Cardiac cats: Creston upsets No. 1-ranked ADM to advance to state

ADEL — The Creston softball team staged a dramatic comeback in the top of the seventh inning here Tuesday to earn the school’s first trip to the State Softball Tournament since 1996, knocking off top-ranked ADM 4-3.

If these cats had nine lives, the Panthers used about eight of them.

Down to their final out, junior right fielder Alyssa Higgins smoked a 1-0 fastball up the middle for a double, scoring both Alli Thomsen and Shelby Palser and turning a 3-2 deficit into a 4-3 Panther victory.

“I was just looking to hit the ball, make contact and hope that something was going to happen out of it,” said Higgins, who had already hit a double in the game.

“I was looking for my pitch. She threw me it (fastball) and it went right up the middle.”

Thomsen started the rally with a one-out single and Palser followed with a single of her own. Lexie Little grounded out for the second out of the inning, but it allowed both Thomsen and Palser to advance into scoring position.

“We really don’t have a bottom of the order,” Creston head coach Mike McCabe said. “We’ve talked that all year long. We had a great inning there, where we got some big hits. Alyssa Higgins came up big again in the nine-spot. She had a couple of doubles off maybe the best pitcher in the state.”

Recovery

Both pitchers — ADM’s Molly Jacobsen and Creston’s Haylee LaMasters — cruised through three innings, with Higgins’ double in the third inning resulting in the only baserunner to that point.

But a leadoff walk to Tiger leadoff batter Gabbie Glenn in the bottom of the fourth inning proved costly to the Panthers.

Kate Collins then reached on a fielder’s choice and Jacobsen hit a sacrifice fly to move Glenn to third base. Kenzi Sutton hit an RBI single and Montana Popp followed with an RBI single of her own.

Lexi Wyant brought a run home when she reached on another fielder’s choice, giving ADM a 3-0 lead.

“We had a walk and probably the last person we wanted to walk was Glenn,” McCabe said. “That just kind of sets them up. We kind of got through it and got that run back. That kind of settled us down a bit.”

Thomsen led off the fifth with a double to right center field and moved to third base on a Palser groundout, before scoring on a passed ball to draw the Panthers to within 3-1.

Taylor Briley provided a big spark for the Panthers, when she blasted a 2-2 pitch over the left field fence for a solo home run, making the score 3-2.

“Taylor had the big home run after they scored and kind of got our spirits lifted up a little bit,” McCabe said. “It’s kind of contagious with our bats, like ‘Oh, maybe she (Jacobsen) isn’t invincible.’”

“We were kind of not hitting as well after we got that first run, because even the first run we got was on a passed ball,” Briley said. “Getting that on a hit, it really told the team we can actually hit this pitcher.”

The Panthers survived a scar in the bottom of the sixth inning, when Sutton led off with a double and advanced to third base on a sacrifice bunt. But LaMasters registered one of her seven strikeouts and induced a pop fly to end the inning.

Closing out

After Higgins’ second double of the game gave the Panthers the 4-3 lead, they still had to record three more outs to close out the victory.

LaMasters got a pop fly to left field and then struck out Shannon Jones for the second out.

Glenn drew another walk, but on the first pitch to Collins, she popped a shallow foul ball to the right side of the infield.

Creston senior second baseman Brenna Baker ranged far to her left and caught the ball with an outstretched glove to end the game and send the Panthers into a celebration on the infield.

LaMasters gave up just four hits in the game and struck out seven with two walks. Her steady approach in the pitching circle kept the Panthers in the game, even with a 3-0 deficit.

“It feels amazing. I’m speechless,” LaMasters said after the game. “Words can’t even describe what I’m feeling right now. I’m proud of every single player on this team. I knew we could do it.”

For ADM, it marked the second straight year the Tigers saw another team rally from behind for a 4-3 win in the regional final. ADM bowed out with a record of 32-5.

The Tigers lost to eventual Class 3A state champion Clarke on a walkoff hit in last year’s regional final.

Program win

The win gives the Panthers (26-6) their fourth state softball appearance in school history and first since 1996, when McCabe was an assistant coach for Ron “Fox” Clinton.

The Panthers open state tournament play 1 p.m. Monday against 10th-ranked Waverly-Shell Rock, which was a 1-0 winner over West Delaware on Tuesday. That game will be played on Buena Vista University Field at Harlan Rogers Sports Complex in Fort Dodge.

After Creston had lost four regional final games on their opponent’s home field in the past decade, McCabe had plenty of thoughts running through his head after Tuesday’s monumental win.

“The thoughts I had of Katlin (Briley) and Madison (Frain) and Maddie (Haines) and Carla (Smith) and Shelby (Kramer), all those kids that worked really hard,” he said. “Just a lot of kids who had put a lot of time in and had to go play somebody on their home field. Tonight was just going to be our night. We talked about it yesterday and we left practice and I said, ‘We’re going to get it done tomorrow.’ Bless their heart — they did it.”

McCabe said it was satisfying to see his players’ hard work pay off with a trip to the state tournament.

“I just know what fun it was back then (‘96) when we went,” he said. “I’m looking forward to every bit of work I’ve got to do tomorrow to get ready. Just very happy. A lot of kids have worked very hard and it’s very satisfying. It’s very satisfying to see all the hard work, all the things you try to do with your program, that it pays off. Hopefully it motivates some young kids in the future, too.”

Creston 4, ADM 3

R H E

Creston 000 011 2 — 4 8 0

ADM 000 300 0 — 3 4 0

Cr: Haylee LaMasters 7K 2BB and Natalie Mostek. ADM: Molly Jacobsen 9K 0BB and Shannon Jones. W — LaMasters. L— Jacobsen. HR — Cr: Taylor Briley 1. 3B — none. 2B — Cr: Alyssa Higgins 2, Alli Thomsen 1. RBI — Cr: Higgins 2, Briley 1. ADM: Kenzi Sutton 1, Montana Popp 1, Lexi Wyant 1. Multiple hitters — Cr: Briley 2, Thomsen 2, Higgins 2. ADM: Sutton 2.