Cedar Rapids Xavier, Linn-Mar split an important MVC softball twinbill

MARION — In Monday’s high-stakes Mississippi Valley Conference softball doubleheader, both teams could rightfully say they got the win they needed.

Cedar Rapids Xavier, to remain in first place.

Linn-Mar, to stay in the race.

Callie Luerkens’ two-out RBI single in the top of the seventh inning gave Braylen Conlon and the Class 4A top-ranked Saints the only tally they needed in a 1-0 “best-vs.-best” opening-game win at Oak Ridge Middle School.

“I was begging my teammates, ‘Please, please, please get us a run,” said Conlon, who fired 15 strikeouts and improved to 20-0 in the circle.

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Then, in the nightcap, Annie Cassidy socked a first-inning grand slam, Emily Koranda homered twice and 5A No. 2 Linn-Mar rolled, 7-2.

“We got a win, and we still have a lot ahead of us,” Cassidy said. “We showed that we can bounce back after a loss.”

So, here’s where things stand:

Xavier (31-4 overall, 21-3 MVC) remains a game ahead of Linn-Mar (26-5, 18-4) in the loss column of the Mississippi Division standings.

Both teams still have a lot of meat on the bone, so to speak. Xavier has doubleheaders remaining with Dubuque Wahlert (Wednesday, away) and Iowa City Liberty (Thursday, home).

Linn-Mar has six league games to go — two each against Cedar Rapids Prairie (Wednesday, away), Western Dubuque (Thursday, away) and Cedar Falls (next Monday, away).

No gimmes remain, for either team.

“It would be nice to win it, but whether we do or not, it’s not going to change our end goal,” Xavier Coach Nikki Gahring said. “It’s just another piece of the puzzle.”

Gahring said that Monday’s opener — in which Conlon (three hits allowed, 15 K’s, two walks) and Linn-Mar counterpart Koranda (five hits, nine strikeouts, one walk) both sparkled — “had a postseason feel to it.”

Conlon didn’t allow a baserunner beyond second base.

“I was really trying to get ahead in the count,” she said. “I wanted to challenge the batters and change their eye level. Change speeds and throw strikes.”

Alaina Luerkens opened the seventh inning with a single, then moved up a base each on consecutive sacrifice bunts from Jaselle Lang and Abby Driscoll.

Freshman Callie Luerkens sent her senior sister home with a base hit, then Conlon made the run stand up.

Game 2 was all Linn-Mar after spotting the Saints a 2-0 first-inning lead.

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The Lions stormed back immediately. Two walks sandwiched a double by Hayden Koutny to load the bases, then Cassidy cleared them off with a blast to straightaway center field.

“It felt amazing,” Cassidy said. “The bases were loaded and I knew it was my time. I was just thinking base-hit.”

Koranda hit a solo home run in the third inning to make it 5-2, and then struck again with a two-run shot in the fourth.

Emerson Rutan shut the Saints out in their final six at bats.

Cedar Rapids Xavier 1-2, Linn-Mar 0-7

At Oak Ridge Middle School

GAME 1

C.R. Xavier 000 000 1 — 1 5 0

Linn-Mar 000 000 0 — 0 3 1

Braylen Conlon and Katie Pilcher. Emily Koranda and Kaylie Alvey. W — Conlon (20-0). L — Koranda (13-3).

GAME 2

C.R. Xavier 200 000 0 — 2 6 2

Linn-Mar 401 200 x — 7 9 1

Maddyn Gates, Alaina Gahring (4) and Claire Walter. Emerson Rutan and Kaylie Alvey. W — Rutan (3-1). L — Gates (7-2). HR — LM: Annie Cassidy (3), Emily Koranda (5).

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com