Sports

Sioux continue to roll, stay unbeaten

By Matthew Semisch

04/21/2015

Westhope-Newburg-Bottineau’s (W-N-B) softball team’s mantra this season appears to involve raising the bar. The Sioux want to improve in each game, and so far that’s happened.

The team’s unbeaten start to the season continued at pace last week when W-N-B downed a pair of West Region rivals. W-N-B blew past Watford City 6-1 on a very windy Tuesday in Bottineau before the Sioux defeated Kenmare/Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood 19-2 in five innings on Thursday in Mohall.

With a 25 mph wind at her back on Tuesday, senior Samantha Colman had few problems against the Cougars. She finished the game with 12 strikeouts and one run conceded.

Jacie Ceglowski finished the game 2-for-3 at the plate in a game in which both teams had problems offensively.

“With (Colman), any time that she’s pitching with the wind, it’s going to speed things up a little bit and it makes her junk pitches move a little bit,” Sioux head coach Layne Fluhrer said.

“Watford’s pitcher also did really well, too, though, and made our batters work. This wasn’t a hitter’s game.”

That might not have been, but Thursday’s game in Mohall was. After scoring two runs in the first inning against Kenmare/M-L-S, the Sioux exploded for five in the second and never took their feet off the gas.

Colman again started in the circle for W-N-B and struck out six Honkers batters in the win. Ceglowski had another big day at the dish, going 3-for-4 and scoring four of her own.

The Sioux (4-0) visited Central McClean on Monday after press time. W-N-B is scheduled to play three home games in Westhope this week, against Stanley on Tuesday, Ray on Friday and Turtle Mountain Community on Saturday.