FORT DODGE — Creston’s offense looked to have Fairfield senior pitcher Allie Deao dialed in early when Panther senior Taylor Briley crushed the first pitch for a two-out, solo home run.
Briley took advantage of a good pitch.
“Coach told us to be ready early,” Briley said. “The first pitch I saw straight down the middle. It was a little high, which I like. I knew it was my pitch. I just loaded back and swung and it went far.”
Briley’s hit was unlike Creston’s two most recent games where most of the offense has come late.
“It really pumped all of us up,” Briley said. “We talked about how we needed to get ready early.”
But Deao settled into a rhythm after that as the Trojans went on to pull out a 5-1 win.
Deao allowed only two hits, walked two and struck out seven.
Creston only mustered one more hit — an infield single by Saige Rice in the fifth. The Panthers only had a runner past second base once — when Jami Sickels reached on an error and later moved to third.
The Panthers could not get the timing down on Deao’s changeup and riseball.
Often, Creston batters jogged back to the dugout wondering what they could do against Deao.
“She had really good off-speed,” said Creston senior Alli Thomsen. “It was hard to get into a rhythm, get your timing down.
“We never knew how fast or slow it was coming.”
Deao not only changed speeds, but locations.
“She was definitely keeping us on our toes,” Briley said. “She didn’t throw the same pitch back-to-back.”
Deao’s pitches had a certain bite to them that Creston’s hitters never could adjust too.
“She had good spin on the ball. That’s what really got too us,” Josie Sickels said. “We weren’t hitting it.”
Deao’s changeup flustered the Panthers throughout the final six innings.
“Her changeup was working really well,” Fairfield coach Bob Bradfield said. “It’s been her pitch the last couple of years.”
Deao combined a changeup with a riseball that Creston’s batters couldn’t lay off.
“If her changeup is working, she can throw that high pitch and get a few swings at it,” Bradfield said. “That works well.”
Deao moved the ball around the plate effectively, spotting pitches on both the inside and outside parts of the plate and seldom down the middle.
“She had good movement and good location,” said Creston coach Mike McCabe. “That’s a pretty tough combination to beat.”
Often Deao located her first pitch for a called strike.
Creston batters seldom could recover from falling into an early hole.
“It seemed like we were down 0-1 a lot and then we’re at her mercy,” McCabe said.
At times the Panthers wanted to be aggressive, but then couldn’t pull the trigger.
“We talked a little about let’s be alive early, be aggressive,” McCabe said. “You try to take some pitches, then you’re going against what we just talked about.”
Creston had one good opportunity in the fifth, when Shelby Palser stepped into the batter’s box with two outs. Palser worked a 2-0 count. She took a called strike, to put the count at 2-1.
Deao threw an inside pitch that jammed Palser. Palser hit a weak ground ball to first.
Creston didn’t have a serious threat after that.
“We got jammed,” McCabe said. “It was a case where she threw a little bit of a spinner or a screwball in there then it was a straight inside pitch. Shelby’s pretty good about not getting herself out.”
Creston never could get comfortable.
“She kept us on our toes and we couldn’t get started,” Briley said.