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***This weekend's McPherson Tournament has been cancelled***
All-State Pitcher Emma Remy To Join Mustangs
Two Bishop Heelan All-Staters To Join Mustangs
Mustangs Top GPAC Coaches' Pre-Season Poll
All-Stater Kati Steffen To Join Mustangs
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Kelly Baumert |
Kirsten Dargy |
Morningside went 2-0 on Saturday to finish with a 4-1 record at the Friends University softball tournament in Wichita, Kan.
The Mustangs toppled Hillsdale Free Will Baptist College 7-1 and crushed Graceland University 11-0 in five innings to improve its season’s record to 7-3.
Mustang ace Kelly Baumert pitched a perfect game in the abbreviated five-inning contest against Graceland. Baumert registered 11 of the 15 outs by strikeout.
Morningside battered Graceland pitcher Alyssa Greenstreet with 12 hits and did all of its scoring in two big innings. The Mustangs scored five runs in the bottom of the first inning and erupted for six more runs in the fourth.
The Mustangs took a 2-0 lead two batters into the bottom of the first inning when Allison Von Ehwegen led off with a walk and Kirsten Dargy blasted a home run. The Mustangs loaded the bases after a single by Mackenzie Neely, a walk to Emily Wassom, and a single by Erin Bohlmann to set up a RBI walk by Kayla Clarey and a two-run single by Alyx Peery.
Morningside did all of its sixth inning scoring with two outs. Bohlmann had a two-run single and Wheat slugged a RBI double for the big blows in the six-run inning.
Von Ehwegen had three hits, all singles, to lead the Mustangs’ 12-hit attack. Bohlmann and Peery each had two singles, Dargy had a home run, Wheat had a double, and Clarey, Neely, and Kylie Helmink all had singles.
Mustang pitchers Morgan Swanson and Bohlmann combined on a two-hitter in the win against Hillsdale Free Will Baptist. Swanson allowed one hit and struck out three over the first three innings. Bohlmann allowed a run on one hit with one walk and five strikeouts over the final four innings to get the win.
The Mustangs collected 10 hits against Hillsdale Free Will Baptist pitcher Jessica Klein, who walked six and struck out two.
Morningside took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when Helmink doubled and scored on a wild pitch and Kylie Tirado walked and scored on a double by Emily Wassom.
The Mustangs made it 4-0 in the third inning when Helmink walked and Tirado singled to set up a two-run triple by Wassom. The winners plated one more run in the inning when Wheat reached on a fielder’s choice and came home on a single by Jessy Bibler.
The Mustangs completed their scoring in the fifth inning when Brandi Burke and Wheat each singled and came home on a single by Alyssa Louison.
Wassom swung the big bat for the Mustangs with a triple, double, and single. Helmink added a double, while Von Ehwegen, Tirado, Burke, Wheat, Bibler, and Louison all had singles.
The Mustangs will play in the McPherson College Tournament on March 12-13 in McPherson, Kan.
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Emily Wassom |
Mackenzie Neely |
Morningside went 2-1 during Friday’s softball action at the Friends University Tournament in Wichita, Kan. The Mustangs opened the day with a 9-1 triumph against Bethany College and a 6-3 victory against McPherson College before they dropped a 10-5 verdict against Northwestern Oklahoma State University.
Emily Wassom slugged two home runs in the win against Bethany, including a blast during a six-run sixth inning when the Mustangs ended the game by the eight-run rule. The Mustangs led 3-1 before they broke the game open with their sixth inning fireworks. The other big hits of the inning were a RBI double by Mackenzie Neely and run scoring singles by Kylie Helmink and Alisha Wheat.
Wassom’s first home run was a solo shot in the second inning to put the Mustangs up 1-0.
Helmink and Brandi Burke each had singles when the Mustangs plated two runs in the bottom of the fifth to break a 1-1 tie.
Wassom paced a 13-hit Morningside offensive attack with her two home runs. Burke, Wheat, and Helmink each had two singles, Neely had a double, and Allison Von Ehwegen and Kayla Clarey each had singles.
Mustang ace Kelly Baumert pitched a five-hitter with two walks and five strikeouts to raise her record to 3-1.
Bethany’s Becka Hileman allowed 13 hits in defeat. She walked one and struck out two.
The Mustangs trailed McPherson 2-1 before they erupted for five runs in the top of the fifth inning to go ahead to stay. Wassom had the big hit with a RBI single, but McPherson did most of the damage to itself when pitcher Katie Logan walked three batters and the Bulldog fielders made two errors. Wassom’s safety was the Mustangs’ only hit of the inning.
Morningside had taken a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Burke singled and came home on a single by Neely.
The 1-0 lead held until McPherson touched Morningside starter Morgan Swanson for two runs in the bottom of the fourth.
Swanson finished with a four-hitter with three walks and seven strikeouts to improve to 2-1 on the season.
Logan scattered seven hits around five walks and four strikeouts.
Neely and Wassom each had two singles. Burke, Wheat, and Erin Bohlmann also had singles.
Northwestern Oklahoma State scored four runs in the top of the sixth inning to break a 4-4 tie. The big hit of the inning was a two-run home run by Christina Mueller.
The Mustangs had rallied for two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to tie the score at 5-5. Neely drove in both runs with a double after Burke had reached base on an error and Kirsten Dargy was on base with a single.
Morningside scored its first three runs in the bottom of the first to take a 3-1 lead. The big hits were RBI doubles by Wassom and Clarey and a RBI single by Bohlmann.
Baumert, the Mustangs’ starting pitcher, preserved the lead until the Rangers broke through for four runs in the top of the fifth inning to take a 5-3 lead.
The Rangers collected 14 hits against Baumert, who walked two and struck out four.
Ranger pitchers Meagan Lack, Tarwater, and Jacey Judson combined to allow seven hits to go along with one walk and seven strikeouts.
Morningside’s hits were doubles by Wassom, Neely, Helmink, and Clarey.
All-state softball pitcher Emma Remy of West Des Moines Valley High School will enroll at Morningside College next fall and compete for the Mustangs announced Morningside softball head coach Jessica Jones-Sitzmann.
Remy earned first-team Class 4A all-state laurels last summer after she pitched West Des Moines Valley to a third place finish at Iowa’s Class 4A state tournament. Remy had an 18-2 record and allowed only nine earned runs all season for a microscopic earned run average of 0.53. She allowed only 49 hits in 119 innings and held the opposition to a paltry .120 batting average. Remy blew the ball past opposing hitters for 159 strikeouts and walked only 16 batters all season.
She pitched a two-hit shutout with nine strikeouts to lead West Des Moines Valley to a 6-0 victory against Waterloo West in the opening round of last year’s state tournament.
Remy earned honorable mention all-state honors as a sophomore when she had an 8-1 record with a 0.83 earned run average. Remy allowed 27 hits and had 58 strikeouts and 10 walks in 42 innings pitched.
Remy will join a Morningside team that posted a 34-21 record last season and won the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) regular season championships en route to its first NAIA National Tournament appearance since 1982.
Sioux City Bishop Heelan Catholic High School seniors Jordan Johnson and Kelsey Tobin will enroll at Morningside College next fall and continue their athletic careers with the Mustangs.
Both athletes will play for the Mustangs’ softball team. Johnson will also compete for Morningside’s volleyball team.
Johnson and Tobin helped lead the Crusaders to an undefeated regular season and to a fifth place finish at the Class 3A state tournament last summer.
Johnson earned first-team Class 3A all-state honors last summer as a utility player, while Tobin was a second-team Class 3A all-state outfielder.
Johnson fashioned a 33-1 pitching record with a 0.63 earned run average. She held the opposition to a paltry .135 batting average by allowing only 104 hits in 220 innings pitched. Johnson struck out 273 batters and walked 41. She was Heelan’s leading hitter with a .427 batting average with a school-record 19 doubles, eight triples, three home runs, and 35 RBIs. Johnson struck out only five times in 131 at-bats.
Tobin hit .377 last season with 10 doubles, eight triples, one home run, and 30 RBIs. She was the Crusaders’ co-leader with 10 stolen bases.
Johnson was a third-team all-state pitcher as a sophomore when she posted a 21-15 record with a 0.98 earned run average. She allowed only 140 hits and had 254 strikeouts and 76 walks in 228 innings pitched. She batted .297 with nine doubles, two triples, and 18 RBIs.
Tobin batted .267 with six doubles, one triples, and 13 RBIs as a sophomore.
Johnson went 21-14 with a 1.00 earned run average as a freshman to earn honorable mention all-state honors.
Johnson had 230 digs for an average of 2.0 per game this past season for a Crusader volleyball team that was Iowa’s Class 3A runner-up.
 Morningside has been tabbed the favorite by the GPAC head coaches to win the 2010 GPAC softball championships.
The Mustangs, who won last year’s GPAC regular season title en route to their first NAIA National Tournament appearance since 1982, received eight of the 13 first place votes in the coaches’ pre-season poll.
Morningside returns five starters and its top two pitchers, including two-time GPAC Pitcher of the Year Kelly Baumert, from a team that finished 34-21 last season.
Click here for the 2010 GPAC Softball Pre-Season Coaches’ Poll.
Kati Steffen, a first baseman-pitcher from Moville, Iowa, will attend Morningside College next fall and compete for the Mustangs’ softball team announced Morningside College softball head coach Jessica Jones-Sitzmann.
Steffen is currently a senior at Woodbury Central High School, where she helped lead the Wildcats to a fifth place finish at last summer’s Class 1A State Tournament. She earned all-tournament honors at the state tournament after she had six hits, including a home run, in nine state tournament at-bats for a .667 batting average.
Steffen earned third-team Class 1A all-state honors last season when she ranked among the top prep hitters in Iowa with 66 hits in 131 at-bats for a .504 batting average. She slugged 22 doubles, one triple, and four home runs and was Woodbury Central’s co-leader with 45 RBIs. Steffen had a 5-2 pitching record with two saves and a 1.90 earned run average in 11 appearances. She struck out 36 batters in 40.1 innings pitched.
Steffen hit .440 with 19 doubles, two home runs, and 37 RBIs and had a 3-2 pitching record with two saves and a 1.83 earned run average as a sophomore.
Morningside posted a 34-21 record during the 2009 season and won the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) regular season championship en route to its first NAIA National Tournament appearance since 1982.
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