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Monday, June 9 kicked off six days of softball games for the Belmond-Klemme Broncos team. B-K hosted West Hancock in conference play and looked to start their week off with a win and were not disappointed!
Mackenzie Tenold took the mound and sent the first three WH batters back to the dugout. B-K took advantage of a weak arm by the WH catcher and grabbed stolen bases to get into scoring position. Solid hits by Olivia Kuhlers and Rebecca Soma would earn RBIs and the score was 4-0 at the end of the first.
Tenold struck out the next three batters and B-K looked to add to their lead in the bottom of the second. Brianna High led off a bunt to earn first base easily. Keyra Cook’s hard hit went over the head of the center fielder to the fence and an inside-the-park homerun scored two! Hailey Barrus sent one in the air to first base and Lindsey Mason’s hit to third brought Taylor Walrod up to bat with two outs. Walrod kept things going for the Broncos with a hard hit right up the middle, and Coach Jodi Barrus sent in Emma Cox to run the bases. Tenold’s double to the outfield put runners on second and third. Kuhlers hit one to second base for the final out, and B-K left two on base.
West Hancock got their first base runner on a hit to right field. A hit to second base and the throw to first with the runner safe gave WH the chance to earn some runs. But Cook caught a hit, stepped on second and her throw to first gave the Broncos a triple play, and ended the top of the third. B-K wasted no time and loaded the bases on a lead-off hit from Soma, an infield hit by Natalee Dippel and a bunt by High. Cook’s pop-up was the first out of the inning. Barrus, with a great hit over left field, earned a double and scored two. High and Barrus stole home on bad pitches and B-K was up 10-0 with only one out. Mason had an infield hit to third and she beat the throw at first base. Walrod kept things going and ripped one up the center with runners at first and third. Tenold knocked one up the third baseline to score one. With runners at first and second, Kuhlers hit deep to center field, and the ball was caught for the second out. Soma’s fly ball to third base was the third out. B-K left two on and was in the lead 11-0 after three innings.
WH needed to score to keep the game going. A short hit and a throw to first retired the first batter. A big hit past right field for a double breathed some life into the visiting team. A hit to center field scored the first run for WH, and the score was 11-1. Tenold went to work on the next batter and struck her out. A pop fly catch sent B-K to the dugout for the bottom of the fourth. Dippel started things off for B-K, and was thrown out at first after her infield hit. High bunted and took first. High then stole second and third, and Cook walked. High stole home on a mispitch and Cook advanced to third. Barrus walked to first. B-K needed one run to end the game. Mason went down swinging and B-K had runners on second and third. Walrod’s big hit to left field allowed Cook to score the winning run, and end the game in the fourth inning, 13-1.
High and Walrod had three hits, while Soma, Tenold and Barrus had two each, and Mason, Cook, Kuhlers and Dippel had one a piece. Mason, Tenold and Barrus earned doubles, and Cook had a homerun. Barrus was credited with three RBIs, and Cook had two RBIs, followed by Mason, Soma, Kuhlers and Walrod with one each. Barrus led team with five stolen bases, followed by Cook and High with four, Mason had two, Kuhlers and Walrod with one each.
Tenold earned the win from the mound, allowing four hits, one run, and six strikeouts.
B-K hosted Clarion-Goldfield June 10 and looked to keep their winning going.
Pop flies caught by Rebecca Soma and Hailey Barrus retired the first two batters. CG earned a base runner on a spinning ball staying fair on the third base line. A hit to Barrus at third and throw to Soma at first ended the inning for CG. A hard hit by Keyra Cook to left field was caught by a diving catch by CG for the first out. Barrus sent a hit past second and became the first Bronco on base. Barrus stole second, and Walrod earned a base on balls. Tenold’s infield hit and a throw to third ended the first inning with a scoreless game.
A Cowgirl hit to third base and Barrus threw to Soma for the first out. A pop fly dropped by Soma put the runner safe on first. Miscommunication had a runner off the bag and on the move toward homeplate, and Soma tagged first for the second out. A pop fly was caught by Tenold and B-K headed to the dugout. Soma took first base on balls and Emma Cox was sent in to run the bases. Olivia Kuhlers hit to shortstop, and Cox was thrown out at second for the first out. Kuhlers stole second and Natalee Dippel was hit by a pitch to earn first. A pitch got by the catcher, and Kuhlers and Dippel advanced to second and third. High laid down a bunt and was safe at first, and Kuhlers scored. Cook’s hit advanced High, and Dippel scored. Barrus was hit by pitch, and the bases were loaded with one out. Mason was out with an infield pop fly. High stole home on a pitch past the catcher. Walrod was walked and the bases were loaded again. Tenold hit a ground ball to short stop that was fumbled, Cook scored, and loaded the bases again. Soma’s strikeout ended the second inning with three Broncos left on base, and B-K up 4-0.
The first batter for CG struck out. A Cowgirl was hit by a pitch to put a runner at first. A hard hit to third and a bobbled ball by Barrus before the throw to second put two on base for CG. A bunt loaded the bases and a hard hit to center field scored two for CG. The visitors, with runners on first and third, sent the runner to second. Cook hit the cutoff from Walrod and fired back as the third base runner stole home, and the second base runner took third. Tenold hit the next batter and runners were at first and third. The next batter earned a base on balls and the bases were loaded. A hard hit at Kuhlers was caught for the second out. A hit down the third baseline to Barrus and a throw to Soma at first ended it for CG. Kuhlers led off the inning with a hit over the left fielder’s head and stopped on second base. Kuhlers took third on a pitch past the catcher. Dippel earned a base on balls and stole second. High laid down a bunt to take first. The bases were loaded with Cook up to bat. Her hit past the short stop scored Kuhlers. CG put a new pitcher in with the bases loaded and no outs. Strike three was dropped by the catcher, but Barrus was thrown out at first as Dippel crossed home plate. High stole home on a pitch past the catcher, and Cook advanced. Mason sent a pop fly to the second baseman that was caught for the second out. Walrod earned a base on balls, and Katelyn Spitler was sent in to run for Walrod with runners on first and third. Tenold sent the ball past the shortstop to score Cook. Vanessa Wessels was sent in to run for Tenold. Soma walked to load the bases and Kuhlers earned a base on balls to score Spitler. Dippel’s base hit past second allowed Wessels to score. High earned a base on balls and sent Soma home. CG called a timeout to regroup. The next pitch sailed past the catcher and B-K scored. CG called another timeout, and replaced the relief pitcher with the starting pitcher in an attempt to get out of this inning. Barrus hit one to third base and the player tagged the bag for the force-out to end the inning. B-K had a 12-3 lead going into the top of the fourth.
CG led off with a shallow base hit into centerfield. The first out came on a pop fly to Cook. CG hit one to left field followed by a grounder hit up the center to load bases with one out. A soft hit to Tenold and a throw to home plate for the force out left B-K with two outs, and the bases still loaded. A grounder to Tenold again and the toss to homeplate while the runner slid resulted in the umpire calling her out and B-K held CG scoreless in the fourth. Mason led things off for the home team with a hit up the middle, but she was thrown out at first. Walrod earned the base on balls and a Tenold hit toward second base gave B-K base runners. Soma’s infield hit allowed CG to throw out the runner at third. Wessels (in for Tenold) stole third and Soma advanced to second on a wild pitch. Kuhlers walked to load the bases for B-K. Dippel earned a ball on bases and scored Wessels. A wild pitch past the catcher allowed Soma to score. High went down swinging and ended the fourth with B-K up 14-3.
CG needed to score two in the fifth to keep the game alive. Tenold sent the first batter to base on balls. A hit past Kuhlers put runners on first and second. Kuhlers knocked down the next hit and threw the runner out at first, leaving runners at second and third. A hit to centerfielder Mason was caught and thrown to first for two outs. The following infield hit scored one, and CG still had runners at first and third. Tenold struck out the last batter to end the game 14-4 in the fifth with another win for B-K!
Tenold had three hits, followed by Cook, High and Kuhlers with two each, and Soma, Walrod, Barrus and Dippel with one a piece. Kuhlers recorded three runs, a double and three RBIs on the night, followed by Cook, High and Tenold with two runs and two RBIs each. High and Kuhlers were credited with four stolen bases each, followed by Barrus and Dippel with three, Cook and Logann Elkin with two a piece and Wessels with one.
Tenold earned the win, allowing nine hits, four runs, two strikeouts and two walks.
The Broncos traveled to Mason City Newman on June 11, and the girls were looking to keep the winning streak alive in their week of softball. It quickly became a battle of the pitchers with B-K handling the slapping and bunting of Newman and both teams being held scoreless.
The Newman bats came alive in the fourth with a hard hit over the centerfielder’s head followed by a bunt to put runners at first and third with one out. A bunt loaded the bases and a caught pop fly had the Broncos looking for a third out with the bases loaded. A hit in and out of the glove of Mackenzie Tenold, followed by a bad throw to first, scored two and runners remained on second and third. Tenold and Taylor Walrod both went for the bunted ball, while the runner scored and the batter was safe on first. The first base runner took second on a pitch in the dirt, and the runner scored from third. Two errors on hits to Keyra Cook and a hit batter loaded bases again for Newman. A walk scored one. A fly ball caught by Brianna High ended the fourth with Newman leading 6-0.
Both teams struggled to score heading into the seventh inning. Cook led off for B-K looking to put some runs on the board. Cook hit past the short stop and took first. Cook stole second and as Hailey Barrus was thrown out at first, Cook took third. Cook stole home on an over-thrown ball and B-K was on the scoreboard. Mason and Walrod came up with hits to keep the inning going. Tenold’s hard hit was caught by the first baseman, who stepped on first for a double play to end the game. B-K lost 6-1.
Mason, Cook and Walrod had one hit each. Cook was credited with one run and two stolen bases.
Tenold allowed seven hits, six runs, three base on balls and two strikeouts.
Katelyn Spitler took the mound for B-K who hosted Humboldt on June 12.
Both teams were scoreless until the third inning, when Humboldt would take advantage of walks and a home run to go ahead 5-0. Brianna High led off the bottom of the third with a bunt and was safe on base. Coach Jodi Barrus sent her to second and she was thrown out by the strong arm of the Humboldt catcher for the first out. Barrus, with a double on two outs, was looking to get a rally going, but the Humboldt pitcher sent Tenold down swinging to end the third.
Humboldt scored seven in the fourth inning for the big 12-0 lead. B-K capitalized on an error by the first baseman and had a base runner with Mason on first. Mason stole second and third, and a hard hit by Soma over third base stayed fair to send Mason home.
The Broncos headed to the field down 12-1 in the fifth inning. Spitler struck out two in the fifth, and Humboldt scored one, so B-K headed to the dugout knowing the team had to score two to keep the game alive. Keyra Cook led off and went down swinging. Hailey Barrus with a base hit earned first. Walrod earned first on a dropped throw, and B-K had two runners on base with only one out. Emma Cox came in to run for Walrod. The runners advanced on a bad pitch. Tenold hit one to the shortstop and Barrus scored, although Tenold was out at first. A pop fly by Kuhlers ended the game, and the Broncos lost 13-2.
Barrus had two hits, one run, one double and a stolen base. Soma and High each had one hit, and Cox earned one stolen base, while Tenold had an RBI.
Spitler pitched 5 innings, and allowed 14 hits, 13 runs, two bases on balls and six strikeouts. B-K had 11 errors on the night.