Clear Creek Amana gets a share of Wamac West softball title with doubleheader split

Clippers bust out in the nightcap, share a pair with 3A No. 1 Mount Vernon

Jun. 29, 2022 9:44 pm, Updated: Jun. 29, 2022 10:32 pm

Clear Creek Amana’s Bailey Olerich drove in four runs in the second game of Wednesday’s Wamac Conference softball doubleheader, allowing the Clippers to split — and share the West Division title.

MOUNT VERNON — For Clear Creek Amana, the math heading into Wednesday’s softball doubleheader was pretty simple.

In terms of the Wamac Conference West Division race, it was all. Or some. Or nothing.

With a split, the Clippers got the middle option.

Bailey Olerich knocked in four runs as Class 4A third-ranked CCA won the second game, 11-4, over 3A No. 1 Mount Vernon at Van Metre Family Softball Field, earning a divisional title share with Williamsburg.

“The kids have kind of been mumbling about it the last week or so,” CCA Coach Jodie Scheetz said. “We came out ready to play after that first game (a 1-0 Mount Vernon victory). We had to hit the ball on the ground and get those extra bases.”

Mount Vernon (28-4 overall, 19-1 Wamac) won a Game 1 dandy as Jenna Sprague (19-2) pitched a two-hitter in a game that took just 73 minutes.

“We were focused and ready to go in that first game,” Mustangs Coach Robin Brand said. “Jenna pitched a heck of a game, and so did (CCA’s Ashley) Webb. Our discipline was really high in the first game, not so high in the second.”

Maia Bentley’s two-out RBI single in the bottom of the fifth was the difference in the opener. It was one of only three hits the Mustangs managed off Webb (13-2).

CCA (28-7, 18-4) pounced immediately in the nightcap, building an 8-0 lead through three innings. A University of Iowa recruit, Olerich was 3-for-5 in the second game; her two-run single highlighted a five-run third inning.

“We learned something in that first game,” Olerich said. “We’ve got to get on top sooner. That makes the team more comfortable, the same for our pitchers.”

The Clippers got production everywhere in the order in the second game. No. 9 hitter Hailey Frost had a pair of hits and drove in two.