Sarah Beam

When the Royal Valley Panthers softball team hit the field this year they were on the prowl for another Big Seven League title, strong season and another opportunity at making a run in the postseason.

The Panthers have done all that to the tune of an 18-2 record, claiming the Big Seven League title again this year and setting themselves up for great shot of making noise in the postseason. One reason Royal Valley has found success again this year has been the play of junior, Sarah Beam who has been spear heading the Panther offense all season.

Last week the Panthers dispatched three Big Seven League foes for a 6-0 week and the offense of Beam was a key piece of those wins. To start the week off Royal Valley swept Riverside 17-4 and 16-1. In the 17-4 contest Beam finished 2-3 at the plate with four RBI’s, four runs scored, a home run, walk and reached on an error, while following that up with a 3-5 showing with six RBI’s, three runs scored, two doubles and a home run in the 16-1 win.

Royal Valley then squared off with Jeff West last Thursday and won 13-12 and 11-1 and Beam again made an impact. The Panther junior notched a 1-3 game with an RBI and run scored in the 13-12 win and finished 2-4 with an RBI, two run scored, double and triple in the 11-1 win.

To wrap up last week Royal Valley had Holton standing in front of them and the Panthers earned a pair of run-rule wins 12-1 and 17-7 over the Wildcats to go 6-0 last week. Sarah once again made a big impact with her bat notching two hits in the first game including a two-run homer that finished the game via run-rule, while following that up with a 2-5 game with an RBI, run scored, home run and reached on an error.

On the season Beam has been shredding the ball to the tune of a .571 batting average (been over .600 most of the season). The junior who plays second base primarily has recorded 40 hits with 16 doubles and seven home runs, while notching 33 RBI’s and has a 1.180 slg and 1.820 ops. She leads the team in average, RBI, runs scored, doubles and homers.  

Beam and the Panthers wrapped up the regular season with a sweep of Hiawatha on Monday (3-2 and 10-0) and head into postseason action with an 18-2 record set to compete against some strong competition in the Class 3A Regional hosted by Oskaloosa set to start the week of May 16th.