Five straight wins, four via the run rule, for the Okoboji softball team after Wednesday’s 16-6 win in six innings over Sheldon in Siouxland Conference play. The Pioneers have outscored their opponents 61-11 over that stretch. Okoboji used a three-run third to grab a 3-2 lead over the Orabs and added a fourth run an inning later. Then in the fifth and sixth innings combined, the Pioneers sent 18 batters to the plate, scored a dozen runs on ten hits and took advantage of five Sheldon errors. The bottom third of the Okoboji lineup, comprised of Hannah Hawkins, Miranda Miler, and Sydney Boeckholt combined to go 8-for-11 with seven runs scored and three driven in. Abby Taylor finished with four RBIs and three runs scored in the leadoff spot. Mikkinzie Peschong picked up her fourth win allowing four earned runs on seven hits with four strike outs. The Pioneers take their 5-1 record to West Lyon on Thursday.
Also in the Siouxland, MOC-Floyd Valley shut out Sibley-Ocheyedan for a 6-0 victory.
Spirit Lake improved its record to a perfect 5-0 on the season and now 1-0 in conference play with a 2-1 win over Western Christian in Hull on Wednesday. Cara Vale limited the Wolfpack to one run on six hits with two strikeouts. The junior also helped her own cause with an RBI in the contest. Paige Krause went 2-for-4. Spirit Lake will get a major test on Thursday when they welcome Emmetsburg to town. That game will be live on Q102 and at ExploreOkoboji.com beginning around 6:45pm.
Elsewhere in the Lakes Conference, Emmetsburg dominated Storm Lake in a 14-0 win in four innings to begin their title defense. Hillary Pico led the way, going 3-for-3 with four RBIs, while Faith Schmidt struck out seven for the win. The E-Hawks are now 3-1 coming into their showdown at Spirit Lake tonight. And LeMars topped Estherville-Lincoln Central by a 4-1 margin.
Over in Hartley it was Hinton grabbing a 7-1 win over the HMS Hawks on Wednesday. Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn is now 1-2 on the year and 0-2 in the War Eagle Conference.
