Published: July 08, 2008 11:03 am            

Bormann leads Preston to win

PRESTON — Sometimes in softball, when you have a conference MVP at pitcher, one run is all you need.

That was the case on Monday as Kelcie Bormann fired a no-hitter in leading the Preston Trojans to a 1-0 win over No. 15 ranked Bellevue Marquette in an Iowa Class 1A Regional Softball Quarterfinal. Last week, the Preston freshman was tabbed by Big East Conference coaches as the most valuable player after compiling a 17-8 record and striking out 263 in 172 innings.

On Monday, Bormann struck out 15, less than a week after fanning 17 in a 4-2 win over Bellevue in first round action.

Korissa Daniels provided the game’s lone run with an RBI single in the third to plate teammate Haley Andresen.

The game’s first hit did not come until the top of the third as Bormann and Marquette’s Emily Michels engaged in a pitcher’s duel. Both were named first team all-conference pitchers by the Big East coaches.

With two outs in the top of the third, Andresen doubled then stole third with Daniels batting.

With a 2-2 count, Daniels slapped a double to right-center to score Andresen and to give the Trojans a 1-0 lead.

Preston would put runners on base over the next three innings but failed to score any of them.

In the bottom of the fifth, Marquette loaded the bases in their only real scoring threat on the night.

Michels reached on a walk, then stole second. She advanced to third on a passed ball to put the tying run 60 feet away.

Allison Schekel walked then stole second to give the Mohawks runners at second and third. The No. 9 hitter, Megan Delaney also walked to load the bases.

With two outs, Molly Sieverding popped up to Preston shortstop, Megan Zeimet, to end the scoring threat.

Bormann secured the win by striking out four over the next two innings as Marquette went down in order in the sixth and seventh.

With the win, the Trojans advance to face Big East Conference foe Calamus-Wheatland in a regional semifinal on Wednesday. The Warriors downed Midland 16-11 on Monday in Wyoming. Calamus-Wheatland won the conference title with a 10-1 record, while the Trojans finished tied for second at 8-3.

The Warriors won the teams’ conference battle at Preston, 3-2.

Bormann was pleased to top a Mohawk team that had beaten the Trojans two out of three games in the regular season.

“It felt good to beat them,” Bormann said. “I got a lot of help from our defense. I was a little nervous when they loaded the bases in fifth, but we got out of it.”

Preston head coach Tim Zeimet praised the play of Bormann and Daniels.

“Kelcie did a good job of staying ahead of the hitters,” Zeimet said. “That’s how they beat us before. They would get walks and steal bases to score runs on us. Tonight she got ahead of them. Also Karissa Daniels did a good job at the plate. She is dialed in right now and really hitting well. We are going to need that from here on out.”

The Trojans started the season ranked 11th in Class 1A, but fell out of the rankings after a tough stretch in June in which they lost seven in a row. The losses came at the hands of some stiff competition and Zeimet feels the tough out of conference schedule is starting to pay off.

“We played Pleasant Valley, we played Davenport Assumption and split with them, we played Turkey Valley who is a good team, we played Linn-Mar,” Zeimet said. “We took our lumps when we lost seven in a row. Now it’s starting to payoff. This is why we played the tough schedule. We played some tough competition to get to where we are at and the Big East is a super conference. The competition is unbelievable.”

Preston will host Calamus-Wheatland on Wednesday in a regional semifinal, with first pitch slated for 7 p.m.

The Trojans are now 22-11 on the season.

Score by Innings

Preston 001 000 0 —1 6 0

Bellevue Marquette 000 000 0 —0 0 0

Kelcie Bormann and Haley Andresen. Emily Michels and Miranda Heiar.

Two or more hits—Preston, Korissa Daniels. 2B—Preston, Andresen. RBI—Preston, Daniels.

Record—Preston 22-11.

Next game—Iowa Class 1A Regional Semifinal (Calamus-Wheatland at Preston), 7 p.m. Wednesday.

        

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