The Titan Athletic Complex saw two extra innings as the Storm Lake Tornadoes Softball team drove in eight runs to take care of business against the GTRA Titans in nine in a non-conference matchup Tuesday night.
Tornado Pitcher Avery DeHaan struck out 10 Titan batters, including getting three straight outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, with runners in scoring position for GTRA. DeHaan threw a total of 78 pitches. The freshman now improves to 9-2 overall. In addition to stellar pitching, DeHaan went 3-4 at the plate with a two-run RBI in the sixth inning, while also scoring in the third. The losing pitcher was Hailey Ebel (7-8) who threw 80 pitches through six innings with three strikeouts. Addie Rutter for GTRA had three innings pitched, 23 total pitches, and gave up a walk.
Hailey Anderson got the scoring started for Storm Lake, thanks to a solo home run in the second inning. Maddy Raveling finished 2-4 and had a two-run home run in the third to give the Tornadoes their first lead of the game, 3-2. Then the Titans responded with three in the bottom of the third thanks to a leadoff single from Ally Hanson.
GTRA held a 6-4 advantage going into the sixth inning then a base hit from Kennadie Miller and an error on Right Fielder Ally Hanson allowed Miller to reach first base safely. MacKenzie Harder also reached first on a pitching error. That then led to DeHaan smashing a two-run RBI Double to Center field to score both Miller and Harder, giving Storm Lake the 8-6 lead in the top of the ninth.
DeHaan delivered a strikeout swinging to Myla Murphy. A single from Natalie Swedin and Madison Fay gave the Titans a chance to walk it off with Ally Hanson, who was the hottest player on the field offensively, finishing 5-6 with a two-run home run in the first inning then had four consecutive plate appearances with leadoff singles. She was 5-5 heading into the ninth inning before DeHaan struck her out for the final out of the game and DeHaan’s 10th strikeout.
With the win, Storm Lake improves to 18-2 overall and will be back on the road tomorrow at Spirit Lake. For GTRA, they will be traveling to Southeast Valley on Wednesday and now have a record of 10-9.
