History was made in Oskaloosa on Monday night. In a classic pitchers’ duel, Oskaloosa senior Kylee Silliman conquered Pella Christian with a no-hitter to lead the Indians to a 1-0 victory. The loss avenges one of Osky’s conference losses from earlier in the season.
The game was back-and-forth as Silliman and Pella Christian ace Emma Schnell traded clean innings through four. As the 5th inning started, Silliman had allowed just one baserunner on a hit-by-pitch, and Schnell had allowed two hits to Osky’s Aubrey Miller.
When the bottom of the 5th rolled around, Oskaloosa got a one-out walk issued to 8th grader Ava VandeWall. After a flyout by Alexis Groet, Devan Welch came up with two outs and socked a fly ball to deep right field, just out of the reach of Eagle right fielder Hanna Vos. VandeWall would score, and that would be the last baserunner the Indians would get on base.
Silliman would do the rest with her defense strong behind her. She would strike out nine, including the last batter of the game, to complete the no-hitter.
Pella Christian defeated Oskaloosa earlier this season in Pella, 7-0, in what has been Osky’s worst outing this year in softball. With this win, the Indians have positive momentum heading into a huge week.
Tuesday night, the girls are back in action against three-time defending state champions Dallas Center-Grimes on the road. Wednesday it will be a home game against Grinnell for the Indians. Thursday, the hits keep coming as Osky goes on the road to face Pella in a single varsity game. If those conference matchups aren’t enough, Oskaloosa will be facing Class 5A schools Des Moines Lincoln and Iowa City High on Friday at the Solon tournament.
The big week comes just days after Oskaloosa Head Softball Coach Jay Harms locked up his 800th career victory as a head coach in varsity softball, an achievement he reached Saturday in a 7-0 victory over Bondurant-Farrar.
The Indians enter this week’s gauntlet with a record 16-3 after Silliman’s no-hit performance, and we’ll have the Dallas Center-Grimes ball game on 99.5 FM/740 AM KMZN, the KMZN mobile app, and radiokmzn.com. The action begins Tuesday night with the pregame show at 7:15 and the first pitch at 7:30.
