East Linn Christian’s softball team made the playoffs Monday, May 18, with a 7-6 league playoff win over Central Linn to set up another league playoff game against Monroe on Wednesday.
That came after the Eagles finished their regular season on the losing end of a sweep by No. 3 Regis, which won three mercy-rule victories over the Eagles last week.
It was a rough week for ELCA, facing a perennial top finisher at state who, Coach Angie Kropf expects, “will be in the state semis or finals.”
All three games ended via mercy rule – 15-0 at home on Tuesday, May 12, and then 10-0 and 15-0 in a doubleheader Thursday on the Rams’ home field.
But the Eagles finished the regular season in third place in District 2, with a 13-8 league record and 16-9 overall, a big improvement in their third year as a high school team over last year (2-13, 6-18).
“We really have had a major turnaround,” Kropf said, noting that some of her team had not played softball prior to the school establishing the program.
Since then, she’s gotten freshmen who gained experience as middle-schoolers and have “stepped up” in the infield, and her veterans who have made strides.
“They are learning the game better and they’ve refined their skills,” Kropf said. “We have really become quite the defensive team. We’re known for that.”
Hitting is still coming along, she said, although the Eagles have hitters who can produce at the plate. And although East Linn’s Macy Rehnberg, a senior, and junior Liv Kropf can consistently throw strikes from the pitcher’s circle, they haven’t been pitching for years and lack the velocity that other teams have, Angie Kropf said.
“People hit the ball off our pitchers, but our team is very good about defense, getting outs. It’s really fun to see the whole team working together.”
Josi Davidson and Eva Pimm produced the two hits against Regis in the Tuesday game. Pimm and Abby Mitchell both had a hit each in Game 2 of the series, before the Eagles delivered five hits in the second game Thursday, one each from Abby Mitchel, who hit a double, Pimm, Madison Adams, Rehnberg and Ava Mitchell.
But they couldn’t put together an offensive sequence to bring a runner home.
ELCA baseball ends season
East Linn’s baseball team went 0-3 against Regis, losing 14-3 at home on Tuesday, May 12, and 12-1 and 11-1 on the road Thursday.
The Eagles, who finished fifth in Division 2, finished their season with a 13-7 nonleague win at Waldport. They also hosted Crow on Wednesday, May 13, escaping with a 13-12 win.
That left ELCA 6-15 and in sixth place in Division 2, and 10-15 overall.
At home Friday, May 15, against Waldport, ELCA totaled eight hits, two each from Asher Taylor and Chase Fenerty, who had a double, and also got doubles from Jesse Younger and Noah Medellin.
Casey May pitched five innings, leaving with an 11-2 lead, and Younger and Isaiah Blount held the Fighting Irish to five runs in the final two frames as the visitors tried to make a comeback.
Against No. 5 Regis, the Rams jumped out to big leads by mid-game in each contest, and East Linn was unable to bounce back.
the Eagles were not unproductive at the plate, totaling 12 hits, but they also finished with 14 errors over the course of the three games, while Regis finished with 24 hits, including two home runs, three triples and five doubles, that combination accounting largely for the scoring difference.
At home against Crow Wednesday, East Linn jumped out to a 5-1 lead, then added four more runs by the bottom of the fifth.
But in the top of the sixth, the Cougars erupted with 10 runs to take a 12-9 lead. But the Eagles responded in the bottom of the inning, thanks largely to errors by the visitors, to score four and win the game.
