The KCII Area Game of the Week opens the softball season tonight with a pair of South Iowa Cedar opponents. The Sigourney Savages welcome the Keota Eagles, and you can catch all the action on the KCII3 Stream. 

A 27-5 record for the Savages last season included a conference championship and 1A State Tournament appearance. Sigourney batted .381 as a team, with a .462 on base percentage and .518 slugging percentage. They compiled 301 hits and 281 runs, driving in 276 of them. In the field, they were led by pitcher Carly Goodwin who topped 1A softball in strikeouts, walks, opponent batting average, and runs allowed with an ERA of 0.19. Despite losing four seniors from 2023, #2 ranked Sigourney picked up right where they left off with a 13-0 drubbing of Belle Plaine Monday to kick off the new campaign. Josephine Moore sparked the offense with five RBI’s off a 2-3 evening. Goodwin knocked in three runs of her own, in addition to pitching five innings of one-hit ball, notching 14 strikeouts. 

A young Keota team, meanwhile, experienced some growing pains in 2023, finishing 0-17. The Eagles recorded a .119 average, on base percentage of .178, and .134 slug. Much of the pitching responsibilities belonged to then-freshman Addy Purkeypile who had an opponent batting average of .262. With no seniors last season, Keota has the benefit of returning most of their starters, including Kennedy Jackson, Emily Sheetz, and Cassandra Swantz, who earned a second-team all-conference nod. Tonight is the season opener for the Eagles, as Monday’s game with Iowa Valley has been moved to tomorrow. Sigourney has won the last 26 matchups between these two teams, dating back to 2009. 

The battle of Highway 92 goes down on the KCII3 Stream, available only at KCIIradio.com. Pregame coverage begins at 5 p.m. with first pitch between the Savages and Eagles at 5:30 live from Schafer Field in Sigourney.