Urbandale gets ‘timely’ hit, defeats Linn-Mar in regional final

URBANDALE - Linn-Mar could feel it building.

In six of its last seven games, the Lions' softball team could see the corner being turned defensively. They entered their Class 5A regional final against No. 6 Urbandale outscoring opponents 55-5 in their last six wins and were peaking at the right time.

That stingy defense continued Tuesday night, but ultimately wasn't enough as Linn-Mar fell to Urbandale, 3-2. The J-Hawks (31-8) are going to next week's state tournament for the third-straight time on the shoulders of effective pitching and timely hits. It will be J-Hawks vs. J-Hawks - Urbandale vs. Cedar Rapids Jefferson - in the 5A quarterfinals at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

'I thought after we saw (Urbandale senior pitcher Bella Crow) all the way through once, we did a lot better job putting the bat on the ball,” said Linn-Mar Coach John Begley. 'We had every chance to get that win. They just got one more hit than we did when they needed it.”

Urbandale went ahead 1-0 in the first inning while Linn-Mar's only base reached was when Elly Schuemann was hit by a pitch. The fourth inning is when things started to click, beginning with senior center fielder Ariana Rolle's short single.

An error on senior shortstop Elison Ollinger's single gave her an extra base and scored Rolle. Rolle's sac fly in the fifth scored another and gave Linn-Mar a 2-1 lead. Any confidence that may have been shaken early on was immediately regained.

'We just all had to believe,” said senior pitcher Morgan Braughton, who was 1-for-3 with a double. 'We had a talk on the bus. Even if we get down, we can't hang our heads. We've got to go up there and just meet the ball and it's going to go somewhere.”

Urbandale responded with three hits in the fifth including Crow's game-deciding single to left field. When stacking up the J-Hawks' three runs on seven hits - and two errors - to the Lions' two runs on three hits, the margin for error was slim.

'I think it's hard to get settled on a pitcher like that, especially when she has a variety of different pitches,” Ollinger said. 'We were only one timely hit away, so I'm so proud of everyone and how we hit.”

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