Rams deal Atlantic first Hawk-10 losses

Glenwood is right back in the Hawkeye 10 Conference chase.

After an inconsistent start that saw them open the conference slate 5-4, the Rams have won six in a row, including Thursday’s big sweep of conference-leading Atlantic.

The Rams (15-8 overall, 11-4 in the conference) went on to the road and took 6-4 and 10-8 decisions from the Trojans (21-5 overall, 12-4 in the conference) to push them into third place in the standings and give them momentum in the downhill stretch of the season.

“We feel like we can get every game,” said Glenwood coach Kylee Stanton of her team’s rising confidence. “The girls feel like they are playing the type of ball we need to be playing and are back to playing Glenwood ball. We feel like we should be winning every game.”

No more was that drive on display than the top of the sixth inning of game two. The Rams trailed 6-4 at the time and were down to their last out when they struck for six runs to take a 10-6 lead and win going away.

“We played as a team,” Stanton said. “If we asked them to bunt, they trusted the person behind them to get the RBI.

This was a ‘team win.’ Everybody did their job.”
Glenwood finished with 14 hits in game two.

Brianna Gerhardt doubled and tripled at the plate and picked up the win in the circle for the Rams in game one. Cameron Rounds added two hits.

“She does a really good job of hitting her spots and keeping the ball out of reach and she doesn’t float balls down the middle,” Stanton said of Gerhardt. “We got some good hitting and our defense was really solid. When our defense plays well, our offense comes alive. We did what we needed to.”

Sidney Biermann threw 5 1/3 innings in game two to earn the win.

With the Rams sitting third in the conference and Harlan (second place) and Atlantic (first) sitting above them in the standings, Stanton admits her team doesn’t control their own destiny in the conference chase but that isn’t slowing their drive.

“We need a couple teams to take Harlan and Atlantic down and we need to take care of business,” Stanton said. “We can definitely tie it. But we’re right there. We’d love to get Harlan again. They got us at a time when were kind of struggling.”

Glenwood takes
two from Clarinda

Glenwood smacked 22 hits in a pair of one-sided victories over Clarinda last Wednesday in Hawkeye 10 Conference softball.

The Rams recorded 13 hits in a 12-2 game one victory and came back with nine hits in a 12-0 rout of the Cardinals in the three-inning capper.

“The kids have been a lot more confident and patient in the box,” said Glenwood coach Kylee Stanton of her team’s hot hitting streak. “We’re really stressing waiting for a pitch you can hit and not chasing things or the first pitch. And it’s made a huge difference.”

Brianna Gerhardt, Brielle Smith and Sydney Biermann each recorded four hits and Brooklyn Taylor homered and drove in two runs in the two wins.

Gerhardt gave up just three hits and no earned runs in the game one win and Biermann threw just 24 pitches, striking out three and allowing no hits, in three innings for the game two win.

“That’s what we want from all of our pitchers as much we can,” she said. “Brianna hits spots really well and they both throw hard. They compliment each other well.”

Rams sweep Red Oak

Glenwood swept Red Oak 2-0 and 14-1 in a Hawkeye 10 Conference softball double-header in Red Oak last Monday.

The Rams got off to a slow start in the 2-0 game one win, recording five hits, but warmed in the night cap by smacking a season-high 17 hits in a 14-1, four-inning victory.

“We hit it pretty well in game one but we were hitting it right at them,” said Glenwood coach Kylee Stanton. “We had pop flies hung up in the wind. We didn’t hit it square or get the line drives. We made some adjustments in the second game and we hit nothing but line drives.”

Brianna Gerhardt started in game one and helped her own cause with a single and an RBI.

In the circle, Gerhardt scattered four hits and struck out four with no walks to record her first career shutout.

“This was probably one of her best performances,” Stanton said. “She competes constantly and our defense was solid. We got Cameron (Rounds) back at third base and she solidifies things there so I think there was a lot of confidence defensively. We took away some hits we were giving away to start the year.”

Brielle Smith smacked two home runs and drove in five runs to lead the Rams’ offense in game two. Gerhardt and Coryl Matheny led the way with three hits while Smith, Sydney Biermann, Brooklyn Taylor, Kelly Embray and Taryn Bertini had two hits each.

“Everybody did their part,” Stanton said of her team’s hitting. “They accepted their role and that’s what you need to do to win ball games.”

Biermann was credited with the win in game two after scattering five hits and one earned run in four innings.

“That’s the performances we want from our pitchers,” Stanton said. “We’ve talked about it all season. We want them to be efficient and not wasting balls. We’re going to put the ball a hair of the plate with two strikes and make them chase it. If they hit, they’re not going to hit it square.”