Le Mars softball swept Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln in a pair of dominant home wins on Tuesday night. Game one went the way of the Bulldogs by a score of 10-0 in six innings, and game two finished with a 5-0 victory for Le Mars.
The doubleheader was dominated by Brenna Leraas. The junior got the start in the circle and did not give the Lynx a chance to score runs all night. She threw a no-hitter in game one striking out 14 and followed that up with a two-hit shutout striking out 10 in game two. Leraas says her command was on point in both games.
Nothing changes from inning to inning or game to game for Leraas when she is given the ball to pitch. She says she just continues to pitch her game, and that allows her to not worry in the circle.
The no-hitter may have been special, but the 24 strikeouts in the doubleheader is something the Bulldogs have come to expect from Leraas. She is now at 98 strikeouts on the season which ranks third in all of Iowa high school softball after the game. Head coach Brooke Berkenpas says Leraas steps up to the challenge every night no matter who she faces.
At the plate, Leraas made a name for herself too. She went 4-7 with two doubles, three runs scored, and three runs driven in for the doubleheader. Leraas says a new approach of being aggressive at the plate has led to the success.
That success was not exclusive to Leraas in the doubleheader. Mya Skov had three RBIs and four hits, Kylie Hofmann drove in two runs, and Natalie Vanderloo had two extra-base hits and two runs batted in to name a few. Coach Berkenpas has appreciated the girls being willing to embrace this different approach at the plate.
The Bulldogs can hopefully use this as a jumping off point for some future success. Prior to the wins over the Lynx, Le Mars had only won one MRAC matchup outside of their sweep over Sioux City West to start the year. Leraas says momentum would be big going into some more tough matchups.
Coach Berkenpas just needs to see more of what she saw against the Lynx to fuel some wins throughout the remainder of the season.
The Bulldogs improved to 6-7 overall and 5-4 in the MRAC with the wins. They are at Bishop Heelan on Thursday and will take on Hinton and Western Christian in their home triangular Friday. KLEM Radio will broadcast both games Friday at 9:30 AM and 1:00 PM.
