- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,194,857
- Reaction score
- 59
OTTUMWA — Things were not looking good for the Iowa City Liberty baseball team when last week came to a close.
The Lightning, once ranked as high as fourth in Class 4A, was swept at home on Friday by Cedar Rapids Prairie. The losses dropped Iowa City Liberty to 11-11 on the season, entering this week enduring a 11-game losing streak.
It's amazing what a couple of days, and four wins, will do. One night after sweeping Dubuque Hempstead at home, earning their first two wins in almost three weeks, the Lightning looked every bit like a team capable of making a deep postseason run taking advantage of every opening provided by Ottumwa handing the Bulldogs a pair of losses in their final two games of the regular season at John Hart Stadium.
Two runs on three hits in the opening inning of the opening game set the tone for a Liberty sweep. The Lightning won 8-2 in game one before holding on late in game two for a 5-3 win as the heart of the Bulldog batting order was set down in the seventh and final inning of the nightcap after bringing the tying run to the plate.
"We ran into a pair of weeks where we playing six teams ranked in the top five, including a pair of top-ranked teams (Sioux City East and Dubuque Wahlert) and an extremely tough group of conference opponents," Iowa City Liberty head baseball coach Uby Martinez said. "We just didn't put it together. We started to look more like Liberty baseball (on Monday) being aggressive on the bases and making key plays. We've played good defense all year, but our bullpen was really solid in this doubleheader. They executed in a couple innings where we didn't always do our job and made it a little closer than we wanted it to be.
"We're getting close to being back where we needed to be, which is great. You want to be playing your best in July, so I think we're close."
Ottumwa, seeking to earn its first win against a team that was ranked among the top 10 teams in Class 4A when the season began, had several chances to not only answer the two runs scored in the opening inning by Liberty but erase the leads that the Lightning (15-12) held throughout all 14 innings of the doubleheader. Aside from a two-out game-tying RBI single by Dawson Weller in the third inning of game two, the Bulldogs could not find that clutch hit to erase a Liberty lead stranding 21 total runners on base in the two contests.
"Their record might not show it, but Iowa City Liberty is a very solid team," Ottumwa head baseball coach Joey Mitchell said. "Anytime you get to play a team like that, especially late in the season going into the postseason, it's good to gauge where we're at and things we need to work on."
Ottumwa (17-10) heads to Des Moines Roosevelt on Wednesday afternoon for a doubleheader that could decide the Iowa Alliance Conference south division title. The Roughriders lead the Bulldogs by a game in the conference standings entering the doubleheader.
Continue reading...
The Lightning, once ranked as high as fourth in Class 4A, was swept at home on Friday by Cedar Rapids Prairie. The losses dropped Iowa City Liberty to 11-11 on the season, entering this week enduring a 11-game losing streak.
It's amazing what a couple of days, and four wins, will do. One night after sweeping Dubuque Hempstead at home, earning their first two wins in almost three weeks, the Lightning looked every bit like a team capable of making a deep postseason run taking advantage of every opening provided by Ottumwa handing the Bulldogs a pair of losses in their final two games of the regular season at John Hart Stadium.
Two runs on three hits in the opening inning of the opening game set the tone for a Liberty sweep. The Lightning won 8-2 in game one before holding on late in game two for a 5-3 win as the heart of the Bulldog batting order was set down in the seventh and final inning of the nightcap after bringing the tying run to the plate.
"We ran into a pair of weeks where we playing six teams ranked in the top five, including a pair of top-ranked teams (Sioux City East and Dubuque Wahlert) and an extremely tough group of conference opponents," Iowa City Liberty head baseball coach Uby Martinez said. "We just didn't put it together. We started to look more like Liberty baseball (on Monday) being aggressive on the bases and making key plays. We've played good defense all year, but our bullpen was really solid in this doubleheader. They executed in a couple innings where we didn't always do our job and made it a little closer than we wanted it to be.
"We're getting close to being back where we needed to be, which is great. You want to be playing your best in July, so I think we're close."
Ottumwa, seeking to earn its first win against a team that was ranked among the top 10 teams in Class 4A when the season began, had several chances to not only answer the two runs scored in the opening inning by Liberty but erase the leads that the Lightning (15-12) held throughout all 14 innings of the doubleheader. Aside from a two-out game-tying RBI single by Dawson Weller in the third inning of game two, the Bulldogs could not find that clutch hit to erase a Liberty lead stranding 21 total runners on base in the two contests.
"Their record might not show it, but Iowa City Liberty is a very solid team," Ottumwa head baseball coach Joey Mitchell said. "Anytime you get to play a team like that, especially late in the season going into the postseason, it's good to gauge where we're at and things we need to work on."
Ottumwa (17-10) heads to Des Moines Roosevelt on Wednesday afternoon for a doubleheader that could decide the Iowa Alliance Conference south division title. The Roughriders lead the Bulldogs by a game in the conference standings entering the doubleheader.
Continue reading...
