Cyclone Season Begins with Third Place Finish
By: Sydney Reeves, a sophomore at Leigh High School
With having a fairly successful season last year and making it to the district final game, the Highway 91 Cyclone Softball Team hopes to make it even a step further this year.
This year’s Cyclone’s team consists of seniors Faith Indra, Jaedyn Ratzlaff, Sasha Perrin, Lilly Praest, Abbey Pieper, and Kennady Schmidt; juniors Sydney Reeves, Nessa Krupka, Sophia Dvorak, sophomores Cassandra Rayback and Kylee Compton; and freshmen Jordyn Ratzlaff, Adyson Krupka, Amy Praest, and Amaiya Ross.
Adam Indra will take the helm as coach again with assistants Jenica Dietrich, Scott Polacek, and Tiffany Rayback.
This year’s team will be led heavily by seniors, as all six seniors are returning starters, along with juniors Krupka and Dvorak. The Cyclones had a record of 18-15 last season and hope to have an even better record this year.
On Saturday, August 21, the Cyclones kicked off their season at the Wayne tournament. They started off the day well, defeating Ord with a score of 19-2. Highway 91 led Ord the whole game, and in the fourth inning scored eight runs.
The second game of the day saw the Cyclones taking a devastating loss to Arlington. It was a neck and neck game until the fifth inning when Arlington scored three runs, winning 8-5.
The Highway 91 Cyclones ended the day with another victory over Twin River, leaving themselves with a 2-1 record for the day. The Cyclones started the game off strong, collecting ten runs in the first two innings. Despite giving up 5 runs in the third inning, Highway 91 was still able to take the victory with a score of 13-7.
Sophomore Cassandra Rayback said, "We battled well through all the games and made some great defensive plays. The second game was close, but snuck away from us at the end."
With the Highway 91 Cyclone Softball Team starting their season off well with a 2-1 record at their first tournament, they hope to keep up the high level until the end!
Hwy 91 Cyclones vs. Ord:
1 2 3 4 Final
Hwy 91 Cyclones 3 3 5 8 19
Ord 1 0 1 0 2
Individual stats from the Ord Game (By Player): (At bats, runs, putouts)
Nessa Krupka (1, 1, 0); Abbey Pieper (3, 1, 0); Kylee Compton (1, 0, 0); Cassandra Rayback (2, 1, 1); Faith Indra (1, 4, 0); Kennady Schmidt (2, 3, 6); Jaedyn Ratzlaff (3, 1, 1); Lilly Praest (4, 1, 0); Sasha Perrin (4, 1, 3); Amy Praest (0, 1, 0); Jordyn Ratzlaff (0, 1, 0); Sydney Reeves (0, 2, 0); Amaiya Ross (0, 1, 0); Sophia Dvorak (4, 1, 1)
Hwy 91 Cyclones vs. Arlington:
1 2 3 4 5 Final
Hwy 91 Cyclones 2 0 2 1 0 5
Arlington 3 0 0 2 3 8
Individual stats from the Arlington Game (By Player): (At bats, runs, putouts)
Nessa Krupka (1, 1, 1); Abbey Pieper (2, 0, 1); Cassandra Rayback (3, 0, 1); Faith Indra (3, 1, 0); Kennady Schmidt (3, 0, 7); Jaedyn Ratzlaff (3, 1, 1); Lilly Praest (3, 0, 0); Sasha Perrin (2, 1, 4); Jordyn Ratzlaff (1, 0, 0); Sydney Reeves (1, 0, 0); Sophia Dvorak (3, 1, 0)
Hwy 91 Cyclones vs. Twin River
1 2 3 4 5 Final
Hwy 91 Cyclones 6 4 2 0 1 13
Twin River 0 0 5 2 0 7
Individual stats from the Twin River Game (By Player): (At bats, runs, putouts)
Nessa Krupka (2, 0, 0); Abbey Pieper (4, 1, 0); Cassandra Rayback (3, 1, 2); Faith Indra (3, 2, 2); Kennady Schmidt (3, 0, 6); Jaedyn Ratzlaff (4, 2, 1); Adyson Krupka (0, 0, 0); Lilly Praest (4, 2, 1); Sasha Perrin (4, 2, 2); Jordyn Ratzlaff (0, 1, 1); Sydney Reeves (1, 0, 0); Sophia Dvorak (4, 2, 0)