Jun. 25—OTTUMWA — For the past few years, Samantha Weeks has been just one of the boys of summer.
This season, the Ottumwa eighth-grader has taken the tools that she’s learned playing youth baseball and translated into a strong start to first varsity high school softball season. Weeks narrowly missed hitting a pair of home runs on Thursday in her latest example of power hitting for the Bulldogs, doubling twice off the fence as part of a 3-3 night at the plate that included an RBI single in the first inning of Thursday’s night CIML crossover clash with No. 12 (5A) Southeast Polk.
Weeks doubled off the base of the fence and scored one of five Ottumwa runs in the third inning of what was scheduled to be the first of two games at Frank Huston Field against the Rams. Another double off the fence in right nearly gave the Bulldogs a 10-0 lead in the fourth.
Ultimately, the Bulldogs could not beat the rain and thunderstorms that moved across southern Iowa on Thursday night before officially clinching the opening game leading 9-0 after four innings. Ottumwa was three runs short of a 12-run win in three innings or more and could not get through the fifth inning to make the game official when the game was halted due to lightning and thunder before the skies opened up about an hour later.
“We’ve got a busy couple of weeks coming up. Southeast Polk has a busy couple of weeks coming up,” Ottumwa head softball coach Mandi Moore said. “I don’t know if we can figure something out (to reschedule the remainder of the scheduled doubleheader), but I’d sure like to. Those were going to be a couple of really good games.”
Ottumwa (13-11) continued to make solid contact up and down the batting line-up after pounding out 31 hits in a pair of CIML Metro conference wins at Des Moines Hoover. On Thursday, the Southeast Polk defense aided the Bulldogs in putting runs on the board as four errors in the opening inning allowed Ottumwa to score four times in the first.
Not every run scored on Thursday by the Bulldogs came as a result of a softball being misplayed by the Rams. Josie Lemonds, coming off a four-hit second game and six-hit doubleheader against Hoover, collected a pair of singles in the first three innings to keep the line moving.
Weeks was right behind Lemonds at the plate, following each single by her senior teammate with a solid hit of her own. Weeks drove in Mya Lemonds with Ottumwa’s fourth run in the first inning before sending Josie Lemonds to third on her first double of the night with one out in the fourth.
“I’ve been in a slump for awhile, so it’s been pretty nice to start getting the hits to break out of it,” Weeks said. “All around, it’s been really fun. It’s been a great first season for me on the team.”
Unlike almost all of her Ottumwa teammates, Weeks comes to the Bulldogs after shining on the baseball diamond. Weeks has playing travel ball with the Ottumwa Titans, has been an all-star for the Ottumwa Little League and has taken part in Babe Ruth baseball before stepping up for the first time this summer to compete for a high school team. So far, Weeks is proving to be a natural fit with nine hits and nine runs driven in over 11 games, just missing out on what would have been her team-leading third and fourth home runs of the season on Thursday.
“I could definitely transfer a lot of things I learned playing baseball and use it to my advantage in softball,” Weeks said. “It’s been a challenge, but we’re making it through.”
It’s also been a unique experience for Moore, who grew up playing youth softball and started coaching Cardinal Middle School’s softball program. Having a player with a youth baseball background is something new experience for the entire Ottumwa softball program.
“She’s seeing the ball really well early on. Instead of seeing underhand pitching, she’s been seeing overhand pitching for the longest time,” Moore said of Weeks. “She’s doing a really good job adjusting to the different angles you see the ball when you’re at the plate. She’s a really hard-working kid. She’ll put in a lot of time and effort for you.”
Zoey Jones took a lot of the drama out of what was supposed to be the first of two games with Southeast Polk on Thursday, delivering a bases-loaded triple in the third that brought the night in the pitching circle to a close for Southeast Polk sophomore Shania Yount-Wheels. Ashlyn Sheets, meanwhile, stranded a pair of runners in scoring position in the second inning to keep Southeast Polk (15-13) off the scoreboard and would have taken a no-hitter into the fifth inning on Thursday had heavy showers not moved into the area.
“Ashlyn is growing. She’s really starting to build up her confidence,” Moore said. “She’s gotten a lot better making those tough pitches in pressure situations.”
— Scott Jackson can be reached at sjackson@ottumwacourier.com. Follow him on Twitter@CourierScott.