Cherokee, Iowa — The Cherokee Braves softball team stormed out to an early lead and never looked back against the Orabs Wednesday night in Cherokee.
The Braves scored 3 runs early in the first inning after Kaely Hummel reached the bags with a base on balls, she would come into score after Cherokee pitcher Lindsay Williams doubled to right. Brookelyn Hoeppner would add more cushion after she homered over the fence in center for the early 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Cherokee would keep the offense going in the fourth inning, scoring 5 runs while taking advantage of Orab errors. The score was 8-0 after four innings of work. The Braves would keep the bats swinging into the 6th inning where Hummel would hit a solo home run shot to center. After Emily Haselhoff reached 1st base on an error, Williams would help her cause by taking one deep to center for the 2-run homer and an 11-0 lead.
The Orabs got some offense going in the bottom of the 6th with a hit by Kayla Van Meeteren, which broke up Lindsay Williams’s bid for a no hitter. Then Tayler Weber reached on a walk to put runners at first and second. Two batters later Sami Kleinwolterink would bomb one out to center for the 3-run homer to make it 11-3 after six, but that wouldn’t be enough as the Braves would go on for the 12-3 win in the 7th.
Kleinwolterink would take the loss for the Orabs, going the complete game. She let up 11 hits, walked 2, struck out 4.
Lindsay Williams went 7 innings for Cherokee, giving up just 3 hits, only walking 3, striking out 9, and let 3 runs score.
Cherokee improves to 19-13 on the season and head to Spirit Lake to play Spirit Lake who downed George Little Rock Central Lyon 11-1 in the other upper bracket quarterfinal.
The Sheldon Orabs finish the season at 11-14 for the season.
