ARGYLE — The Orioles are soaring right now. On June 3, Argyle blanked Six Rivers West co-leader Highland 6-0, and then routed Darlington 13-3 the next night in a nonconference game.
In the win over Highland, Grace Ganshert tossed a two-hit shutout, striking out nine and walking just one batter. She also singled, tripled, walked and scored twice at the plate. Tori Lantz had two hits and a double, and Hannah Gierhart had two hits and two RBIs for the Orioles.
“They’ve been really putting it together lately — knock on wood,” Argyle head coach Heidi Ganshert said of her offense.
Argyle scored two runs in the first inning, added a single run in the third and fifth innings, then plated two more in the sixth.
Against Darlington, Grace Ganshert pitched through some fatigue, but stilled managed to strike out seven in five innings.
“We’ve had a long week and our pitcher is tired, pitching four games in a row, but we just keep playing,” Heidi Ganshert said.
Argyle jumped on the Redbirds right away, batting around the order and scoring three runs in the first. Darlington got off the egg in the next half inning, but Argyle added another three runs in the second. In the third, the Redbirds scored two runs on a two-out single by Xandria Olson to make it 6-3.
“I told them in the dugout that (Grace Ganshert) is probably the best pitcher in the conference. We knew that she was going to work to get ahead, and our girls worked to jump on her first strike. I was very proud of their at-bats,” Darlington head coach Molly Rice said.
The Orioles answered with four more runs in the bottom half of the inning to go ahead 10-3. In the fourth, Argyle scored three more runs to put the mercy rule into play.
Grace Ganshert, Oliva Isely, Tori Lantz and Megan Larson all had two hits for Argyle. Isely doubled and drove in three runs. Megan Johnson, Lantz and Larson all drove in two runs. Maggie Godfrey scored twice, Johnson three times and Ganshert four.
Olson had two hits and two RBIs for Darlington. Sophie Wiegel pitched for the Redbirds, giving up 11 earned runs on 12 hits and five walks.
“Our scores don’t reflect it, but we definitely have gotten a lot better — defensively, pitching and batting,” Rice said. “We usually have one or two tough innings, and that’s what you see in the wins and loss columns. They are doing well and I think they are coming on at the right time, honestly.”
Darlington is the No. 9 seed in its playoff bracket and travel to Fennimore June 9. The Eagles swept the Redbirds earlier this season in a doubleheader, with one game competitive until a big inning separated the two teams late.
“We need to clean it up a little bit defensively and continue to put the ball in play,” Rice said. “We played with (Fennimore) pretty well in one of the games, and I’d like to see them get that playoff win — get a little confidence going into the later part of the season.”
Argyle scored the top seed in its regional and has a first-round bye in the playoffs. The Orioles will host the winner of Black Hawk and Southwestern June 14.
However, before the postseason can start, the Orioles have a date with Juda-Albany June 9. Two years ago Argyle won its first-ever softball conference championship at Juda. Both teams are tied atop the league standings again this year at 6-2 (along with Barneveld), and the conference title could be decided on the final day of the regular season.
“I couldn’t think of a better way to have it — us and them, last day, beautiful weather. That’s all you can ask for — for them and us. It’s going to be a great day,” Heidi Ganshert said.
