The Aplington-Parkersburg softball team was outmatched 11-5 against Belmond-Klemme at home Friday, as aired on 99 The Wave.
The Broncos got on the board in the first inning on a two-run home run by Jordan Mulhenbruch in the second at-bat of the game. They added another on an RBI groundout by Kaylen Morris for a 3-0 lead. The Falcons got on the board in the second when Sophia Junker singled to drive in Avery Freund. The Broncos used steady production through the middle innings to hang onto the lead. The top of AP’s order came up clutch in the fifth when Eva Walker and Ada Switzer drove in runs to cut the deficit to 7-4. Belmond-Klemme pulled away with three runs in the sixth, including a sacrifice fly by Nevi McMurry, and a double by Kennedy Morris that scored two runs.
Having pitched the complete game, Bronco junior Kaylen Morris achieved a milestone of 500 career strikeouts.
“All the work that I put in when I was younger, it really has paid off and I just continue to work hard,” Morris says. “That’s how I get there. Definitely gained a ton of confidence in the circle. I’ve gained a ton of confidence in my team around me. I’ve limited as much walks as possible. That’s something I’ve really been working on recently because that’s how you win games.”
She struck out nine batters and walked one. Offensively, she was 3-5.
“Credit to BK’s starter, she was excellent tonight,” AP coach Travis Walker says. “She was in the zone all night long. So that was challenging. I thought we took some not as great at bats in the first inning, which kind of started the tone. And then it took us a while to cycle back through the order to the top. But once we got back to the top, we were able to put some balls in play. Defensively, we’ve got a few things to clean up. I think we were talking about this in the huddle, we’ve probably had 10 practices since we started with a full squad. You’ve just got to grind through that spring and you don’t have numbers. And there’s just a lot of things. We’re still kind of trying to figure out who’s playing where. Otherwise, I thought Ada pitched really well, considering a couple innings, we didn’t support her real well on defense. Overall there were some positives to take away.”
Switzer led with two hits and two RBIs, and Eva Walker was 2-4.
AP will return to action Monday at Dike-New Hartford on 99 The Wave. Belmond-Klemme will host Bishop Garrigan Monday.
