Lyons – If Strasburg is going to enjoy its 15 minutes of fame this season – a Class 3A softball state title – the Indians have to avoid the 15 minutes of infamy that has marred a handful of games this season.
Strasburg sidestepped the familiar inning of brain freeze and played a solid seven innings on the way to a 5-0 shutout of Lyons in a Patriot League game Thursday on the Lions’ field.
“Our biggest problem in the games we’ve lost is we have had one inning where the wheels came off. Other than that the girls have played excellent,” Strasburg coach Lonnie Losh said.
The Indians (12-6 overall, 8-2 Patriot), No. 7 in The Denver Post/9News 3A poll, secured the second seed for district play with the victory. It will be the first time Strasburg has hosted a home game in the postseason.
No. 10 Lyons (13-6, 6-4) will have to wait for the regular season to conclude Saturday to see where it will land in district seeding.
For Strasburg, Alyssa Kallweit cranked a two-out hit up the middle in the first inning to score Laura Prieur, who reached base with a double, and Katelyn Durham. Those two runs were all that were needed. But the Indians know better than to let their guards down.
“It’s usually later in the game that somebody will make an error and we don’t come together like we should. That’s when teams will get runs on us, but then we pull it back together and finish the game strong. It’s just like 15 bad minutes a game,” Strasburg pitcher Robyn Shoemaker said.
Shoemaker struck out eight and scattered three hits with her deceptive windup and wicked changeup.
“(Shoemaker) doesn’t pitch that fast, but she throws a lot of different pitches. She hits her spots, and she did her job,” Lyons coach Art Dudley said.
Lyons senior pitcher Marissa Elsberry also was effective, recording 13 strikeouts, including the last four batters she faced. She ripped a triple to the fence in the sixth inning but was thrown out trying to score on an infield grounder.
It might have warmed the Indians’ hearts a bit when second baseman Jessica Thelen recovered from a fielding error in the bottom of the seventh to snare the next offering and end the game with a flip to first base.
“That’s what they need to learn how to do,” Losh said.
Strasburg 200 111 0 – 5 8 2
Lyons 000 000 0 – 0 3 4
Strasburg – Nordhues 3b 4-0-1-0, Prieur c 4-1-1-0, Durham ss 4-1-2-0, Hildenbrand 1b 4-0-0-0, Kallweit cf 2-2-2-2, Shoemaker p 2-0-0-0, Thelen 2b 3-0-1-1, Spence lf 3-0-0-0, Rodriguez rf 2-1-1-0. Totals 28-5-8-3.
Lyons – Hammans 3b 3-0-0-0, Parrott ss 3-0-0-0, Elsberry p 3-0-1-0, Young Hein c 3-0-0-0, Roe 2b 3-0-0-0, Lyons 1b 3-0-2-0, Ogden cf 0-0-0-0, Alfieri lf 1-0-0-0, Swanstrom rf 1-0-0-0, Parker rf 1-0-0-0, Appelfeller lf 2-0-0-0, Rudlong cf 2-0-0-0. Totals 25-0-3-0.
E – Shoemaker, Thelen; Elsberry, Hammans, Ogden, Parrott. LOB – Strasburg 5; Lyons 7. 2B – Nordhues, Prieur. 3B – Elsberry. SB – Durham, Kallweit, Thelen. DP – Lyons. SAC – Shoemaker; Hammans.
Batteries – Shoemaker and Prieur; Elsberry and Youngheim. W – Shoemaker (8-5). L – Elsberry. WP – Elsberry 2. HBP – Kallweit, S, by Elsberry; Parker, L, by Shoemaker. Time – 1:21.
