Dike-New Hartford softball comes up short in Central showdown with Columbus

WATERLOO – Dike-New Hartford softball fell to Waterloo Columbus in a pivotal NICL Central doubleheader, 4-3 in game one and 12-0 in five innings in game two.

As a result, Columbus clinched the NICL Central title with an 11-1 record. D-NH finished second with a final record of 9-3.

D-NH took a 3-2 lead in the top of the fifth, only for the Sailors to answer with two runs in the bottom of the inning and hold on for the victory.

"[Columbus] did a good job executing when they needed it and we didn't," D-NH head coach Rhandi Oelmann said.

While the Wolverines were competitive in Game 1, the nightcap got away from D-NH.

"We came out uncharacteristically flat, ended up with six errors. That is not like us," Oelmann said. "We live and die on our defense and we definitely did not thrive on our defense in that second game.

"There were people that told us that it's good to get that out of our system before tournament time but you never want to play like that against a team like Columbus."

After years of summer struggles, being in position to try and win the NICL Central was still a major accomplishment for D-NH as a program.

"It's been an uphill climb for these girls in the last couple of years and that's a credit to these girls and the trust they have in each other," Oelmann said. "It means a lot for our program that D-NH is not overlooked for softball anymore."

Statistics were not available for these games before this issue went to press.

D-NH traveled to Decorah on Wednesday and are off until the regional quarterfinals begin on July 6 in Dike against Jesup.