TYLER ANDERSON | JEFFERSON HERALD Greene County junior Dani Madsen connects for a base hit during the Rams’ nonconference contest against Grand View Christian, held this past Tuesday at the Jefferson Softball Field.  The Rams came up short against the Thunder, 6-3.

Rams notch two HOIAC wins, but drop three straight

By TYLER ANDERSON tanderson@iowainformation.com

Despite a rough start on May 20, things were beginning to look up for the Greene County High School softball team. The Rams are young, with only one senior in Aryanna Rank, so growing pains and progress are expected to go hand-in-hand. 

The hope is that the Rams can make strides without going through too many growing pains.

Greene County racked up two big wins within the Heart of Iowa Activities Conference slate, starting with besting South Hamilton by way of a 9-5 result on May 22 at the Mike Penning Athletic Complex in Jewell. One night later, the Rams rattled off a nice 12-7 triumph over Roland-Story on May 23 at the Hennessy Diamonds in Roland.

At the Bob Morgan Classic, which took place last Saturday on the campus of Ogden High School, the Rams ran into trouble by falling to host Ogden via a 8-3 final score before dropping a tough 15-0 contest against Carroll.

For their home opener, held this past Tuesday at the Jefferson Softball Park, the Rams saw freshman Sara Morlan notch her first home run of the season, but fell to Grand View Christian by a close 6-3 decision.

Due to the two league wins and the three-game skid, the red and black moved to 2-4 overall and 2-1 within the HOIAC.

This past Wednesday, the Rams brought in Nevada for a HOIAC contest at Jefferson Softball Park. At 5 p.m. tonight, the Rams will take on Glidden-Ralston in a nonleague matchup on the campus of Glidden-Ralston High School. 

At 7:30 p.m., Greene County will welcome West Marshall for a HOIAC game at Jefferson Softball Park. Next Monday, the Rams will travel to Saydel for a conference clash, and then return home next Wednesday for a league game against Perry.

Results from the Rams’ tour de force on the diamond will be posted in an upcoming edition of the Jefferson Herald.

Greene County 9, South Hamilton 5: Taking advantage of a strong start, the Rams handled the Hawks via a four-run differential in their Heart of Iowa Activities Conference opener on May 22 at the Mike Penning Athletic Complex in Jewell.

Greene County struck first in the top of the second frame, building up a nice 5-0 lead by the inning’s midpoint. South High did reply with one run in the bottom of the inning, before the Rams struck back with two more runs in the top of the fifth.

The Hawks plated three in response, but the Rams tacked on three insurance runs in the top of the sixth and held South High to just one run the rest of the way.

Freshman Alaina Heard provided a nice, all around effort, tallying two hits and two RBIs at the dish, with one run scored. Within the circle, Heard captured her first win of the season by striking out 10 South High batters and allowing five hits.

Sophomore Kaycee Pittman collected two hits, one RBI, one stolen base and scored two runs, as freshman Makenna Ebersole provided one hit, one RBI, one stolen base and scored one run. Sophomore Addison Gannon supplied two hits and two stolen bases, with two runs scored, alongside junior Dani Madsen’s two hits and one RBI.

Junior Payton Kokenge chalked up one hit, two stolen bases, with two runs scored, as junior Violet Reedy and freshman Bellah Johnson each hauled in one stolen base and scored one run.

Freshman Alivya Smith compiled one hit and one walk, followed by Morlan’s one hit and freshman Kaliyah Minnihan’s one stolen base.

Greene County 12, Roland-Story 7: Against the Norse, the Rams paid homage to the rally monkey, scoring 10 runs in the final two frames to capture their second straight win in a Heart of Iowa Activities Conference contest held on May 23 at the Hennessy Diamonds in Roland.

Down 7-2 heading into the top of the sixth, Greene County cut into the Norse lead by plating three runs. The red and black then shut down Roland-Story, going into the seventh with a slim 7-5 deficit.

The Rams then put a hurting on Roland-Story, stringing together seven runs to claim a thrilling victory.

Morlan had a solid showing, netting two RBIs and one hit, with one run scored, as Pittman rattled off two RBIs, two runs scored, one hit, one walk and one stolen base for the winning cause. Kokenge complemented her teammates with two hits and two runs scored.

Heard picked up one hit, one RBI, one walk, and scored one run. Heard tallied up another win from inside the circle, fanning four Norse batters in a complete game. Reedy enjoyed a strong performance, as well, compiling  a double, one RBI, two scored runs and a stolen one base.

Johnson posted two hits, two runs scored, one RBI and one stolen base, alongside Madsen’s two hits, one walk and one RBI, and Gannon’s two hits, one walk and one stolen base.

Smith pulled in one hit and one RBI and Ebersole scored one run for the Rams. Minnihan rounded out the stats sheet with one stolen base.

Ogden 8, Greene County 3: Challenging the host Bulldogs for their first game within Bob Morgan Softball Classic, which took place last Saturday on the campus of Ogden High School, the Rams fought hard but came up short via a five-run difference.

Trailing by one run in the top of the second, the Rams tied things up by the frame’s midpoint. Ogden replied with two runs in the bottom of the second, and pushed through three more runs in the bottom of the third. 

By the fourth inning, the Rams saw their deficit grow to five runs at 6-1. Greene County did plate two in the top of the sixth, only to see Ogden score two more runs to keep the game out of reach.

Kokenge paced the red and black with one hit and one run scored, as Madsen recorded one hit and Johnson scored one run.

Heard also scored one run. Even though Heard took the loss against the Bulldogs, she struck out four Ogden batters.

Carroll 15, Greene County 0: Going up against the Tigers during the Bob Morgan Softball Classic, held last Saturday on the campus of Ogden High School, the Rams had a tough time generating offense before dropping a five inning game.

The Tigers took their frustrations out on the Rams, scoring four in the first inning, before adding two runs in the fourth inning and amassing nine runs in the bottom of the fifth. 

Heard struck a double, while Morlan recorded one hit.

Johnson was handed a loss from within the circle, and struck out one Carroll High batter. Madsen came in as relief for Johnson.

Grand View Christian 6, Greene County 3: Taking on the Thunder for their home opener, a nonconference matchup held this past Tuesday at the Jefferson Softball Park, the Rams fell behind and couldn’t quite pull off a late comeback.

Trailing by four in the bottom of the third inning, Morlan belted a two-run home run, chopping the Thunder’s lead in half at 4-2. Grand View Christian replied with two more runs in the top of the fourth, while the Rams fought back with one run in the bottom of the frame.

Despite their best efforts, Greene County was handed their third straight setback.

Along with her two-run bomb, Morlan provided two more hits. Kokenge tallied three hits, as Gannon and Ebersole each collected one hit and one walk. 

Pittman and Madsen each supplied one hit, while Johnson chalked up one stolen base and scored one run. Heard also picked up one hit. Inside of the circle, Heard struck out seven Grand View Christian batters.

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