Published July 02, 2008 12:04 am - Depth and lots of talent led the Albia Lady Dees to their second straight outright South Central Conference Championship on Tuesday. Albia clinched the outright title with a 10-4 victory over Clarke.
Lady Dees clinch SCC crown
ALBIA — Depth and lots of talent led the Albia Lady Dees to their second straight outright South Central Conference Championship on Tuesday. Albia clinched the outright title with a 10-4 victory over Clarke.
The No. 5 ranked Lady Dees finished the regular season with a record of 27-4 overall and 9-1 in the conference.
“To win eight conference games in a row with some great teams in our conference shows a lot about the girls,” Albia coach Mitch Chance said.
The Lady Dees dropped an early season conference matchup with Centerville to fall to 1-1 in the standings. Albia responded with eight straight SCC wins — including one against the Redettes — to win the title.
In the clinching victory, Ariel Kirk (4-2) pitched seven strong innings to get the win on the mound. With Albia ace Kylee Coughlin resting for districts, Kirk came in and pitched admirably. She allowed three earned runs and fanned eight.
“For Ariel Kirk to step in a give seven great innings shows a lot about her,” Chance said. “She pitched awesome.”
Liz Anderson, Alexis Folkerts and Sheila Sanders all hit a double in the win. Coughlin and Sanders each notched two RBI. Reba Summers added a triple and one run scored.
“Everybody in the lineup put the ball in play today,” Chance said. “They had a good pitcher, but we had some timely hits.”
Albia starts districts with a matchup against Van Buren at home on Thursday. Game time is slated for 7 p.m.
Albia 10, Clarke 4
Cla 000 010 3 — 4 5 1
Alb 200 151 X — 10 11 1
Albia battery — Ariel Kirk (W, 4-2) (7IP, 5H, 4R, 3ER, 8K, 2BB), Emmy Whisler catching.
2B — Liz Anderson, Alexis Folkerts, Sheila Sanders.