Glenwood softball splits with Harlan

    HARLAN - The Glenwood softball team won a wild 13-7, 12 inning contest with Harlan before falling 5-2 in the nightcap of a Hawkeye 10 Conference double-header on Thursday.
    Glenwood coach Tim Stanton called his team’s game-one win a “wild” win that took up two whole pages in his score book.
    “It was a long, hard game but we pulled it out,” Stanton said. “I joked before the last inning, we’ll get five here and win it. Little did I know. This team kept fighting. We wanted this win.”
    After Glenwood went up 3-1 after two innings, Harlan clawed back in it in the fifth to go up 5-4. Glenwood would tie it in the sixth and again in the seventh to send the game to extra innings knotted at 6-6.
    Both teams scored a run in the ninth. The score would remain tied until Glenwood’s at-bat in the top of the 12th. Molly Bryan led off the inning with a solo home run. A pair of walks and singles by Rachelle Martin and Lexi Moreno put Glenwood up 9-7 and left the bases loaded for pinch hitter Emily Blum. And Blum didn’t disappoint, doubling to left field to clear the bases. Blum later scored on a passed ball to cap the scoring.
    Harlan had its first two hitters reach, but Bryan retired the Cyclones in order to end the game.
    In game two, Glenwood was bottled up by Cyclone hurler Brooke Schaben. The Rams could muster just three hits in game two.
    The Rams’ two runs came in the first inning on a Grace Newman RBI single and passed ball that allowed Van Scoy to score.
    “That first game took a lot out of both teams,” said Glenwood coach Tim Stanton. “I’m disappointed with the loss but the way Molly and the whole team battled, I’m very proud.”
    Cassie Kruse was walked three times in the double header after smacking a two-run home run and an RBI double in her first two at-bats.

Rams 1-2 at Boone tourney
    The Glenwood softball team went 1-2 at the Boone Invitational on Saturday.
    “We were excited to go to this tournament with had all 3A and 4A schools but were so banged up and we had a lot of girls sick, and then we had a six hour rain delay that we were had a tough time getting up for this tournament,” said Glenwood coach Tim Stanton.
    Glenwood got a pair of home runs from Grace Newman and another solo shot by Ana Van Scoy in an 8-6 win in the opening round.
    In game two, host Boone shutout the Rams 4-0.
    Against Johnston, ranked No. 4 in Class 3A, Glenwood was shut out once more, 10-0.
    The Rams’ top pitcher, Molly Bryan, was suffering from the flu but managed to pitch the final two games. Stanton said his ace was at about 50 percent of her full strength.
    “We played a lot of kids in the last two games but it was pretty clear we had a tough time finding a line up that was all healthy,” said Stanton. “Johnston is probably the best team we’ve seen. But we couldn’t give them in a game with our health situation.

Glenwood 8,
C.B. Thomas Jefferson 6
    In what was supposed to be a relatively easy out-of-conference match up turned into a battle for Glenwood in an 8-6 victory last Wednesday.
    “They (T.J.) didn’t have a great record and we have Harlan tomorrow night, so we thought we’d rest (starting pitcher) Molly (Bryan) and some other girls but they (T.J.) just hit it so well we had to really fight,” said Glenwood coach Tim Stanton. “Their ability to hit surprised me.”
    Stanton was forced to insert Bryan into his line up and the junior responded with a double to key Glenwood’s rally in the fourth. Brooke Peckham doubled and drove in two runs and Grace Newman drove in two more on a double, all in the fourth.

Glenwood 8,
Red Oak 2
    Grace Newman belted her first career home run and Molly Bryan fanned seven for Glenwood in an 8-2 Hawkeye 10 Conference win over Red Oak last Tuesday.
    “We really pounded the ball this game,” said Glenwood coach Tim Stanton. “This was probably one of our best hitting games of the season.”
    Ana Van Scoy and Newman each had two hits. Newman also drove in a total of four runs.

Glenwood 3,
Creston 2
    The Glenwood softball team scored six runs in the top of the 12th inning in a 3-2 victory over Creston last Monday.
    The win was the Rams’ first over the Panthers in four years.
    “This was probably my biggest win as a head coach,” said Glenwood coach Tim Stanton. “This put us in the driver’s seat for the conference and this was a game we had to have. Both teams played excellent, we just got the runs when we needed.”
    The score could have been 5-2 but Ana Van Scoy’s two-run triple was ruled foul well after the senior reached second base, negating the two insurance runs.
    “It was a fair ball,” said Glenwood coach Tim Stanton. “You can print that. Everyone there knew it fair. Get those two runs and I breath a little easier heading into the bottom of the seventh.”
    Creston got to on to open the bottom half of the inning but Molly Bryan induced a ground out and fanned two to end the inning and the game.”
    “I was really proud of the girls. They kept their composure, probably better than me, and pulled it out,” said Stanton. “This was a huge win for us.”