Bill Shirbroun believes his fifth-ranked St. Edmond softball team deserves a break.

The Gaels (11-2 overall) ended a busy stretch with a 13-3 five inning victory over Clear Lake (8-4).

St. Edmond has had a torrid stretch with eight games in an eight-day span. They wrapped up the run with an 8-2 record.

They lost to No. 12 Treynor and then second-ranked North Polk, who is the new No. 1 in Class 4A.

“I told the girls we need to refresh,” said St. Edmond head coach Bill Shirbroun. “We are focused, but we just need to rest a few ailments and catch our breath after a long stretch.

“We have a big weekend with some good teams (at Waukee Northwest), so we want to be ready to go.”

The Gaels pounded out 15 more hits versus the Lions, and had five multiple hitters.

“We stayed consistent,” Shirbroun said. “We came up with some timely hits and kept adding on runs and not staying content.

“We were moving forward in the game and were able to finish.”

Shirbroun was talking about his team’s ability to shut the door. The Gaels did exactly that in fifth, scoring six runs for the mercy rule victory before the weather became an issue at Rogers Park.

Senior Kaili Henning, junior Mariah Myers and eighth-grader Toryn Helle recorded three hits each. Sophomore Faith Shirbroun and junior Payton Bradley chipped in two hits each.

Myers, the University of Iowa recruit, belted her fifth home run of the season. She added a double and drove in three runs, while also scoring twice.

Helle hit her first varsity longball and drove in three as well. Henning tallied two RBI.

Bradley finished with a double and drove in a run, while Shirbroun scored twice. Ansley Oswald, Josie Harvey and Hadley Oswald also contributed RBI.

The Gaels finished with six stolen bases, with three coming from Shirbroun.

In the circle, Henning (7-2) picked up the victory, allowing eight hits and striking out nine. It was the 43rd win of her career, and she now has 521 strikeouts.

The Gaels will be in action this weekend when they compete in the ultra-competitive Waukee Northwest tournament. They face the No. 2 (5A) Wolves (14-2), No. 7 (4A) Bondurant-Farrar (16-2), Urbandale (8-8) and Linn-Mar (7-10).

ST. EDMOND 13, CLEAR LAKE 3

Clear Lake 030 00 — 3 8 2

St. Edmond 321 16 — 13 15 1

WP — Kaili Henning (7-2), (5 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 9 SO); 2B–CL: Madi Ott; SE: Mariah Myers, Payton Bradley; HR–SE: Myers, Toryn Helle; SAC–SE: Ansley Oswald, Josie Harvey; SB–SE: Faith Shirbroun (3), Myrah Lemon, Lauren Gibb, Jade Rock; MH–CL: Taylor Bedford (2), Taylor Schwenn (2), Camryn Allsbrook (2); SE: Myers (3), Henning (3), Toryn Helle (3), Shirbroun (2), Bradley (2); RBI–CL: Allsbrook (2), Ott; SE: Myers (3), Helle (3), Henning (2), Bradley, Ansley Oswald, Harvey, Hadley Oswald.