The offensive fun continues for Liberty softball in sweep of Iowa City West

NORTH LIBERTY — The swing, of course, comes from her arms.

The power, though?

“That comes from my legs,” Haileigh Smith said. “I’m only 5-foot-2, but I’m pretty compressed.”

Smith clubbed a pair of home runs and drove in five runs in the second game, and Class 5A 11th-ranked Iowa City Liberty completed a Mississippi Valley Conference softball sweep of Iowa City West, 13-3 and 10-0, Thursday night at Liberty High School.

“Haileigh has a small zone, and she comes to the plate ready to hit,” Liberty Coach Mike Morrison said. “Even her outs are hard-hit outs.”

Smith, who had seven RBIs in the twinbill, was just one of several hitting stars as the Lightning improved to 11-1 overall, 8-0 in the MVC.

Leadoff hitter Mischa Reiners, for instance, was 5-of-8, knocked in three and scored five times.

The Lightning had a dozen hits in both games. The opener ended in six innings, the nightcap in five.

They are averaging 9.7 runs per game, and Smith has six of the team’s 16 home runs.

“We’ve started off really strong,” Reiners said. “This season has been a lot of fun. It has been very relaxing with (Morrison, who is serving as an interim coach on a one-year basis). Nobody’s uptight and stressed out.”

Smith said, “We’re a very solid team. We’re showing that we’re better that we were before.”

Liberty left a lasting impression in its final trip to the plate, the fifth inning of Game 2.

With one out:

Ana Donnelly double.

Ella McLaughlin single.

Reiners double, scoring two.

Haley Schroeder RBI triple.

Smith two-run homer.

“Everybody is on fire,” Reiners said. “Our confidence is up.”

West (2-6, 2-6) battled to a 1-1 draw through the first two innings of the opener, then the Lightning exploded for eight tallies in the third. No. 9 hitter Ella McLaughlin had a two-run single.

Liberty got quality pitching in both games: Kinsley Robertson (4-1) allowed three hits in the first game, striking out seven, then Kennedy Daugherty followed with a four-hit shutout in Game 2.

Iowa City Liberty 13-10, Iowa City West 3-0

AT NORTH LIBERTY

Game 1

Iowa City West 010 002 — 3 3 4

Iowa City Liberty 108 103 — 13 12 3

Alina Davis, Mari Butler (3) and Chloe Rogers. Kinsley Robertson and Mischa Reiners. W — Robertson (4-1). L — Davis (0-2).

Game 2

Iowa City West 000 00 — 0 4 1

Iowa City Liberty 203 5x — 10 12 0

Max Pech and Ava Davis. Kennedy Daugherty and Haileigh Smith. W — Daugherty (6-0). L — Pech (2-1). HR — ICL: Smith 2 (6), Daugherty (3).

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com