‘Perfect situation’ pays off for Katie Pilcher and Cedar Rapids Xavier against Western Dubuque

CEDAR RAPIDS — Hit the ball hard, and good things generally follow.

Katie Pilcher supplied two winning at-bats down the stretch, and Class 4A ninth-ranked Cedar Rapids Xavier upended No. 5 Western Dubuque, 6-4, in a Mississippi Valley Conference softball game Wednesday night at Bob Erusha Field.

“I was in the on-deck circle, and I thought, ‘I want to be the girl with the chance to score runs,’” said Pilcher, a junior and a Truman State University commit.

“I wanted to be a hard out. We were talking in the cages, ‘If you hit your pitch, and hit it hard, you’re going to be successful.’”

She did it twice in high-pressure situations.

With the game tied 2-2 in the bottom of the fifth, Pilcher’s solid groundout to second base plated Alaina Luerkens — who preceded her with a triple down the right-field line — to put the Saints (19-7 overall, 10-5 MVC) in front.

Western Dubuque (19-5, 13-2) tallied twice in the top of the sixth on an RBI double by Hannah Hoefer and a go-ahead single by Kaitlyn Thole for a 4-3 advantage, and the Bobcats brought in reliever Baylee Neyen, who was seeking her sixth save of the season.

The Bobcats could have been out of the inning, but a two-out throwing error kept the inning alive and Luerkens’ walk loaded the bases.

Pilcher’s liner went off a glove, two runs scored and Xavier was back in front, 5-4.

“Katie’s going to hit the ball hard,” Xavier Coach Nikki Gahring said. “She’s got quick hands and good pitch selection. It was the perfect situation for us.”

Claire Walter followed with a bases-loaded walk for an insurance run, and the Saints held in the top of the seventh.

“We executed at key moments,” Gahring said.

One came early. Western Dubuque had a double and three walks in the top of the first, but an 8-6-2 relay erased a run at the plate, and the Saints came away unscathed.

Xavier got an unearned run in the first, then Braylen Conlon singled home Taylor Kadolph in the second for a 2-0 lead.

Western Dubuque scored two runs on a fourth-inning error.

Conlon improved to 13-4 in the circle and picked up her 500th career strikeout in the process. She allowed seven hits, struck out nine and walked eight.

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Softball Super Ten and standings: Western Dubuque continues stay at No. 1

Cedar Rapids Xavier 6, Western Dubuque 4

At C.R. Xavier

Western Dubuque 000 202 0 — 4 7 4

C.R. Xavier 110 013 x — 6 6 1

Kiya Steger, Baylee Neyen (6) and Kaitlyn Thole. Braylen Conlon and Katie Pilcher. W — Conlon (13-4). L — Neyen (4-1).

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com