I-35 can’t keep up with MSM

MARTENSDALE — After getting shut out previously against now Class 1A third-ranked Martensdale-St. Marys earlier in the season, Interstate 35 coach Tim Bogs was feeling optimistic about his team’s chances after taking an early 1-0 lead on the road Thursday.

The Roadrunners, Class 2A’s top-ranked team, ran into trouble slowing the Blue Devils bats, and gave up runs in several quick spurts to fall 6-4.

Thursday’s win meant Martensdale-St. Marys remained alone atop the Pride of Iowa. Interstate 35’s two losses are good for second in the conference, but also present a lead the Roadrunners are unlikely to overcome with the postseason right around the corner.

“We needed a game like this. When we get to districts, we’re not going to run by everybody. We’re not going to blow everybody out of the water,” Bogs said. “We had to have a team put the ball in play on us. That’s what’s going to happen to us in districts and state. From that standpoint, we needed that game. It makes us realize that we’re probably not number one in the state.”

Interstate 35 jumped ahead in the first inning when Lilly Miller hit a double and eventually came around to score when Martensdale-St. Marys hurler Kylie Sherwood pitched a ball to the backstop, allowing Miller to score.

Miller ended the evening 3-for-4 with a double, run scored and a home run in the seventh inning that brought the game to its final scoring tally.

Her play was encouraging to Bogs, who knew that if his hitters saw good pitches early in the count against Sherwood, they needed to be aggressive.

“If you get something right away, you’ve got to attack it and that’s what she did,” Bogs said of Miller’s hitting performance.

The Blue Devils bounced back from the early deficit to grab a 3-1 lead in the third inning on a base knock by Brinley White and a two-run single by Hannah Sweet.

Kayley Walker drove in Wright with a double in the fourth inning to extend the lead to 4-1.

A two-out double in the fifth by Carlyn Stanley allowed Miller to score from first, but the Blue Devils played add-on in the bottom of the frame when Sherwood lifted a mammoth home run high into the trees beyond the left field fence to extend her team’s lead to 6-2.

Miller’s seventh-inning homer brought the deficit to two, but the next two Roadrunners to the plate popped out to end the game.

Stanley kept up her torrid pace of setting down opposing hitters on strikes with nine punchouts, but gave up a season-high six runs, five of which were earned. The Roadrunners entered the game with a 0.95 team ERA, which was third in the state.

Bogs felt his team was a bit hampered by a small strike zone, but also knew they needed to make more plays in the field.

“That’s the frustrating part is she (Stanley) throws a pretty good pitch because we’re telling her you don’t have to throw it by them, just not where they’re going to hit it really hard,” Bogs said. “And they didn’t hit a couple as hard and they still kind of bled through and those are the ones you have to make a play on. But then they did like the one they hit the home run on. That was a missed spot. That was a rise (ball) that we didn’t get underneath.”

The win ended a 12-game Interstate 35 win streak, and extended Martensdale-St. Marys’ win streak to 21 before the Blue Devils lost their streak over the weekend at Indianola’s tournament.