Ira’s homer rescues Solon in Wamac split

VAN HORNE - It was 1-vs.-2. Maybe it was 1A-vs.-1B.

Emily Ira poked a solo home run in the top of the seventh inning to extend the second game, then Class 3A second-ranked Solon scored the game-winner in the eighth to salvage a Wamac Conference cross-divisional softball split with No. 1 Benton Community, 6-5, Wednesday night at Benton Community High School.

'Coach (Jim White) always tells us to be aggressive,” Ira said. 'It just happened to go out.”

Solon (13-2) avoided its first twinbill sweep in more than five years. Benton (19-1) took the opener, 1-0, and was two outs away from taking them both.

'You can't give a quality team like Solon two or three extra outs in an inning,” said Benton Coach Eric Stenberg. 'Hats off to them, because they executed when they had to.”

The Bobcats led 5-4 and had ace pitcher Amber Fiser (the winner of the first game) on the mound to finish it off. But Ira launched a 2-2 pitch just inside the right-field foul pole.

'I knew she was going to come inside on me,” Ira said. 'We were ready for the riseball.”

Jess Heick started the winning rally in the eighth with a triple on a misplayed fly ball. She scored on another misplay - a bunt off the bat of McKenna Miller.

Ira came on in relief in the bottom of the eighth and finished it off.

'If you'd seen us three weeks ago, you'd be floored at how far we've come,” White said. 'We made some aggressive mistakes tonight, but that's how you get better.”

The first game was a dandy, as you'd expect with two teams of this caliber. Benton broke through with a run in the bottom of the sixth. Alyssa Wiebel tripled to right, then scored on Jaicee Lyons' single up the middle.

Ira was tagged with the tough-luck loss in the opener, striking out 10 in a four-hitter, then notched the save for Miller in the nightcap.

'(Ira and Fiser) are the top pitchers in the state, hands down,” Stenberg said. 'We were lucky enough to get the timely hit in the first game. It would have been nice to have won both games, but we just as easily could have lost them both.

'Hopefully we can play them again late in the year.”

If that's the case, it most likely will be at the state tournament, possibly as 1-vs.-2.

Or maybe 1A-vs.-1B.

BENTON COMMUNITY 1-5, SOLON 0-6 (2nd,8)

At Van Horne

Game 1

Solon 000 000 0 - 0 7 1

Benton Community 000 001 x - 1 4 1

Emily Ira and Monika Bevans. Amber Fiser and Jaicee Lyons. W - Fiser (8-0). L - Ira (7-1).

Game 2

Solon 002 200 11 - 6 11 2

Benton Community 004 100 00 - 5 9 3

McKenna Miller, Emily Ira (8) and Monika Bevans. Alyssa Wiebel, Amber Fiser (6) and Jaicee Lyons. W - Miller (6-1). L - Fiser (8-1). SV - Ira. HR - Solon: Ira (1).

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com