Central’s Bach wins conference female athlete of the week

PELLA — Leading her team at the plate during a 6-0 weekend in Tucson, Arizona, Central College’s Haley Bach (sophomore, Council Bluffs, Lewis Central HS) was tabbed the American Rivers Conference Female Athlete of the Week.

The second baseman was also the league’s Position Player of the Week while teammate Emma Beck (freshman, Holland, Grundy Center HS) was the Pitcher of the Week. On the baseball diamond, Declan O’Hare (senior, Los Angeles, Calif., John Marshall HS) was the conference’s Pitcher of the Week.

Bach hit .500 in six games, registering nine hits including two doubles and a triple. She scored eight times and drove in five more runs. Both doubles came in a 14-3 win against the University of the Redlands (Calif.) on Saturday.

Beck allowed just two hits and no runs over 11 innings in three appearances. She was the winning pitcher against RPI (N.Y.) and Webster University (Mo.). She struck out seven of the 43 batters she faced.

O’Hare took the mound in Central’s first game in Florida and tossed five scoreless frames. He allowed two hits, limiting the Saints from The College of St. Scholastica (Minn.) to .118 batting average. He registered eight strikeouts and two walks.

It was first career conference weekly honor for all three.

The Dutch softball team has six games left in Arizona, returning to the field Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. (PDT) to face Sul Ross State University (Texas). Central’s baseball team had a doubleheader with Vassar College (N.Y.) on Monday.