Graven’s arm, bat lead Bearcats past Indians, 5-0

Staff Report

ALLISON — The civility of grizzled sports copy editors often gets tested whenever a cub reporter writes about how a pitcher helped his or her cause by doing some damage with the bat.

So we’ll just say that North Butler junior Taylor Graven pitched well and hit well during the Bearcats’ 5-0 win over Clarksville in the Class 1A Region 3 Softball Tournament quarterfinal Wednesday.

As a pitcher, Graven threw a no-hitter while striking out 12 in seven innings. The only Indian to reach base against her got there due to a throwing error.

As a hitter, Graven took an outside 3-2 pitch from Clarksville starter Kori Wedeking and drove it over the right-center field fence. It was a solo shot that gave the Bearcats a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning after manufacturing a run in the third.

The Bearcats would score two more in the fourth on Karlie Klingenborg’s two-RBI double, and then another in the fifth on Laura Kreimeyer’s RBI double.

The hardest hit ball off Graven was Brittany Litterer’s deep drive to right-center field which Marcy Jacobs foiled with an excellent running catch.

The Bearcats (25-3) advance the bracket’s semifinal against the Central City-vs-East Buchanan quarterfinal winner, 7 p.m. Friday at Central City.