Larry Niemeyer summed it up succinctly Friday night.

“We have to be able to score against good pitching if we want to beat a team like Des Moines East,” the veteran Jefferson coach remarked. “That’s a problem for us.”

And so it was.

Des Moines East, the No. 1 Class 5A team in the state and the defending champions, blanked the fifth-ranked J-Hawks, 3-0, behind the strong three-hit pitching of Riley Fisher in the featured matchup at the Jefferson Classic.

Fisher struck out 11 batters and also did all the damage on the offense. She launched a line drive three-run homer in the third inning for the only runs in the game.

“They strung their hits together and we didn’t,” said J-Hawk pitcher Hannah Petersen. “The pitch Riley hit out wasn’t even in the strike zone, but she reached out and hit out.”

Petersen allowed six hits and struck out six batters. Peterson, Maddie Hansen and Carson Burgart collected the three Jefferson hits. The J-Hawks left runners on base in five of the seven innings.

“We should’ve beat them,” said Hansen, Jefferson's catcher. “We just didn’t get the key hits when we had people on base."

Des Moines East remains undefeated at 13-0, while the J-Hawks (14-2) had their 13-game winning streak snapped.

JEFFERSON (0)
Sedlacek, rf, 3 0 0 0, Drake, cf, 3 0 0 0, Hansen, c, 2 0 1 0, Grimm, cr, 0 0 0 0, McInerney, dh, 3 0 0 0, Blietz, 3b, 0 0 0 0, Petersen, p, 3 0 1 0, Fowler, cr 0 0 0 0, Fry, 1b, 3 0 0 0, Burgart, ss, 3 0 1 0, Koolbeck, lf, 3 0 0 0, Davidson, 2b, 1 0 0 0. Totals 24 0 3 0.

DES MOINES EAST (3)
Hennriksen, c, 3 1 1 0, Raynolds, rf, 3 1 0 0, Grochala, ss, 3 0 1 0, Fisher, p, 3 1 1 3, Putzier, lf, 3 0 0 0, Brown, 3b, 3 0 2 0, Fitzgerald, cf, 3 0 0 0, Custard, 1b, 2 0 0 0, Long, 2b, 2 0 1 0. Totals 25 3 6 3.

Jefferson               000 000 0 - 0 3 1
Des Moines East     000 400 x - 3 6 0

Petersen and Hansen. Fisher and Hennriksen. W - Fisher.  L - Peterson. 2B - Brown. HR - Fisher.