Newton softball falls to PCM in regular-season finale

MONROE — After not playing a game in 10 days, it would have been understandable if the PCM softball team came out a little slow during its non-conference game against Newton on Monday.

But a fast start was just what the Mustangs needed and a three-run second frame pushed the hosts to a 5-1 home win over the Cardinals.

Lark Drake hit her second homer of the season, Addi Hudnut led the offense with two hits and two runs and the Mustang pitchers continued to shine in the circle as Class 3A No. 8 PCM won for the 21st time this summer.

“It was good to see a tougher team before regionals. Scoring first helped us a lot,” Hudnut said. “The energy was great tonight. We all were antsy to play again. This was a good start to the week.”

The 21 wins are the most for PCM since the program won 23 times in 2015. That ended a stretch of four straight 20-win seasons.

Newton’s lone run came in the sixth inning. The Cardinals were out-hit 8-5 and couldn’t take much advantage of PCM’s four errors. They head to the postseason with three straight losses.

The message after the game from Newton head softball coach Kory Leiker was mostly about moving on to their postseason game against Ballard.

“This one doesn’t mean anything right now. We are 0-0 just like Ballard is 0-0,” Leiker said. “This was one game, but we came out flat. We weren’t ready. We watched pitches we should have hit and swung at pitches that were balls.”

Drake was hit by a pitch to open the game. Addison Steenhoek moved her to second with a sacrifice bunt. An RBI single by Libby Winters put PCM on the board. Winters leads the Mustangs with 28 RBIs.

Camden Webb opened the second with a single and Hudnut’s RBI double pushed the margin to 2-0. A throwing error allowed Hudnut to get to third base and she eventually scored on an RBI sacrifice fly to center by Ila Keuning.

With two outs, Drake swung at the first pitch she saw and sent it over the fence in left-center field.

“We thought the at-bats were great all night long,” PCM head softball coach Shaun Hudnut said.

Newton’s starting pitcher, Hailey Sumpter, got out of trouble in the third but couldn’t escape more damage in the fourth.

Addi Hudnut led off the frame with a single and Holly Wood’s sacrifice bunt moved her to second base. Steenhoek’s RBI single pushed the lead to 5-0.

The Mustangs (21-4) went down in order in the fifth and sixth.

Newton’s only 1-2-3 frame was the seventh. Rylee Parsons and Webb battled in the circle all night for PCM.

A lead-off double for Mack Sims against Parsons in the first went for naught after Parsons retired the next three batters.

Parsons got the first two Cardinals in the second, but Sloan Brodersen reached on an error and Haylie Ryan walked to put two on base. A fielder’s choice out at third ended the threat though.

Kadance Ahn reached on another two-out error in the third and Ava Williams’ single again put two runners on. Parsons got out of the inning with a ground ball to second base.

“They both battled through tonight. We didn’t get a game in last week so maybe a little rust,” Coach Hudnut said. “We went a full scrimmage last week, but that’s not quite the same.

“Give credit to Newton. They’re a good hitting team that sees good pitching. We knew we probably weren’t going to strike out 10 batters tonight. We had to make pitches, hit spots and play defense behind them.”

Parsons gave up an infield single to Brodersen in her final inning, but back-to-back outs kept Newton off the board.

Parsons improved to 14-1 after allowing no runs, three hits and one walk. She struck out one and lowered her earned run average to .81.

Webb tossed the final three innings. Sims reached on an error in the fifth, but Chloe Swank was stranded on second base after reaching on a fielder’s choice.

Newton (15-16) got on the board in the sixth against Webb. Benson led off the frame with a walk and then Sumpter singled. A fielder’s choice RBI by Brodersen scored Benson, and Newton loaded the bases when Peyton Durr and Sims singled.

Webb got out of the jam though when she got Swank to ground out to second. She retired Newton in order in the seventh.

Webb earned her state-leading 11th save of the season after surrendering one earned run on two hits and two walks. She struck out two in three innings.

“It helps build confidence when you can get out of trouble,” Coach Hudnut said. “You want clean innings and don’t want runners on base, but if you can execute pitches and get outs, that helps the confidence a lot.”

Addi Hudnut finished with two hits, one double, two runs and one RBI to lead PCM, while Drake homered, was hit by a pitch, scored two runs and had one RBI.

Tori Lindsay and Lillian Humpal both singled in the third and Keuning’s RBI was her second of the season.

“I love this team. Everyone has a super close bond with each other and if you make a mistake, it’s no big deal,” Addi Hudnut said. “We move on and pick each other up.”

Sims led Newton with two hits and one double. She leads the Cardinals with a .441 batting average, an on-base percentage of .521 and 75 total bases.

Williams, Sumpter and Brodersen had the other hits, Brodersen drove in one run, Benson walked once and scored one run and Ryan and Durr also drew one walk.

Sumpter (11-13) took the loss in the circle after allowing five earned runs on eight hits and one hit batter. She struck out two in six innings.

“We were flat-footed in the field and communication was not there,” Leiker said. “We have to want it. That’s all I can tell them.”

Notes: Newton opens regional play at home against Ballard at 7 p.m. on Thursday. PCM begins its postseason run against Greene County at 7 p.m. on Thursday in Monroe.