Ottumwa -- The Indian Hills softball team returned home after a successful start to its 2017 spring season. The Warriors won seven of nine games on a trip to Texas and Oklahoma and emerged from the season-opening journey with a team batting average of .345, and averaged seven runs and nearly 10 hits per game.
The Warriors won all five games they played in the Cowtown Classic in Fort Worth, Texas, then split doubleheaders with North Central Texas, in Gainesville, Texas, and Connors State, in Warner, Oklahoma.
The Cowtown Classic began with IHCC taking all three games on the opening day, beating Hutchinson (Kans.) 11-1 in five innings, Ranger (Tex.) 8-6, and Johnson County (Kans.) 11-9 in a game that took almost three hours to play.
Against Hutch, Indian Hills poured across five runs in the 3rd inning and 4 more in the 5th, pounding out 13 hits, two each by Shyanne DuBois, Erin Kuba and Taylor Takushi. Kuba scored three runs and Courtnee Hahn and Lexi Smith two apiece. Sierra Walton homered and the Warriors stole 10 bases. Marissa Promes, the lone returning pitcher from 2016's region championship team, went the five-inning distance, giving up three hits and an unearned run with one walk and two strikeouts.
A grand slam home run by DuBois snapped a 4-4 tie in the 6th inning and provided the winning runs against Ranger. Smith also went deep for IHCC. DuBois, Walton and Taylor Jones all had two-hit games. Tayah Hayes, in her first collegiate game, got the pitching victory with one inning of relief. Promes came out of the bullpen to record the save, getting five outs, three on strikeouts.
Indian Hills, trailing 4-0 going into the 5th inning, erupted for seven runs to take the lead and held on to beat Johnson County. The Warriors took an 11-5 lead into the bottom of the 7th and Promes got the win in relief, fanning six in 5 1/3 innings. Smith's grand slam was the big blow in the IHCC 5th. Abby Straight had a couple of doubles and Walton drove in four runs.
Olivia Goodale sparkled in the shutout win over Hill, holding them to one hit with no walks and two Ks in the complete-game effort in a 2-0 decision. Walton and Keagan Helson had the RBIs and DuBois and Kelsey Carder scored the runs. Indian Hills scored single runs in the 1st and 6th innings and Goodale made them stand up in her first college win.
IHCC made in a clean sweep in the tourney by blasting Ft. Scott 9-1 in five innings. They scored four times in the 1st and amassed 13 hits. Amanda Kindred had two hits, including a homer, and three RBIs. DuBois, Carder, Helson and Jones had two hits each. Hayes was the winning pitcher.
The Sunday doubleheader with North Central Texas saw the hosts score a run on a solo homer by Hannah Cooper in the bottom of the 6th to win game one, 3-2. Smith and Kassidi Henderson drove in the runs for IHCC and DuBois and Carder scored them. Promes took the loss despite giving up only two earned runs and not walking anyone while striking out three. The Warriors bounced back with a 10-3 win in the nightcap, scoring five runs in the 4th. DuBois and Walton each had a pair of hits, including a homer, and Takushi slammed a bases-loaded triple. Goodale went 4 1/3 innings as the starting pitcher and got the win. Straight notched the save with 2 2/3 innings of hitless relief.
On their way back to Iowa, the Warriors stopped off in Oklahoma and divided a pair of games with Connors State, losing 4-3 before winning 10-3. Promes suffered the loss in the first game, even though she had 9 Ks and no walks. IHCC got all of its runs in the 3rd inning, Walton doubling home two of them. Indian Hills walloped four homers in the second game -- by Walton, Henderson, Smith and Cheyanne Bergert -- in getting a victory to close out the trip. They scored at least one run in each of the first six innings and had a dozen hits, three each by DuBois and Walton. Henderson was 2-for-4 with four RBIs and Smith picked up two hits. Goodale won her 3rd game, surrendering only three hits and two earned runs with two walks and three strikeouts.
DuBois, a returning all-region player for the Warriors, hit .500 for the opening excursion (17-for-34) and Walton, who was also named to the all-region squad in 2016, hit .452 (14-for-31) with three homers and 14 runs batted in. The two combined for 11 doubles and DuBois scored 14 runs. IHCC stole 33 bases in nine games, 11 of them by DuBois, seven by Takushi and five by Helson.
Indian Hills now has just over two weeks to prepare for another trip, this one starting with the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Columbus, Georgia, Mar. 10-12. The home opener is Mar. 23 at Hellyer Field against DMACC.