Six-run seventh rallies Wolves past Lo-Ma

 LOGAN (June 15) -- For six innings Friday night, IKM-Manning put runners all over the bases but couldn’t break through against Logan-Magnolia softball pitcher Reanna Rife.
 Down to their last three outs, the Wolves responded like a senior-laden, 2nd-ranked team is supposed to, scoring six runs in the top of the seventh and beating the ninth-ranked Panthers 6-2 to sweep the regular-season series.
 IKM-M kept its unbeaten Western Iowa Conference record intact at 13-0 and also improved to 15-1 overall, mixing opportunistic offense with sensational defensive plays during the last inning and a half. Lo-Ma dropped to 11-4 in the WIC (15-4 overall), with each of their losses coming against the Wolves and No. 8 Treynor.
 IKM-Manning coach Joy Gross credited the team’s six seniors - all multi-year starters - for spearheading Friday’s rally on the heels of six innings of frustration.
 “The sign of a veteran team is I don’t have to tell everybody, ‘Come on guys. Let’s go, let’s go,’” Gross said. “It’s the seniors that are doing that. They’re the ones like, ‘Hey, it’s time. We can do it. Let’s go.’ And it’s been that way all year."
 The momentum for Friday’s six-run seventh may have started in the bottom of the sixth when senior second baseman Payton Sporrer made a diving catch for the third out on a looping liner near the bag.
 Facing Rife for the fourth time, Paige Gaskill coaxed a leadoff walk in the seventh, Peyton Gross reached on an error and a rally was born. Sammy Halbur’s RBI bloop single to center made it 2-1 and the next three Wolves all put down successful bunts. Rife threw home on Payton Sporrer’s bunt but Gross slid in safely to tie the score. Katelyn Crawford’s bunt went for an RBI single, a wild pitch scored a fourth run and Taylor Croghan’s safety squeeze bunt also drove in a run.
 Zoey Melton then singled and pinch runner Emily Kerkhoff scored on a two-out error to make it 6-2.
 That was more than enough cushion for Gross, who retired the Panthers 1-2-3 in the bottom of the seventh to cap a four-hitter with one walk and nine strikeouts. The game ended when Croghan sprinted toward the left-center field gap and made a diving grab.