Early hit barrage sinks Alburnett

FORT DODGE - That was Alburnett, without the 'A.”

'The kids never stopped believing, but we just didn't have our ‘A' game today,” said Pirates Coach Kevin Johnson. 'We got behind a good team, and that makes it tough.”

Fifth-ranked Eddyville EBF strung together a hit batter and five consecutive singles in a four-run first inning and defeated No. 15 Alburnett, 5-1, in a Class 2A quarterfinal at the state softball tournament Tuesday afternoon at the Rogers Sports Complex.

The reward for the Rockets (25-5) is a semifinal date against No. 1 Highland (32-1) at 11 a.m. Thursday. The Huskies downed Saint Ansgar, 5-0, for their 25th straight win.

There won't be a championship for Alburnett (26-13), but there is more softball. The Pirates face Saint Ansgar is a consolation semifinal at noon Wednesday, then play for fifth or seventh place at 4 p.m.

'We're hungry for two wins,” Alburnett's Cassidy Henle said after a tear-free postgame huddle. 'We're happy to still be here and still be playing ball.”

A steady racket of singles was the difference.

With one out in the top of the first, Paige Shafer was hit by a 1-2 pitch. Then it was base hits by Tasha Alexander, Nataliah Hopkins, Claire Jager, Sadie Baugher and Rachel Maloy that put the Rockets in front, 4-0.

'We all thought we were still going to win,” Henle said. 'We were ready to score, but we couldn't put it together.”

An opportunity to answer came and went in the bottom of the first. Maddie Volesky and Taylor Huber reached on back-to-back errors, and moved to second and third on a wild pitch.

But back-to-back strikeouts by Hopkins ended the threat.

'I'm very upset that we went down looking (four times in the first two innings),” Johnson said. 'But that's back on me and our preparation.”

Henle drove in Huber in the third inning to get the Pirates within 4-1, but that was as close as it got. A 4-6-3 double play cooled a scoring opportunity in the sixth, with slick-fielding shortstop Alexander in the middle of it as the pivot point.

Hopkins (24-4) scattered four hits, striking out seven.

'We knew she had a good change,” Henle said. 'She used it, and used it well.”

EDDYVILLE EBF 5, ALBURNETT 1 (Class 2A Quarterfinal)

Eddyville EBF 400 001 0 - 5 11 2

Alburnett 001 000 0 - 1 4 1

Nataliah Hopkins and Claire Jager. Amber Porter, Cassidy Henle (4) and Maddie Volesky. W - Hopkins (24-4). L - Porter (14-8).

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