Successful season celebrated

At Creston’s softball banquet Wednesday night, first-year coach Dave Hartman alluded to a statement he made early in the season to the team.

He made a point to say they could have been spending this week in Fort Dodge, site of the state tournament, based on the success of the season. The Panthers went 24-11 overall and won the Hawkeye Ten Conference with a 17-3 record, one game ahead of Atlantic.

Defending state champion Winterset topped Creston 6-3 in a regional semifinal game, and has advanced to tonight’s Class 4A championship game against North Scott.

“I said when I got here that I was going to try to win a state championship,” Hartman said. “Winterset is playing for a state championship tomorrow night. I’ll tell you, we didn’t get the result we wanted that night at Winterset, but if you were there or saw Winterset throughout the year, there’s not that much difference between us and Winterset. It’s a fine line. They might win it and they might not, but I want our girls to understand that my statement wasn’t just a boast or a lofty aspiration. That was a belief! That line is so fine, that one or two plays, one or two hits, and we might be up there tonight getting ready to play in that championship game.”

The team excelled off the field as well, with a 3.74 team grade point average that earned Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union Academic Achievement Award presented to teams with a combined GPA of 3.25-4.00. Likewise, all of the team’s seniors — Caitlin Bruce, Keely Coen, Daile Keeler, Jacy Kralik, Nevaeh Randall and manager Kloey Crawford — were named to the Hawkeye Ten Conference All-Academic team.

Randall, who will play in the Iowa Girls High School Coaches Association All-Star Series Saturday at Johnston, was named the team’s most valuable player. She shifted from third base to shortstop this year and excelled defensively at her new position while having a record-setting season offensively.

Three seniors were presented certificates for finishing their careers in the top 10 of single-season or career records, and Randall had the most of those. Her rankings include ninth in single-season batting average (.456), first in most runs scored in a season (47), fourth and fifth in most RBIs in a season (47 and 43), ninth in most doubles in a season (12), first, second, third, sixth and seventh in single-season home runs (21, 10, 9, 4, 3) and first in career home runs (47).

Haylee LaMasters held the previous record of career home runs at 22, so Randall more than doubled that and almost reached it in her senior season alone.

“I hope you all appreciate what you got to witness this season. It truly was incredible,” Hartman said as he presented the team MVP award to Randall, who will join former teammate Gracie Hagle on Grand View University’s softball team.

Keeler, who batted behind Randall in the lineup and drove in several runs after teams intentionally walked Randall, also finished high in the record books. She ranked 11th in most RBIs in a season (30), 10th in most doubles in a season (11), sixth and seventh in single-season home runs (4,3) and eighth in career home runs (7).

Coen, who shared varsity pitching duties the past two seasons with sophomore Taryn Fredrickson as the best pitching duo in the conference, ended sixth in career pitching victories with a 54-24 career record. This year’s seniors appeared in one state tournament when they were freshmen in the abbreviated 2020 season. Coen was the primary varsity pitcher that season.

Assistant coach Teri Keeler spoke on the 7-2-2 JV season and freshman coach Peyton Rice presented awards to members of the 7-7-1 freshman team.

Hartman spoke of his appreciation for the coaches and adult volunteers that worked on the field and concession stand, as well as numerous players who had to juggle daily schedules to contributed to multiple levels of the program in the freshman, JV and varsity seasons.

“Those kids who had to jump off one bus and get on another, or jump off the bus and run over to our field for home games, those are the unsung heroes of the program,” Hartman said. “I also want to thank you for allowing me to come home. I grew up here and this is a special place to me.”

Letterwinners (years lettered) – Seniors: Caitlin Bruce (3), Keely Coen (5), Daile Keeler (3), Jacy Kralik (3), Nevaeh Randall (5), Kloey Crawford (manager). Juniors: Sophie Hagle (3). Sophomores: Ava Adamson (2), Jersey Foote (3), Taryn Fredrickson (3), Mile Kuhns (2), Ady Morrison (1), Zoey Vandevender (1), Sasha Wurster (1). Freshmen: Jaycee Hanson (1), Grace Keeler (1), Braylee Pokorny (1). Eighth graders: Sidney McDonald (1), Kennedy Strider (1).

CARE Awards (Confidence, Aggression, Relentless Effort) — Jaycee Hanson, Jersey Foote, Taryn Fredrickson, Mila Kuhns, Sophie Hagle, Keely Coen.

Defensive player of the year — Jacy Kralik.

Silver slugger — Nevaeh Randall.

Rookie of the year — Zoey Vandevender.

Leadership — Daile Keeler.

Hit of the year — Nevaeh Randall (game-tying home run with two outs in the seventh inning vs. Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton).

Defensive play of the year — Jacy Kralik (dove to field a bunt, and dove to tag the runner trying to score on the same play.)

Best teammate — Caitlin Bruce.

Most improved player — Ava Adamson.

Most valuable player — Nevaeh Randall.

Manger of the year — Kloey Crawford.

Hawkeye Ten softball — First team: Nevaeh Randall (unanimous), Daile Keeler, Jersey Foote, Ava Adamson. Second team: Mila Kuhns, Taryn Fredrickson. Honorable mention: Sophie Hagle, Keely Coen.

Hawkeye Ten All-Academic (seniors 3.5-4.0 GPA)— Nevaeh Randall, Jacy Kralik, Daile Keeler, Kloey Crawford, Keely Coen, Caitlin Bruce.