Split forces J-Hawks to wait, hope

CEDAR RAPIDS -- Dani Stromert summed it up, frankly and accurately."It's out of our hands now."Iowa City West diminished Cedar Rapids Jefferson's divisional title hopes to wait-and-hope, earning a Mississippi Valley Conference softball split Monday night at Larry Niemeyer Field.The Class 5A ninth-ranked J-Hawks took the first game, 2-0, behind Alyssa Olson's four-hitter, then West answered, 2-1, in the nightcap despite stranding 12 runners.So the MVC Mississippi Division race won't be decided until Tuesday at the earliest, and most likely Wednesday.Jefferson (29-11 overall, 20-6 MVC) has completed its regular season while Dubuque Senior (28-7, 18-5) has three extremely winnable games left -- two against Waterloo East on Tuesday, one against Dubuque Wahlert on Wednesday.Senior beat Wahlert, 8-0, Monday; the second game was rained out and moved back two days."We'll definitely keep an eye on their scores," Stromert said. "We've got to hope for the best. We still have a shot. But it's out of our hands now, it's in their hands."West (20-19, 16-10) split with Senior last Tuesday to put the J-Hawks in first place. Monday, they played spoiler once again."We've got to do a better job getting runs across the plate when the opportunities are there," said West Coach Barb Lynn. "But we stayed focused and stayed after it."The Women of Troy had 19 baserunners in the nightcap, but Jefferson let some chances slide, too.The J-Hawks' bats were lively early. Jefferson scored two runs in its first at-bat in the first game: Kaitlyn Davidson walked and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, then scored on Maddie Hansen's single. Maddie Koolbeck doubled home courtesy runner Savannah Fowler, and it was 2-0.That's how it stayed.A textbook relay on Taylor Libby's double -- left fielder Amber Grimm to third baseman Erin Kuba to Hansen -- cut down Lauren Larson at the plate in the second, and Olson (17-3) didn't allow a runner past first base in the final four innings.West had 14 baserunners in the first four innings of the nightcap, but just a 2-1 lead to show for it. Libby singled home Grace Tafolla in the first, and Andrea Borman plated Libby with a hit in the third.Hansen's sacrifice fly in the third brought Jefferson within 2-1 and accounted for her 65th RBI of the season, a state-high.Kuba was thrown out at the plate in the fourth, Stromert (who reached base four times in the nightcap) was stranded at third in the fifth, then pinchrunner Avery Guy was picked off first after Hannah Towns led off the seventh with a single. 

Jessie Harder and Taylor Libby. Alyssa Olson and Maddie Hansen. W -- Olson (17-3). L -- Harder (10-10).

Game 1

 

 

 

 

R

H

E

Iowa City West

0 0 0

0 0 0

--

4

Cedar Rapids Jefferson

2 0 0

0 0 0

x

--

2

7

Paige Powers and Taylor Libby. Brooke Stauffer and Maddie Hansen. W -- Powers (10-9). L -- Stauffer (11-7).

Game 2

 

 

 

 

R

H

E

Iowa City West

1 0 1

0 0 0

--

2

11

3

Cedar Rapids Jefferson

0 0 1

0 0 0

--

1

6

3