Cyclones softball takes first round exit against Cardinals

Thursday, the HCHS Cyclones softball team opened Regional Play on the road against the Clarinda Cardinals losing 5-0, taking a first round exit ending their season.

“We told the girls that they should be proud of themselves for going in and competing,” said Cyclone Head Coach Tarah Devlin-Lawler. “It took four innings before Clarinda scored. We came up short unfortunately, but they really put on a great show for everyone that was there and played their hearts out.”

Cyclone Sophomore Lauren Schmitz got the ball to start the game in the circle for her team and was able to get through the first three innings without allowing a run. Schmitz ran into some trouble giving up a run in the bottom of the fourth, along with four more runs in the bottom of the fifth. However, Schmitz did strike out three and not allowing any walks or hit any batters.

“Lauren did a great job just being able to put the ball in play, and not giving up any walks or hit anybody,” Devlin-Lawler said. “She’s really improved a lot since the beginning of the year.”

On the offensive end, the Cyclones were unable to score, but did get six hits off Cardinal starting pitcher Sophomore Addison Wagoner, including two each from Freshman Taylor Heese and Aubree Wegner, along with one each from Senior Lilyana Albertsen and Freshman Suzy Kenkel.

“We were pretty confident,” Devlin-Lawler added. “We were able to get a bunt down by Aubree Wegner. Just unfortunately, things didn’t pan out for us as our bats went quiet, but the girls really did a great job at trying to read the ball.”

The Cyclones finish their season with an overall record of 3-29 with wins against Kuemper Catholic, Red Oak, and Shenandoah. Offensively, they were led by Heese who batted .261 with 23 hits and 12 runs batted in. In pitching, Schmitz had all three wins with a 5.34 earned run average in 95.2 innings pitched. Camryn Goshorn led in strikeouts with 67.

Albertsen and Teya Frohlich will not be returning due to graduting. Devlin-Lawler said she will miss them and their contributions to the program.

“Teya and Lilyana really showed a lot of dedication and leadership to this team,” she said. “They brought so much to the team and to the game. Their attitudes and their abilities to bring that team together is really going to be missed. They are both fantastic human beings and I wish them the best of luck and I think they are going to do some great things in the world. I’m really going to miss them on the team next year with the rest of the girls.”

While Devlin-Lawler will miss Frohlich and Albertsen, she remains optimistic about the future of Cyclone softball.

“I’m really looking forward to continuing to work with these girls and watch them grow both athletically and as humans,” she added. “I really want them to be able to learn some valuable life lessons. At the end of the day, the wins and losses don’t matter, but the contributions that they bring to the community and this team is the most important piece of it.”