Local Sports

Jul 4, 2017

T-R PHOTO BY THORN COMPTON BCLUW senior Leah Yantis cranks one of her four hits during the Comets 5-2 win over West Marshall in State Center on Monday night. With the win, BCLUW locked down its second-straight NICL West Division title.

STATE CENTER It was standing-room only at the West Marshall softball field on Monday when the Class 3A No. 10 Trojans welcomed in 2A No. 12 BCLUW with a NICL West Division title on the line, but the game almost didnt happen thanks to an approaching thunderstorm.

Thankfully, after a roughly 45-minute delay, the game was able to get underway, and after withstanding two early home runs from West Marshall, BCLUW (27-8, 11-1) came back and won their second-straight NICL West crown.

After the game, Comets head coach David Lee said starting pitcher Samantha Ubben was slightly effected by the long lightning delay, but once she got rolling the Trojans couldnt touch her.

I thought Sam was a little shook there early, she didnt make bad pitches and they hit those two perfectly, he said. She might have been a couple MPH off her speed early on because of the delay and the waiting. All I can tell you is she got better as the game went on, there was no doubt from the third inning on she really was in good command of her pitches and what was going on.

And recover she did, as Ubben would pitch all seven innings in the game, giving up only three hits and two runs the two homers by Katie Price and Karisa Blocker while striking out nine batters on the night.

T-R PHOTO BY THORN COMPTON Comets senior Sara Sharp (9) slides into home plate after being tagged out by West Marshall third baseman Brooke Snider (42) during the second inning of Mondays NICL West Division title match between the Trojans and BCLUW in State Center.

Ubben said, though this was the final regular season game of her career and a conference title match, she approached her start like it was just a normal day.

I just tried to think it was a normal game, rain delays happen and there isnt anything we can control on that, she said. In the first inning, obviously I was missing my spots a little bit but I couldnt really control that they were hitting it but I knew if I came back stronger throughout the innings they wouldnt keep hitting off me, so I tried to be confident in myself and my skills.

Ubben also got it done of the offensive end, as she hit a key two-base line drive that scored two Comets and broke up a 2-2 tie in the top of the fourth.

Another BCLUW senior had a great cap to her final regular season match, as leadoff hitter Leah Yantis went 4-for-4 from the plate with an RBI of her own.

Lee said Yantis is invaluable to his teams success, and when she is on at the plate all of the Comets play better.

T-R PHOTO BY THORN COMPTON

She is really a key for what happens for us, he said. When she gets on, that really changes our whole offensive philosophy. Then with Sam and (Jordyn) Beeghly and (Easton) Swanson driving the ball the way they have the last couple weeks, we just need that to happen. We have a lot of seniors and they stepped up tonight.

On the other side of the field, West Marshall (30-6, 10-2) played a tight game of their own, especially with senior ace Kallie Malloy resting her arm for the postseason starting Wednesday.

Eighth-grader Loran Nicholson got the start for the Trojans, and she pitched seven full innings while giving up five runs off 12 hits and striking out one.

West Marshall head coach Todd Verwers said he saw what he needed to from his team on Monday night, and he feels confident about their chances heading into Wednesdays playoff match.

I knew Loran was going to be fine, she had beat the fifth ranked team in 2A last weekend, Verwers said. She did a good job of getting herself physically ready, I knew mentally she would be fine because she doesnt seem to be phased by a whole lot. She threw strikes and that allowed us to have balls put in play and get tested, get reps defensively. Had we thrown Kallie she would have had probably 10 or 12 strikeouts which was 10 less opportunities for someone else to make a play.

T-R PHOTO BY THORN COMPTON

Of course questions could be raised about Verwers decision to not throw his best pitcher with a conference championship on the line, but he said when it comes to the end of a season, he is more focused on having his team fully ready to compete for a state title.

I know a lot of people dont understand that mentality of not throwing your number one even though it is a conference championship game, but where I come from there are more important things like the postseason, he said. We have to do whats smart for us and that was to handle it the way we did.

BCLUW had a different philosophy on Monday night, hence starting their No. 1 pitcher, and Lee said he never passes up an opportunity to nail down a conference title.

We dont look any further than that, as long as there is a chance to be a conference champion that is what we are playing for, Lee said. Now this is over and we will retool and get our mind on what will happen in the tournament.

Ubben echoed her coachs statement, saying that she is extremely proud of her team for winning a second-straight NICL West title and accomplishing the goals they put forth at start of the year.

Goal one of our season was to win our first game and goal two was to win conference, so now we are looking toward state, Ubben said of the teams mindset. Wednesday is another game we have to take seriously since it is a big game, but it has been a great season so far. I wouldnt want anything better, winning conference is a huge goal so I am glad we got that accomplished.

West Marshall and BCLUW each host their first-round matches on Wednesday, with the Trojans kicking off the 3A Region 8 bracket by hosting Creston and the Comets starting 2A Region 3 play by welcoming Aplington-Parkersburg. Both games are set for a 7 p.m. first pitch.

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