PCM softball finishes fifth at first state tournament

FORT DODGE — Lark Drake led off the game with a solo home run, Libby Winters added to her team-best RBI total for the game-winning runs in the sixth inning and Rylee Parsons controlled seventh-ranked Sumner-Fredericksburg-Tripoli in the circle during the PCM softball team’s 3-1 victory in a Class 3A consolation game at the state tournament on Tuesday.

The Mustangs lessened their sadness and heartbreak from the quarterfinal loss the night before by ending their season with one final victory.

“We gave them last night to flush the loss and let the experience sink in,” PCM head softball coach Shaun Hudnut said. “And then as we prepped this morning we talked about being on the field one last time together even though it wasn’t the game we wanted to be in. We wanted to go out and play loose and have fun. It was nice to end the season on a win.”

Drake helped break in brand new turf on Yankee Field with a solo dinger to start the game.

It’s very hard to make the all-tournament team from a squad which doesn’t reach the semifinals, but Drake finished her two days at the state tournament with five hits and ended the season with a team-best .467 on-base percentage.

“I just wanted to end things strong,” said Drake, who will play softball at Grand View University next season. “I definitely didn’t expect that home run, but that felt really great. Getting a win was awesome. We were already proud to get here and so just the fact that we could end our year on a win was nice.”

Hudnut said Drake took every opportunity and just came up to Fort Dodge ready to play.

“That’s what you have to do, especially as a senior,” Hudnut said. “She hit really well and played great defense for us. That’s who she’s been for five years. We don’t expect anything less from her. She rose to every challenge we had for her this year.”

The Mustangs’ lead against Sumner-Fredericksburg-Tripoli (33-5) was short-lived though. The Cougars scored an unearned run in the bottom of the first to tie the game, but Parsons limited the damage with a pair ground outs.

Camden Webb opened the second with a hard single to right field, but Sumner-Fredericksburg-Tripoli starting pitcher Addi Murray ended that frame with a 6-4-3 double play.

The Mustangs (25-5) threatened again in the third. Drake reached on a one-out single but was called out later for leaving first base early. Addison Steenhoek was then hit by a pitch, but the Mustangs were held off the scoreboard.

Murray got PCM in order in the fourth and fifth, but the Mustangs jumped back in front for good in the sixth.

Steenhoek reached on a out-out error and then Tori Lindsay blasted a double to put runners on second and third with one out.

After Hudnut called for an offensive conference, Winters took a deep breath in the on-deck circle. And like she’s done so many times this season, the eighth-grader came through with the game-winning two-run double.

The Cougars committed all three of their errors in the sixth, but Murray limited the damage to just two runs. Still, it was enough for Parsons and the Mustangs to walk out of Rogers Park winners at the state tournament.

“I do that sometimes to calm myself down,” Winters said about the deep breath before the at-bat. “We had two runners on base, and I knew it was a big at-bat. I knew the hit would probably win it. I was just trying to focus myself on getting the bat on the ball.

“It feels great to win. Yesterday was hard. We talked last night about keeping our heads up and staying confident. We knew we could do it.”

Hudnut said he called for an offensive conference to remind Winters to let the ball travel. He also wanted her to just be her.

“She’s a fantastic player,” Hudnut said about Winters. “She’s harder on herself than anyone else and I knew she was not happy with how she played in the Williamsburg game. I’m excited to see her the next four years. She has a whole other level to unlock, and we are excited to see grow.”

Hudnut gave Parsons the ball longer than normal in this one, but the sophomore delivered in her final appearance of the season. She improved to 16-2 after allowing no earned runs, five hits and two walks in 6 1/3 innings.

Sumner-Fredericksburg-Tripoli threatened in the third. The Cougars hit back-to-back singles with two outs, but Parsons ended the threat when she got the next batter to hit it back to her in the circle.

The Cougars managed just one hit off Parsons in the next three innings. She was pulled after allowing a single and a walk to lead off the seventh.

The Mustangs erased the lead-off hitter on the bases after she slid past second attempting to steal the bag.

Webb got the next batter to hit it back to her in the circle and the game ended when Lillian Humpal ran down a ball near the foul line in left field.

Parsons lowered her earned run average to 1.21 and finished the season with 101 strikeouts.

Webb earned her state-leading 12th save. She did not allow a hit or a run but hit one batter in 2/3 innings of work. Webb’s final season ERA was 1.50.

“They weren’t getting a whole lot of hard contact against Rylee today,” Hudnut said. “We just let her go, and we knew after the fourth if we needed Cam she would be ready and she did get the final two outs for us. That was huge. Rylee just pitched her heart out today. She did a good job.”

Parsons said after the win that the team talked a lot the night before about getting one final win for Drake, the team’s lone senior.

Lindsay, who had two hits in the win, said a big part of their overnight conversations at the Iowa Central Community College campus dorms were about enjoying the moment and recognizing what they accomplished this season.

“We talked about recognizing that we made history at PCM,” Lindsay said. “We made it this far. Why not enjoy everything around us. We are proud of everyone and the coaches are beyond proud of all of us and they’ve expressed that a lot. We are just lucky to be here.”

Drake led the Mustangs at the plate with three hits, including her third dinger of the season.

Lindsay doubled, scored one run and stole two bases and Winters’ double produced the game-winning runs. Addi Hudnut had one hit and one steal, Webb tallied one hit, Steenhoek was hit by a pitch and Ryan DeVore scored one run.

Lindsay ends the season with a team-best 32 runs and 54 total bases and Winters registered a team-most 34 hits and 34 RBIs.

“It feels really good (to get a win),” Lindsay said. “We thought we could do a lot more. Just being here is the best feeling ever and going out on a win was better than we thought.”

Notes: The game was played on Iowa Central’s new turf field inside Rogers Park. Hudnut said the Mustangs prepared for the game by practicing on the turf baseball field inside the complex, but his team also plays spring league games on turf facilities at Southeast Polk and Johnston. He said Sumner-Fredericksburg-Tripoli was playing on turf for the very first time though. That may have caused the Cougar to slide past the base in the seventh. “You slide further on turf.” Hudnut said. “This was there first game on turf ever. So that would be a challenge for them.” ... Jamie Jones led the Cougars with two hits and one RBI. Murray (31-4) allowed two earned runs in seven innings in the circle. ... The Cougars came into the state tournament on a 15-game win streak but lost 9-8 to Dubuque Wahlert on Monday in their quarterfinal game. ... PCM was 2-0 against the two teams with the most wins in 3A this season. Both Sumner-Fredericksburg-Tripoli and Clarinda finished the summer with 33 victories. ... There was only one strikeout in the game on Tuesday.

Williamsburg 8, PCM 3

When teams advance to the state tournament in any sport, taking advantage of opportunities and cashing in on opponent’s mistakes are usually a must.

When the opponent is the defending 3A state champions, it becomes even more crucial to cash in.

While PCM led second-ranked Williamsburg after two innings on Monday, the eighth-ranked Mustangs stranded two runners on base in the first, second and sixth frames during an 8-3 loss to the Raiders in their state quarterfinal matchup on Channel Seeds Field inside Rogers Park in Fort Dodge.

“You have to capitalize. The first inning was the big one,” Hudnut said. “We get two on and nobody out but don’t score. I think if we score there and it gets to 5-1, that’s a completely different game. That would have put more pressure on them. Any time we miss out on runs like that, at this stage, it’s a big deal.”

The Mustangs were limited to five hits and the 3-4-5-6 hitters went a combined 0-for-13 at the dish.

With just one senior and one junior on the roster, it may not be PCM’s last shot on the big stage. But Williamsburg is coming off a state championship and advanced to at least the semifinals in each of the past five seasons.

The Raiders (31-12) have four straight 30-win seasons. They were definitely the team with the most state tournament experience on Monday.

“That’s a really good hitting team,” Hudnut said. “They have some experience up here and got some big hits in some big moments.”

Williamsburg’s state semifinal opponent was third-seeded Dubuque Wahlert, which outlasted sixth-seeded Sumner-Fredericksburg-Tripoli, 9-8, in eight innings.

Williamsburg defeated Dubuque Wahlert, 3-2, in one semifinal game on Wednesday. The Raiders will play Davenport Assumption in the 3A championship game. Fourth-seeded Assumption upset top-ranked Benton Community, 10-7, to advance.

Drake opened the state quarterfinal game against Williamsburg with a single on a 1-2 pitch. Steenhoek then reached on a bunt single to put two runners on with no outs.

Unfortunatley, Raider sophomore Jersey Metz got out of the inning with three straight outs, including two pop ups in the infield.

Trailing 1-0, the Mustangs scored all three of their runs in the second. Hadley Millang registered a one-out single before taking second on a wild pitch. She advanced to third on a ground out by Addi Hudnut.

With two strikes against her, Ila Keuning tied the game with a pinch-hit RBI single that scored Millang. Drake followed with an infield single and then the Mustangs scored two more runs on back-to-back Williamsburg errors. Both Steenhoek and Lindsay were stranded on base though.

Metz got PCM in order in the third, fourth and fifth. Humpal reached on an error to lead off the sixth and Addi Hudnut drew a two-out walk to put two runners on base.

After both runners moved up a bag, Metz got out of the jam with a ground ball to second base.

Parsons, PCM’s starting pitcher, retired the first two batters in the first, but Williamsburg made it 1-0 after Taylor Pitlick doubled and Alley Gorsh singled.

“We knew it would be difficult, but we battled,” Parsons said. “It was a tie game after three innings. We tried our hardest and did our best.”

The Mustangs assisted the Raiders with two errors in the third. The Raiders tied the game at 3-all after Shannon Finn doubled and moved to third on an error.

Parsons got the next batter but a sacrifice bunt and another error led to two unearned runs for the Raiders.

Webb (7-2) pitched the fourth, fifth and sixth and allowed five earned runs on five hits and one walk. She fanned one and took the loss.

Williamsburg did not score in the fourth but plated three runs in the fifth thanks to an RBI double by Pitlick and a two-run homer by Taylor Sanchez.

The homer bounced off the glove of PCM right fielder Kyra Naeve, who made a great leaping effort on the play. The homer made it 6-3.

“That was probably the turning point in the game. It was just bad luck though,” Coach Hudnut said about the homer. “(Kyra) almost made a fantastic play. I told her there’s nothing to be ashamed of. She gave it her all and that would have been a big play for us. It just happened to bounce off her glove and then went over. She was inches from making that catch.”

The Raiders added two more in the sixth as the first two batters reached on a single and a bunt single. Webb did not allow any more hits in the inning but Carly Rich’s fielder’s choice ground ball to Lindsay at shortstop produced two runs.

Williamsburg out-hit PCM 9-5 and there were five combined errors. Metz improved to 22-6 after allowing one earned run and striking out six in seven innings.

Parsons took the no decision after surrendering one earned run on four hits and one walk. She struck out two in three innings.

“Rylee and Cam pitched really well. They just got a few to the gaps,” Coach Hudnut said. “That’s what good hitting teams do. We thought the girls battled all night long. We gave them quite a fight.”

Drake led the PCM offense with two hits and one run. She now has 30 hits and 29 runs this season, which are both top four on the team.

Keuning finished with one hit and one RBI, Millang tallied one hit and one run and Steenhoek had the other hit. Carly Wilkerson scored one run.

Pitlick laced two doubles for the Raiders, while Finn had two hits and one run and Rich tallied two runs and two RBIs.

“We put up a good fight and were even up for a bit,” Drake said. “It was sad, but we are just happy to have that opportunity.”

Notes: The game started 1 hour and 15 minutes after the scheduled 7 p.m. start. ... Four of PCM’s five losses came against teams which were ranked at some point in the season. ... The Mustangs won the only other matchup against these two schools, 13-3, back in 2013.