EDDYVILLE One area softball team entered the night with 24 wins on the season. The other entered with 24 losses.

One area softball team is hoping to end this summer as a state champion, a place the other area program has once been and hopes someday to be return to.

Sabrina Morrison, the first-year head coach of the Cardinal Comets, knows how the players of Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont are feeling right now just weeks away from the start of the postseason. Like the Rockets of 2017, Morrison was part of a program at Cardinal in 2003 and 2004 that had high hopes of ending a season with a state championship trophy in their position.

It will take some time for Morrison to lead the Comets back to that point as a head coach. That was evident on Friday as No. 3 EBF rolled to a 10-0 win in five innings over Cardinal, improving to 25-6 on the season while dropping the young Comets to 2-25 in Morrison's inaugural head coaching year.

"EBF has a very experienced ball club, but we'll get there," Morrison said. "I think it helps our girls to see what they can do against those really good ball clubs.

"For the first two or three innings, we were right in there holding our own with one of the best in the state."

Friday's game saw plenty of young participants as the Rockets were playing without normal starters Randie Richmond (rest), Haegen Boyer (college visit) and Jade Johnson (separated shoulder). One of those young EBF players that stepped up was eighth-grader Lillie Hynick, who ripped a double and a triple off Meghan Fitzsimmons driving in four runs including a bases-clearing hit in the third that gave the Rockets a 4-0 lead.

"When I was up to bat, I knew I had to do something to get our offense going," Hynick said. "It was my first start. I was really nervous at the start. I calmed down after the first inning and got more confidence before I stepped up for my second at-bat."

Head coach Tony Fenton talked about Friday's game, which turned out to be a chance for Rocket softball fans to get a glimpse at the future of the program. That, however, wasn't the plan Fenton went into the game with.

"We were shorthanded coming into the night for a variety of reasons, so we needed those girls to step up for us," Fenton said. "It proved to be a good opportunity for those young players. Lillie came up with a pair of timely hits exactly when we needed it. Not bad for a first varsity start."

Hynick's first big hit came as a result of three errors in the third inning that allowed EBF to finally snap a scoreless tie. Entering the bottom of the third, the young Comets were hanging right with the highly-ranked Rockets as Fitzsimmons pitched around two early hits thanks to flawless Cardinal defense.

Briana Ver Steegh scored EBF's first run after reaching on a hit and moving to third base on a ball misplayed in the outfield. Thanks to a wild pitch, Ver Steegh crossed home plate to put the Rockets up 1-0 and turned the tide of the game for the Comets as five more errors over the next two innings allowed seven unearned EBF runs to score.

"It just seems like, when we have one error, all the heads just drop," Morrison said of her young softball team. "Our girls have to learn it's OK to have a mistake here and there. The biggest thing right now is our girls just don't believe in themselves. As coaches, we believe they can. It's just a mental thing we're trying to work on, but it's just a matter of those girls gaining more experience. If they execute moving forward, they can overcome a mistake every once in a while."

Third-ranked (2A) Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont returns to the diamond at home on Monday night to continue its pursuit of a South Central Conference title hosting Davis County. EBF needs to win games on Monday with the Mustangs and on Thursday at Clarke while hoping Albia loses at least one road game next week at Clarke or at Centerville. Cardinal, meanwhile, will host Danville in Southeast Iowa Superconference play on Tuesday night.

Scott Jackson can be reached at sjackson@ottumwacourier.com. Follow him on Twitter @CourierScott.

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Third-ranked Rockets roar past Comets - Ottumwacourier