Grayhounds sweep FMHS girls

The first inning of the first game of Fort Madison’s softball doubleheader against Burlington turned out to be an omen for what was coming later in the night.
The first three Grayhounds reached on errors, and all three scored.
It start a night of fielding mistakes for the Bloodhounds, who were swept, 5-4 and 14-6 on Monday night at the Baxter Sports Complex.
Fort Madison (9-9 overall, 4-7 Southeast Conference) had won seven of its last eight games and looked to have gotten rid of the early-season struggles. The Bloodhounds were in a position to take both games against the 11th-ranked (Class 4A) Grayhounds — they had the winning runs in scoring position in the seventh inning of the first game and led 5-4 after five innings of the second game — but too many errors were too much.
“It is what it is,” Fort Madison coach Jared Rehm said. “Frustrating.”
The Bloodhounds, who couldn’t get a key hit in the first game — they left the bases loaded in the first inning and had runners in scoring position in the sixth and seventh — finally broke through in the second game. Elle Ruble’s two-run home run to left field with two outs put Fort Madison up 5-4.
Then came the top of the sixth, when four Fort Madison errors and five Burlington hits led to eight runs.
“Some walks, some errors, they found a way to get hits,” Rehm said. “They kept the line moving on their side.
“Yeah, I thought we had the momentum (after Ruble’s home run). I guess the wheels fell off.”
Fort Madison got its first look at Burlington eighth-grader Kylee Hill and saw what everyone else has been seeing this season. Hill’s 12th home run of the season, a two-run shot in the fifth inning of the first game, broke a 3-all tie. Her 13th, a solo homer to right field in the second game, put Burlington up 4-3.
Hill was 1-for-4 in the first game and was 0-for-2 in the second game before her home run.
“We had gotten her on flyouts,” Rehm said. “n that one she hit opposite-field, I was like, ‘Well, I don’t know…” She’s difficult. And not only that, it’s the first time I’ve ever seen her.”
Fort Madison had seven hits in the first game and 13 in the second, but the errors were too much to overcome.
“Only two earned runs in the first game, so that’s a 4-2 game, really,” Rehm said.
The Bloodhounds face Davenport North in a Wednesday doubleheader before facing the Grayhounds again in a single game in Burlington on Thursday.