Comets go 4-0 during weekend, extend winning streak to seven

Press Staff Report

WEST UNION — A week removed after helping their head coach Brian Bohlen reach his 500th career victory, the Charles City Comets seem to be fast-tracking him toward 600.

The Comets have won five straight since the milestone win and seven straight since a 1-run loss to Cedar Falls in their home opener while improving to 8-1 for the season.

Their last four softball wins came this past weekend during a two-day tournament hosted by North Fayette Valley.

On Friday, the Comets defeated Beckman Catholic 5-2 and South Winneshiek 8-0 before downing Turkey Valley 14-3 and Clarksville 11-0 the following Saturday.

In the win against Beckman Catholic, senior Keely Collins was 3 for 3 at the plate, junior Payton Hadley was 2 for 2 with a double and an RBI, junior Brooklyn Monitor was 2 for 3 with a double and an RBI, senior Lauren Staudt was 2 for 4 with a triple, junior Emerson Bohlen had a 2-RBI double, and freshman pitcher Addison Ellis struck out 12 and yielded no runs and two hits in five innings.

In the win against South Winneshiek, freshman Edie Collins was 3 for 4 with a double and a home run — the second HR of the season for the Comets, Bohlen was 2 for 4, and Ellis struck out 15 and yielded two hits in six innings.

In the win against Turkey Valley, eighth-grader Jaeda Molstead was 3 for 3 with a double and a triple, and freshman Madison Crooks picked up her first varsity pitching win after yielding five hits, 3 earned runs while striking out seven in four innings.

In the win against Clarksville, Keely Collins was 3 for 4, Hadley and Molstead both went 2 for 4 with 2-RBI doubles, senior Alex Wohlers was 2 for 4, and Ellis struck out 10 and yielded three hits for the six-inning shutout victory — Ellis was also 2 for 3 at the plate.

It was the second time this season that the Comets defeated non-conference foe Clarksville, which was ranked No. 9 among Class 1A schools according to the preseason rankings released by the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union.

The Comets, who were not ranked among the Class 4A in the preseason rankings, will be back in action Tuesday when they travel to Cresco to take on Northeast Iowa Conference rival Crestwood in a doubleheader.

Through nine games, Ellis leads the Comets’ pitching staff with a 7-1 record with and earned run average of 0.41 while limiting opponents to a .163 batting average.

Perhaps even more impressive is Ellis’s strikeout (97) to walk (4) ratio.