Picture Perfect

Comets improve to 4-0 with DH sweep of Crestwood

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

The Charles City Comets had a long day at Sportsmen’s Park on Thursday.

And more literally than figuratively.

Players arrived a little past 3 o’clock to have their team and individual photos taken in full uniform. That took more than an hour.

Then two hours after that, the Comets — still wearing the same uniforms — hosted Crestwood in a double-header.

When the day and night were done, the Comets remained picture perfect after sweeping the Cadets and improving to 4-0 and 2-0 in the Northeast Iowa Conference.

Charles City won the first game, 7-1, behind the pitching of senior Megan Roethler, who yielded just three hits while going the seven-inning distance.

Roethler also went 2-for-3 at the plate and drove in two runs.

Megan Staudt went 2-for-4 with a double and RBI; Shantel VanHauen was 2-for-3 with two runs scored; and Cianna Sonberg was 2-for-3 with a double, RBI and run scored for the Comets.

Charles City won the nightcap, 10-4, but the game for the most part was much closer than the score indicated.

Early on, Cadet starter Laken Linnhart consistently had Comet hitters out in front and flailing at her changeup. Still, Charles City managed to tie the game three times after the Cadets attained one-run leads in the top of the first, third and fourth innings.

It was in fifth inning — with the scored tied 3-3 — when the Comets broke the game open.

Junior Sara Martin led off with a double off the right-field fence. Soon after, Bailey Mitchell drove her home for the Comets’ first lead of the game.

Then Roethler, Jamie Sindlinger and Sonberg followed with back-to-back-to-back RBI doubles to swell the lead to 6-3.

That was more than enough for Charles City sophomore pitcher Tayler Schmidt to protect as she got the complete-game victory while striking out five and yielding two earned runs.

Sonberg was 4-for-4 with a double and two RBIs — she had six hits on the day while occupying the bottom of the order.

Sindlinger was 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs; Mitchell was 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles, RBIs and runs scored; Roethler was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs; and Shae Etherington and Martin both had two hits for the Comets.

Crestwood catcher Emily Sickles was 2-for-4 in Game Two — the only Cadet to have a multi-hit game during the doubleheader.