Cards stepping up mental toughness

The Garner-Hayfield/Ventura softball team may not be seeing results in the win column, but the coach is seeing results in other areas of play.

“Following our games last week, I challenged the girls to step up their level of mental toughness, as we had struggled recently to put mistakes behind us and focus pitch-to-pitch,” said Coach Christina Weiser.  “This week they did a great job of doing that and I feel like that’s a huge step in our growth as a team.”

The Cardinals dropped three more games, making their record 1-25.

Belmond-Klemme 11, G-H/V 5

On Wednesday, June 26, the Cardinals faced Belmond-Klemme.

B-K jumped to an early lead, scoring seven runs to the Cardinals’ one at the end of the third inning.  G-H/V was able to close the gap in the fourth and fifth innings, holding the Broncos scoreless while scoring four runs.  The score was 7-5 following the fifth.  Belmond-Klemme came back and scored three runs in the sixth and one in the seventh for the final, 11-5 victory.

Taylor Reising was the losing pitcher for the Cardinals.  She gave up eight hits and 10 runs.  She walked four and struck out five.  Brooklyn Ossman also took a turn on the mound.  Se gave up two hits, one run and struck out one batter.

The Cardinals were connecting well at the plate and as a team had 12 hits, including a double by Mallory Van Oort.  Collecting two hits apiece were Van Oort, Payton Bamrick, Brooklyn Ossman, Mackenzie VanGerpen and Autumn Weaver.

Van Gerpen led the team in RBIs with two.  Bamrick scored two runs to lead the team.

Bishop Garrigan 9, G-H/V 7

It was a close game when the Cardinals traveled to Algona to face Bishop Garrigan on Thursday, June 27. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the Golden Bears walked away with a 9-7 win.

“We didn’t allow one poor inning to dictate the rest of the game and we competed,” said Coach Christina Weiser.

Maddie Tusha had the big bat for G-H/V, collecting three hits, with one of them being a double.  She also scored one run.

Collecting two hits apiece were Tiara Van Gerpen, Mallory Van Oort, Grace Tusha and Autumn Weaver.  Payton Bamrick also connected for a double.

Van Oort and Grace Tusha had two RBIs, while Van Gerpen, Bamrick and Mackenzie Van Gerpen had one RBI apiece.

Brooklyn Ossman was the losing pitcher.  She have up nine hits and seven runs.  She walked four batters and struck out three.  Taylor Reising pitched three innings, giving up five hits and two runs.  She struck out three batters.

North Iowa 7, G-H/V 6

So close.  The Cardinals were only two runs from a win when they faced North Iowa on Friday, June 28.  

G-H/V came out strong and opened the game with three runs in the first inning.  Unfortunately, they couldn’t get to home plate again until the seventh inning when they scored three more runs.  The Bison scored one run in the third inning and three runs in the fourth and seventh innings to capture the one run win, 7-6.

Taylor Reising pitched the entire game.  She gave up seven hits and seven runs.  She struck out two and walked four.

Autumn Weaver had a good night at bat, collecting two hits, one being a double.  She also scored one run.  Maddie Tusha also had a good night, with two hits, two runs and one RBI.

“I think we are continuing to progress and improve and it’s the right time of the year to begin peaking,” said Coach Christina Weiser.  “The challenge going into our last two conference games is to compete and play well for an entire game and have it result in a win.  I love the path this team has taken from day one until now and I’m excited to see what we can do these next few weeks.”