Cyclones drop 10th consecutive game
Senior Cyclone Ellie Ineson had two base hits and drove in two runs Thursday night at home against Kuemper Catholic, but it wasn’t enough as the Knights won 8-4 and handed the Cyclones their 10th loss in a row and 18th on the season.
Jenna Gessert started the night in the circle for the Cyclones against Ally Sommerfield. Both girls pitched seven innings.
Gessert gave up eight runs on 11 hits, but struck out three batters and walked one. Cyclones Head Coach Brandi Eckles was pleased with her efforts.
“The last few games, Jenna has really gone the distance,” Eckles said. “This game she pitched the whole game. I’m really proud of how she’s come on and she’s really hitting her spots and working really hard at getting it done.”
The Knights took an early lead when Junior Ellie Sibbel stepped to the plate and hit a home run over the right field fence to give the Knight a 2-0 lead.
In the bottom of the 2nd inning, Cyclone Junior Lilyana Albertsen cut the Knights lead in half with an RBI single, making it 2-1.
In the bottom of the 3rd inning with the Cyclones trailing 3-1, Ineson stepped to the plate and drove in eighth grade catcher Suzy Kenkel cutting the Knights lead to one run.
“Early on in the season, we were struggling at the plate,” Eckles said. “Now I feel super confident about where they’re at and where they’re going. Ellie hits in that 4-spot because she gets those RBIs.”
Sibbel continued to dominate at the plate when she got to Gessert in the top of the 5th inning, driving in two more runs and widening the Knights lead to 5-2.
Knights Senior Alexis Diercksen hit a 2-run double in the top of the 6th off Gessert to make it a 7-2 game.
In the bottom of the 7th inning, with the Cyclones trailing 8-2 with their last chance to make a run at the Knights, they managed to score a few runs starting with Kenkel knocking in Teya Frohlich from third base on a fielding error by the shortstop to make it 8-3.
“Suzy’s batting average right now is over .400 and after today’s game it’s going to be even higher,” Eckles said. “That’s why she’s in the 3-spot. Usually there’s somebody on before her and she can bring them around or move them.”
Later on in the inning, Ineson hit a double scoring Kenkel to make it 8-4. The game ended shortly after securing the Knights 14th win and handing the Cyclones their 18th loss.
The Cyclones return to action Monday against the 2-16 Red Oak Tigers. The Tigers are led by Jaydin Lindsay with 21 hits and has a batting average of .438 and Tymberlee Bentley has 12 runs batted in. In the circle, Nicole Bond has two wins with 36 strikeouts.
“We always practice on Friday’s, so we’ll hit it hard tomorrow morning and we’ll do a little work on Monday before our game,” Eckles said.