Area teams enjoy strong Riceville Classic

RICEVILLE — It was a mixed bag of results for area teams St. Ansgar, Osage and the host school at the Riceville softball tournament last weekend.

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The Wildcats finished 2-1 with wins over the Green Devils (15-6) and MFL-Mar/Mac (15-3) and a 9-3 loss against Waukon.

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Prior to that finale loss, the only two other losses the Wildcats had experienced were both to the defending Class 1A state champions, Clarksville.

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“We’re playing well,” Riceville coach Andrea Bauer said. “We’re playing our best ball right now. We’ve just got to continue to do that and as the season moves on, we’ve got to hit the ball. We hit the ball, we play well.”

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In the win against MFL, the Wildcats pounded out 12 hits, including a no-doubt home run by freshman catcher Taylor McElroy in the second inning that blew the game wide open.

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“First time getting a hit on varsity ever,” McElroy said. “First home run.”

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She’d fouled off quite a few pitches before launching the ball to left, and despite a brisk wind, she got all of it.

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“They just weren’t mine and that one came right into my zone and it just flew,” McElroy said. “It hit the sweet spot of my bat and it was gone, no doubt about it. It was gone (even) without the wind.”

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Osage, which bounced back from the loss to Riceville, earned a walk-off win against the Bulldogs of MFL with an RBI single by Leah Grimm. The Green Devils finished the day with a 12-2 loss to Hudson.

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“(Our day has been kind of) Jekyll and Hyde,” Osage coach Ryan Huffman said. “The first game I don’t think we played to our ability level. We had a couple of tough innings, second inning, obviously, was as bad as an inning we’re going to have all year. They just keep grinding, keep competing.