Central College Athletics - Softball

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Seventh-inning bunt lifts Central past St. Thomas

Softball | March 12, 2010

VIDEO: Kiley Lythberg

PANAMA CITY BEACH, FLA.—Coach George Wares called it the game’s biggest gamble but also the Central College softball team’s best chance to win.

 

And so center fielder Holly Von Fumetti (sophomore, Johnston) laid down a walk-off bases-loaded bunt single as the Dutch knocked off perennial NCAA Division III tourney contender St. Thomas (Minn.) 3-2 Friday. That allowed Central (3-2) to come away with a split in first-day action at the NFCA Division III Leadoff Classic after getting blanked by Denison (Ohio) 3-0.

Central, ranked No. 20 in this week’s NFCA Division III poll, was nursing a 2-1 lead over St. Thomas (0-1) in the sixth inning when the Tommies tied the score on a two-out double that eluded diving left fielder Emily Te Brink (freshman, Le Mars). But when St. Thomas tried to send a runner from first base on the play to take the lead, she was gunned down as Te Brink fired to third baseman Afton Nelson (senior, Bettendorf, Pleasant Valley HS), who relayed the ball to catcher Kyrie Hale (sophomore, Lee’s Summit, Mo., Lee’s Summit West HS) to deftly apply the tag at the plate.

Designated player Rachael Everingham (sophomore, Georgetown, Ill., Georgetown-Ridge Farm HS) was hit by a pitch to start the seventh and pinch-runner Bethany Koskamp (junior, Cedar Rapids, Kennedy HS) was bunted over to second, then stole third. St. Thomas intentionally walked the next two hitters to load the bases. Wares let Von Fumetti swing away on the first pitch, but with a 1-1 count, he decided to go for the win with a squeeze bunt despite St. Thomas only needing a force at the plate.

“Koskamp is just a tremendous baserunner, she got a great jump and always finishes with a great slide,” Wares said. “I just thought it was our best option. It was our biggest gamble but our best chance to win and Holly laid down a perfect bunt in front of the plate. Only the catcher could field it and then try to come back to the plate. There was nothing she could do about it.”

That made a winner of Kiley Lythberg (junior, Mount Prospect, Ill., Prospect HS) and it was a milestone game for the Dutch ace. Lythberg made her collegiate debut against St. Thomas (Minn.) in California in 2008 and was drilled 9-0. But Friday, Lythberg (2-1) gave up just two runs on six hits, walking two and striking out three. She also tripled home Nelson in the first inning for Central’s first run. Te Brink tripled and scored Central’s other run in the second inning.

“Kiley pitched a real smart game and a real competitive game,” Wares said. “She showed today she’s grown up a lot over the past couple years.

“We executed things pretty well both offensively and defensively to give ourselves a chance in the seventh. In fairness to St. Thomas, it was their first game with a pretty young team but they’re always a good-hitting team and they swing the bat pretty well again.”

Central won despite mustering just three hits.

As exhilarating a win as it was, the opener with Denison was that disappointing. The Dutch were limited to three hits by Denison’s Samantha Rumschlag. Central twice had a runner on third base with one out and came up empty. Meanwhile the Denison Big Red plated two unearned runs in the third inning on one hit and two Dutch errors and added an unearned tally in the seventh.  Starter Katie Tenboer (junior, Morrison, Ill.) took the hard-luck loss, yielding two hits over five innings while walking one and striking out three.

“It’s disappointing but you always have to credit the opponent,” Wares said. “Denison has a lot of seniors and is picked to win its league. Their pitcher pitched a very smart game against us. I just didn’t think we responded very well. We had some bad at-bats and some breakdowns defensively.

“But I thought Katie pitched better overall than she did in Texas.”

Central completes pool play in the 24-team tournament Saturday at 10:30 a.m. against No. 16 Christopher Newport (Va.). Teams are then placed in the Gold, Silver and Bronze tournament brackets based on pool play results with first-round games set for Saturday afternoon.