It’s a start — a good start

MARION - It's a chicken-and-egg thing.

Does chemistry foster winning? Or vice versa?

'Well, we're closer as a team than we've been before,” said Linn-Mar pitcher Maddy Ryan. 'I think we have a good year in store.”

So far, so true.

Ryan pitched four stellar innings and drove in a pair of runs as the Lions handled Marion, 5-0, in an intracity, non-conference softball game Friday night at Oak Ridge Middle School.

The Lions improved to 3-0 under first-year coach John Begley, who has a track record of turning around slumping programs; he did so at Solon and at Jesup.

'We're just trying to (implement) positive thinking,” Begley said. 'Sometimes, things aren't going to go right. You can get down, or you can fight back.”

Thursday, in a double-header sweep of Iowa City West, the Lions fought back, erasing deficits in the sixth inning of both games.

Friday, no late theatrics were necessary. Linn-Mar scored twice in the first inning, once in the second and twice in the fourth.

Ryan allowed one hit (and just two baserunners) in four innings of action, retiring the last 11 batters she faced before giving way to reliever Morgan Braughton.

Marion (0-1) collected five hits in the last three innings, but couldn't score.

With 225-foot fences all the way around, the second-year field at Oak Ridge doesn't lend itself to home runs. Instead, it's a paradise for speedy gap hitters.

Pinch-hitter Michaela Kennedy and Ryan hit triples in the fourth inning.

'That felt awesome,” Ryan said. 'You can hit a lot of doubles and triples here. That makes it interesting. As an outfielder, you have to lay out for balls.”

Linn-Mar is the new home of all-state twins Katie and Kristie Sommer, who are concluding their prep careers here after moving from Dubuque Senior late last summer.

Katie Sommer started two rallies with the same sequence - slap singles, thefts of second, advancement to third on wild pitches and ultimately scoring.

With the twins' presence and a new outlook, 'we could be pretty good,” Begley said.

Marissa Whitney had two hits for Marion.

LINN-MAR 5, MARION 0

At Linn-Mar

Marion 000 000 0 - 0 6 1

Linn-Mar 210 200 x - 5 7 1

Alicia Steepleton and Haley Blazek. Maddy Ryan, Morgan Braughton (5) and Kristie Sommer. W - Ryan (2-0). L - Steepleton (0-1). SV - Braughton (1).

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@sourcemedia.net