saw it Monday night when the Sabers were edged 1-0 by sixth-ranked Davenport Assumption in the 3A Region 7 semifinals. Central DeWitt bowed out at 14-26.

“This team made me proud,” Roling said. “They never gave up. They figured it out in the end and gave a valiant effort. We were ranked 10th on the first day of the year, and I felt that was appropriate. We didn’t show it until the end of the year.”

When asked if he was surprised by the way his team played, Roling smiled and paused before saying: “I knew tonight’s game with the rivalry we have with Assumption and the way we were playing at the end, we were going to gut it out. We just fell a little short.”

Assumption (28-11) was just a little bit better as it beat Central DeWitt for the third time this season and advanced to Wednesday’s regional final at Oxford.

“It was one of our better games this season,” Central DeWitt shortstop Lindsey Smith said.

Sophomore pitcher Alyson Valainis was the difference on both ends for the Knights. She allowed just one hit and one walk, and she also drove in the only run with a double in the second inning. Still, she downplayed her importance.

“It was a team effort all around,” she said.

The Knights managed just three hits off Sabers senior Brittany Hughes, but they bunched two of them together in the bottom of the second inning to produce the lone run.

“It just sucks to give up two hits in that inning,” Hughes said.

Morgan Finn led off the inning with a looping single into left field. After Krysta Tutsch struck out, Valainis drilled a line drive to center field that made it all the way to the fence for a double and scored Finn.

Assumption had just one other serious threat against Hughes, a senior left-hander. A hit batter and bunt single by MaryBeth Bush put runners on first and second to open the fifth inning. A sacrifice bunt moved the runners up a base, but tall first baseman Jen Keitel, who was playing in, reached up and snared a line drive headed for right field for the second out before a strikeout ended the threat.

“You only see one or two left-handers every year, so we were happy to get out of this with a win,” Assumption coach Bob Matthys said.

Hughes finished with a three-hitter, walked two batters, hit two with pitches and struck out three in her final appearance.

“We played with pride and played our hearts out,” she said. “There was nothing else we could do. We played well. It’s just hard going out 1-0.”

As good as Hughes was, Valainis was just a bit better.

The 6-foot-2 right-hander, who pitched Assumption to a fifth-place finish at last year’s Class 3A state tournament, retired the first 11 Sabers batters before Smith lined a single to left field with two outs in the fourth inning. A stolen base and throwing error, followed by a walk for Keitel put runners on the corners, but Valainis got out of trouble by striking out Steph Smith, one of her nine strikeouts. That started a string of 10 straight retired by Valainis to end the game.

“She had a lot of movement on her ball that hurt us a lot,” Lindsey Smith said. “We focused on her rise ball and change instead of on hitting the ball.”

Despite the heartbreaking loss, both Smith, a freshman, and Roling said they were excited about the prospects for next season.

“We’re going to miss the seniors a lot,” Smith said. “We’ve got a lot of spots to fill - left field (Steph Smith) and second base (Stephanie Rohling), but we’ve got some young pitchers. We’ve got work to do during the offseason to make ourselves better.”

Roling said: “It’s tough to lose any seniors; they become your girls. But, to look at next year, you definitely have to figure the team has a chance to do pretty amazing things.”

They almost accomplished that Monday night against a returning state placewinner with its entire lineup back.

“All we can do is walk out and be proud of everybody tonight,” Roling said.

Score by Innings

Central DeWitt 000 000 0 — 0 1 0

Assumption 010 000 x — 1 3 1

Brittany Hughes and Nicole Green, Amy Grell (4). Alyson Valainis and Paige Sheeder.

2B—Assumption (Valainis). RBI—Assumption (Valainis).

Records—Central DeWitt 14-26, Assumption 28-11.

        

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