Timely offense helps Highland knock off Mississippi Valley Conference leader Waterloo
A two-run bunt single by Sophie Parkerson keyed a three-run second inning for Highland and the Lady Bulldogs added three more runs in the fifth inning en route to a big 6-3 road win against Mississippi Valley Conference leader Waterloo on Wednesday, May 4.
Highland (10-8, 5-1 in the MVC) has been on fire the past two weeks, winning five-straight since losing to Waterloo 2-1 on April 18.
Moving into first place in the MVC race left HHS coach Glen Nicholls feeling good about his club.
“The girls have been working hard through the season. We were down under .500 for a bit, but we’re getting people healthy and we’re starting to play well. It’s nice to see their hard work begin to pay off,” Nicholls said.
HHS struck first in the top of the third inning as Abby Schultz bunted home a run to make it 1-0 and then Parkerson stepped to the plate with one out and runners at second and third. She dropped a bunt single on the infield that came to a stop just past the pitchers’ circle and chased home two runs, making it 3-0.
“Coach (Nicholls) gave me the bunt sign and I was able to drop it kind of into no man’s land and get us some runs home,” Parkerson said. “It was a big hit because it got our offense going and got the energy of the team up then.”
Waterloo (12-8, 5-2) got a run back in the bottom of the second on Raelynn Melching’s home run over the left field fence.
Neither team scored in the third and fourth as Highland starter Sophia Donoho and Waterloo ace Mia Miller settled in.
HHS takes game over in 5th
In the top of the fifth, Highland took control thanks to a three-run outburst. Allie Koerkenmeier ripped a two-run single to center field and Parkerson added an infield hit for a third run giving HHS a commanding 6-1 edge.
“It was nice to jump on them early with three runs in the second and then getting the three runs in the fifth really helped us out,” Nicholls said.
WHS got to Donoho a bit in the bottom of the fifth as Melching hit her second homer of the game and then Miller homered over the right field fence, cutting the deficit to 6-3.
Donoho, however, bore down and retired the next three hitters to end the rally. Waterloo went down in order the final two frames as Donoho secured her eighth win this season.
Emma Strubinger led HHS going 4-for-4 at the plate, while Koerkenmeier and Maggie Grohmann each had two hits on the day.
Huge win heading into final regular season stretch
Shocking Waterloo was a huge confidence builder for the Lady Bulldogs as they head into the final two weeks of the season looking to win the conference and stay hot.
“Since they gave us our only conference loss, we knew that we needed to get this win and it is a big one to help us for conference,” Parkerson said. “We feel like now that we are winning (again) we can stay hot and keep it going.”
Nicholls agreed.
“Coming down here and getting a win and moving into first in conference is huge and we feel like if we can take care of business the rest of the way we’ll be in good shape,” he said.
This story was originally published May 5, 2022 at 12:48 AM.