DAVENPORT, Iowa All Dave Reynolds could do was tip his cap. <\/p>\n
After home postseason wins over Davis County and West Burlington, the West Liberty softball team ran into a giant buzzsaw Monday night. <\/p>\n
Class 3A top-ranked Davenport Assumption pieced together 17 hits and limited West Liberty to just three in a 10-0 regional final victory at the St. Vincent Athletic Complex. <\/p>\n
\"That is a great team,\" West Liberty's head coach said. \"They clearly had the better bats, better pitching and better defense. We've got to aspire to be a team like that.\" <\/p>\n
West Liberty (22-14) hung around for the first couple of innings. In fact, Haylee Lehman led off with a double. <\/p>\n
Lehman, though, was stranded there after Nicole Timmons recorded back-to-back strikeouts and a ground out. <\/p>\n
\"It would have been big if we had gotten a run early to put pressure on them,\" Lehman said. <\/p>\n
Lehman had two of West Liberty's three hits, both coming off Timmons. <\/p>\n
\"I just went up with confidence and I knew she threw a rise ball,\" Lehman said. \"You've either got to stay in the back of the box and lay off or hit it in the front of the box. I saw it coming early, kept my hands high and tried to stay on top of the ball.\" <\/p>\n
West Liberty just couldn't string anything else together against Timmons or reliever Hannah Kelley. The Comets struck out 14 times. <\/p>\n
\"We don't see many riseballs and quality changeups like that,\" Reynolds said. \"They just play against better teams all season long in that 5A conference.\" <\/p>\n
Assumption, which has won 41 consecutive games, goes to the state tournament in Fort Dodge next week as the top seed in 3A. <\/p>\n
After not scoring in the first two innings, the Knights scored three times in the third inning. Eighth grader Olivia Wardlow laced a two-out single back up the middle to plate the initial run. <\/p>\n
Kelley, Emma Valainis and Carlie Sammon followed with singles. <\/p>\n
Then in the fourth inning, Assumption (41-1) added five more hits, three coming from the bottom of the order, to extend the lead to 7-0. <\/p>\n
\"We know our offense can come through anywhere in our lineup,\" shortstop Nicole Yoder said after a three-hit game. \"It gives us a lot of confidence and helps us stay up during the game.\" <\/p>\n
West Liberty pitcher Emma Martin worked into the fourth inning before Macy Akers relieved her. Akers pitched a scoreless fifth and sixth before Assumption pounced for three more runs in the seventh. <\/p>\n
Defeat aside, Lehman said this season was a step in the right direction for the Comets. <\/p>\n
\"This will help with our confidence next year,\" she said. \"We've done it and now we know we can do it again.\" <\/p>\n
Reynolds said for West Liberty to clear that next hurdle and get to the state tournament for the first time in program history, it starts with more offseason commitment. <\/p>\n
\"We've got to convince the girls to play more ball year-round,\" he said. \"A lot of these quality programs have kids playing 200 or 300 games before they get to the high school game. <\/p>\n
\"Plus, we've got to get our numbers up.\" <\/p>\n
Even so, Reynolds admitted his opponent Monday was just too good. <\/p>\n
\"I think Assumption will win it all,\" he said. \"They're well-coached and do everything right.\" <\/p>\n
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Top-ranked Assumption ends West Liberty's postseason run - Muscatine Journal<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" DAVENPORT, Iowa All Dave Reynolds could do was tip his cap. After home postseason wins over Davis County and West Burlington, the West Liberty softball team ran into a giant buzzsaw Monday night Continue reading