The Iowa Falls-Alden softball and baseball teams will make the trek to Algona in search of a pair of positive tone setting wins on Monday to lead off the final full week of regular season play.
The IFA softball team (7-10, 4-5 NCC) won the South Hamilton Invite title on Saturday with a 7-4 win over Algona and a 10-4 win over South Hamilton. Cidni Phipps against Algona pitched the complete game and allowed only one earned run with four strikeouts for the Cadets.
IFA Softball Coach Emily Banken says creativity in at bats and consistency will help the Cadets remain in the win column.
“That’s a big advantage, we don’t have a lot of big, powerful girls, and so we have to be creative in the way that we’re getting on base,” says Banken. “We get to make defense make plays and make them pretty quick to get some of these girls out. It’s just awesome to see them get on base, put the ball in play, and work hard to get there. We’re going to have a lot of Algona experience, but we know that they’re going to be hitting the ball hard, and we know that they have a pretty decent pitcher. We need to be ready to make better plays and be more consistent on the field and up at the plate in order to get another win.”
Algona softball (7-12, 2-9 NCC) went 1-1 at the South Hamilton Invite on Saturday. Reagan Haynes gets it done at the plate for the Bulldogs with a .333 avg, 21 hits and 13 RBI’s.
The game will air on 104.9 KLMJ with pregame coverage at 7:20 p.m. followed by the first pitch at 7:30 at Algona.
IFA baseball (4-11, 3-6 NCC) has won three of their last four and enters off 11-6 loss to HD-CAL on Friday. Hayden Reed leads the pitching staff with three wins, a 1.88 ERA and 25 strikeouts. Andrew Bartlett has helped run production with eight driven in.
Cadet Baseball Coach Wyatt Ziesman says to achieve the next level the Cadets when they secure a lead, need to take away opponent rallies.
“We’ve been talking a lot of times about what it takes to be a good team, what it takes to get these young guys to the next level,” says Ziesman. “We look at it, your Algona’s and Humboldt’s, get a lead on somebody, and then they put their foot down. That’s what we’ve been talking about a lot and trying to do.”
Algona baseball (21-4, 12-0 NCC) has won 15 straight games. Tate Slagle leads the North Central Conference in batting average (.528), RBI’s (33), and on the mound is second in ERA (1.22).
Action begins at 7:30 p.m. at Algona.
