The Le Mars Community softball team opened the new season with a pair of victories at Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson on Thursday night. The Bulldogs won game one by the score of 3-0 and game two by the score of 3-1.
In both games, Le Mars used a three-run inning to help their cause. The first game, the Bulldogs set Charli Grosenheider up with some small ball baserunners, and she drove them in with a three-run home run. In game two, the Bulldogs took advantage of some errors to score their three runs. Le Mars head coach Brooke Berkenpas was pleased with her team’s ability to put the pressure on the opposing defense in those innings.
Pitching was the highlight of the night with Le Mars allowing a total of one run in 14 innings. Headlining the pitching effort was Brenna Leraas who threw a no-hitter in game one while striking out nine batters. Leraas was returning from surgery earlier this fall, but she says everything felt good in her first outing of the year.
It was not a typical no-hitter with the Yellow Jackets reaching six times with four walks and two batters being hit by a pitch. Leraas said she had no idea how great of an outing she was having until the game was over.
In game two, Kylie Hofmann was pitching a shutout until the final out of the seventh inning when the Yellow Jackets finally broke through for their only run. Coach Berkenpas says both pitchers take their crafts seriously making them fun to coach.
The Bulldogs improve to 2-0 overall and in MRAC action with the win. Le Mars gets right back to work this weekend with four games in two days at the Bishop Heelan Softball Classic. Le Mars was the victim of 24 strikeouts in the batter’s box against Council Bluffs TJ. Coach Berkenpas says the girls are going to have to be more aggressive at the plate in future games.
Le Mars will start the Heelan Softball Classic today with matchups against Estherville-Lincoln Central and West Monona. They will play Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley and Lawton-Bronson on Saturday.
