You want to be playing your best when the postseason begins.
“We’re very confident,” Lisbon coach Abbey Shultz said. “The glass ceiling isn’t there. They’ve already punched it out. Now just play our game and we’ll be fine.”
Unranked Lisbon softball is riding a 10-game winning streak into the playoffs after sweeping No. 12 (1A) Edgewood-Colesburg on Thursday, July 2, at Bunting Field.
The Vikings and Lions had to finish a game that was interrupted by rain back on June 18. After losing the first game, Lisbon was leading 4-3 in the bottom of the sixth inning in Game 2.
After Ed-Co pitcher Rachel Eglseder struck out the side in the sixth, Lisbon pitcher Kyla Kahl was tasked with shutting the door in the top of the seventh.
After giving up a leadoff single to Lauren Kirby, Lisbon got its first out on a sac bunt. Then Alexa Roos handled a grounder at first base unassisted before Kahl struck out Josie Diers to close out the game.
“That was a test for the postseason,” Shultz said. “We had all the things on our side, we just had to perform.”
And well, Ed-Co didn’t drive an hour-plus just to play one inning, so the two teams battled in a non-conference game, with Lisbon winning 2-1 in eight innings.
Lisbon (24-9, 21-3 Tri-Rivers East) trailed 1-0 heading into the sixth inning.
The Lions found a way to tie it up. Leadoff hitter Shea Benhart reached on a dropped fly ball in right field. Courtesy runner Quinn Roos stole second, then was bunted over to third by Ayla Blanchard.
“We did what we needed to score a run,” Benhart said. “We had to work for it, but it was a job well done.”
That brought up No. 3 hitter Kamryn Kahl. And when Coach Shultz asked her to bunt?
“I told her ‘You are going to sacrifice yourself,'” Shultz said. “She was like, ‘yup.’ And I was like ‘perfect!’
“This is a team sport and I think they see the value in that.”
Her sacrifice bunt down the first base line scored Roos.
“I don’t do it (bunt) a lot,” Kamryn Kahl said. “When I do, it’s fun, exciting. Something new.”
Tied 1-1, Ed-Co had two runners on in the top of the seventh. But shortstop Kamryn Kahl made a solid defensive play to get the second out, and with runners on second and third, left fielder Brynnley Patterson made a diving catch to end the threat.
Emma Pleasant singled in the bottom of the seventh, but the Lions couldn’t score.
After holding the Vikings in the top of the eighth, Benhart got a one-out walk in the bottom half.
That was followed by a single by Blanchard, bringing up Kamryn Kahl once again.
This time the senior laced a walk-off single into the outfield.
“Absolutely nothing was in my head, and that’s the key,” Kamryn Kahl said. “No pressure at all.”
Eglseder — who reached 1,000 career strikeouts in the Game 1 win back on June 18 — had held the Lions two hits over seven innings and struck out five. Kamryn Kahl was 0-for-3 in Game 2 going up to the plate.
“You just have to have the goldfish mentality,” Kamryn Kahl said. “After each at-bat, wipe it and move on to the next one.”
Earlier in the week, Lisbon took two at Central City (15-4 and 4-3) on Monday, June 29, two at Maquoketa Valley (13-1, 13-2) on Tuesday, June 30, and two at Calamus-Wheatland (7-1, 12-1) on Wednesday, July 1.
That wrapped up the Tri-Rivers East title for the Lions.
“I told them we have not lost that in a long time, and we weren’t going to start this year,” Shultz said.
The Lisbon girls won the Tri-Rivers East crown in volleyball, basketball, golf and softball. The Lions were second in wrestling and third in track.
It was also the final Tri-Rivers title Lisbon will ever win, as they start play in the River Valley Conference in the fall.
“It was good to win the last one,” Benhart said. “Now we hope for some more in the other conference.”
Against Central City, in Game 1, Benhart hit 2-for-3 with a double and 2 RBIs. Emma Pleasant hit 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI and Alexis Jensen hit 2-for-3 with 3 RBIs.
In the second game at Central City, Lisbon scored in the top of the seventh to prevail. Blanchard hit 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Jensen and Pleasant hit triples.
In Delhi, Kyla Kahl pitched a 4-hitter in the opener, striking out seven. Jensen hit a home run, Lohgan Anderson hit 3-for-4, and Kamryn Kahl and Alexa Roos each had 2 RBIs.
In the second game, Benhart hit 3-for-4 with a double, Blanchard had two doubles and Alexa Roos hit a single and a double. Kamryn Kahl had a home run and 4 RBIs.
At Cal-Wheat, Kyla Kahl pitched another 4-hitter with seven strikeouts in Game 1. Anderson hit 3-for-3. Alexa Roos had a double and Jensen hit a triple.
In the second game, Sydney Techau got the pitching win. Benhart hit 2-for-3 with 3 RBIs. Kamryn Kahl, Alexa Roos and Patterson each hit doubles.
Now the Lions are off until their Class 2A Region 3 opener at home against West Burlington Notre Dame (14-17) on Wednesday, July 8. Lisbon is trying to reach state again after being denied an eighth straight trip last summer.
They’ll likely have to play No. 5 Louisa-Muscatine in a regional semifinal and No. 10 Iowa City Regina is the favorite on the other side of the bracket.
“We can prove people wrong,” Kamryn Kahl said. “We can accomplish so much more than people think.”
Edgewood-Colesburg 010 000 00 – 1 4 3
Lisbon 000 001 01 — 2 5 2
Rachel Eglseder and McKenna Hoefer; Kyla Kahl and Shea Benhart. W – Kahl. L – Eglseder.