NIACC softball team drops pair to Marshalltown CC
By JARED PATTERSON, Of The Globe Gazette
MASON CITY — The feeling of being close isn't any consolation for NIACC softball coach Christi Weiser.
You could tell in her tone after Tuesday's doubleheader loss to Marshalltown that the way this one ended stung.
"There's nothing that can sum it up better than that," Weiser said about the last at-bat in a 5-4 loss to Marshalltown in Tuesday's nightcap.
But NIACC responded, trimmed the deficit to one and had runners on second and third with two outs for freshman Elise Powers in the bottom of the seventh inning.
"She worked her tail off," Weiser said. "She gets rid of the pitch that she had trouble with earlier in the year and gets a pitch she can handle."
On that pitch she could handle, Powers smoked a line drive that appeared destined to plate two and give NIACC a walk-off win.
But instead, the liner found the glove of the third baseman and the Lady Trojans were handed their fourth consecutive defeat.
In a nutshell, that's how things have gone as of late for NIACC.
"She squared it up and they got a glove on it," Weiser said. "She can't hit it any harder."
It was a day of near-misses for the Lady Trojans. Trailing 5-4 in the seventh inning of Game 2, Tricia Notermann tattooed a ball to right-center field. The wind knocked it down just shy of the fence and she had to settle for a double. If the wind wasn't gusting in, the ball easily clears the fence and the game is tied.
But of late, nothing has come easy for NIACC. It has lost nine of 11 and is 0-9 on its home diamond.
What made Tuesday tough to swallow aside from the game's final out was what turned out to be Marshalltown's winning run.
"The winning run scored from first because we didn't communicate," Weiser said. "It's 1 to 13, and Bob (Horner) and I. That detail cost us a game. That's the way it goes sometimes."
The good news, however, is the Lady Trojans (13-22) don't have to wait long for a chance to right the ship as Iowa Lakes comes to town Wednesday for a doubleheader starting at 2 p.m.
"You have to have a short memory for the things that you don't do well, with the knowledge that you will do better. That's what you have to do," Weiser said.
MARSHALLTOWN 6, NIACC 3
Marshalltown 200 130 0—6 12 0
NIACC 001 000 2 – 3 8 1
Taylor and Anderson. Sara Steinman and Brittany Florea. 3B – Kendall Cornick (N). 2B – Ghee (M), Valentine (M) 2, Multiple hits – Cornick 2, Allison Scott (N) 2, Fudge (M) 2, Cheetham (M) 2, Hilmer (M) 2.
MARSHALLTOWN 5, NIACC 4
Marshalltown 010 004 0—5 10 2
NIACC 101 101 0 – 4 8 1
Carter and Carpenter. Katie LaBuda, Becca Huberty (6) and Elise Powers. 2B – Labuda, Powers, Fudge (M), Tricia Notermann (N) 2. Multiple hits – Cornick 2, Notermann 3, Anderson 2, Carter.