Pitch Perfect! Dougherty Does It Again

COUNCIL BLUFFS - For the second game in a row, Iowa Western Freshman Pitcher Olivia Dougherty was perfect in an 8-0 win over Southeastern CC.

The right-hander from Norwalk, IA, struck out 10 Spartan batters, including five of the first nine hitters she faced, to earn her 4th no-hitter of the season and her first 7-inning perfect game.  In Dougherty's last outing, against Central CC-Columbus, she sat down all 15 batters she faced in a 5-inning run-rule victory.

Defensively, the Reivers (28-13) backed her up with great defense, including Freshman Shortstop Kamira Botos ranging back on a bloop hit to left-center field in the 4th inning to catch a ball over her left shoulder, keeping the perfect game alive.

Four Reivers ended the game with multiple hits, Kiley Grubbs and Kacy Miller each notching extra base hits.  The big blow came in the 3rd inning when Catcher Lauren Black launched a two-run bomb over the left field fence to put the team up 3-0.

Dougherty improved her season record to 13-6, and her 10 strikeouts give her 155 on the year in 114.1 innings pitched for an average of 9.49 strikeouts per 7 innings.

Game two saw another great pitching performance, this time by Freshman Saydee Plummer.  The righty kept the Spartans out of the hit column for 3 2/3 innings until Erika Kruse singled up the middle to break up the no-hit bid. Plummer allowed just one other base runner throughout the 6-inning 8-0 run-rule victory, earning her 11th victory of the season and 5th shutout of the year.

Five Reivers recorded an RBI, with Catcher Amelia Ehlert knocking in three on a 5th inning home run to put the team up 7-0.  Amber Dougherty walked it off in the 6th with an RBI single to score Kendall Woods from 2nd base.

Iowa Western will wrap up the regular season on Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader against Marshalltown CC at 1:00 pm from the Dr. John and Jean Marshall Softball & Baseball Complex.  The team will honor all of the sophomores following game two.

You can watch the games live for FREE on the Reiver Sports Network.