Storm fall in tournament final to Luther

INDIANOLA, Iowa - Simpson began championship Saturday with a 4-2 win against Central, but fell to Luther in the second game of the day as the Norse won the 2010 Iowa Conference Softball Tournament.

The top-seeded Storm (31-10) avoided elimination with the win over the Dutch, but fell to the second-seeded Norse (37-5) for the second time in as many days, 16-6 in six innings.

No. 5 Luther earned the league's automatic bid to the 2010 NCAA Division III Softball Championship, while No. 14 Simpson awaits a potential at-large bid. The 60-team tournament field will be revealed via Web cast on www.NCAA.com at 11 a.m. Monday, May 10.

Senior left fielder Kelsie Host (Altoona, Iowa/Southeast Polk) continued her assault on Luther pitching, homering twice for the second game in a row against the Norse. She also robbed a base hit from Central leadoff hitter Laura Braun with a diving catch in in the seventh inning of game one, silencing a potential rally by the Dutch.

Host finished the tournament 5-for-8 with four home runs, seven RBIs and a slugging percentage of 2.125 in four games.

Three of Simpson's four runs against Central came by way of solo homers. After the Dutch pushed the tying run across in the sixth inning, Keri Sorensen (Bettendorf, Iowa/Pleastant Valley) gave the Storm a 3-2 lead with a leadoff shot in the home half. Kortney Proctor (Wilton, Iowa/Wilton) added an insurance run with a solo blast of her own two batters later.

Trailing by two runs, Central had a runner on first and one out in the seventh when Braun lined a pitch over the left side of the infield. With the Dutch poised to mount a comeback, Host layed out and made a tumbling catch in shallow left to record a crucial second out.

Freshman first baseman Tieryn Potratz (Fort Dodge, Iowa/Fort Dodge) got things started with a leadoff homer in the bottom of the first inning. The long ball was Potratz's eighth of the year, tying Simpson's single-season mark.

Whitney Oviatt (Carnation, Wash./Cedarcrest) went the distance in the win, scattering seven hits. Oviatt (22-5) kept the Dutch hitters off-balance, effectively changing pitch location while notching four strikeouts.

In the second game of the day, Simpson spotted Luther three runs in the top of the first before Host connected on a three-run blast in the home half. The Norse added three runs in the second, a run in the fourth and three more in the fifth and led 10-6 going into the sixth.

Luther put the game out of reach with six runs in the sixth, however, all of which came courtesy of the long ball. Bre Twait hit a two-run homer and Abby Christian connected on Luther's second grand slam of the tournament.

Ashley Rogers (Altoona, Iowa/Southeast Polk) also homered for Simpson, her first long ball of the season.