Sunny weekend of Creston’s John Stephens Classic

With temperatures in the upper 80s and an abundant amount of sun, the John Stephens Classic was toasty this year for players, coaches and fans.

Creston vs Ankeny2-5

The No. 13 Panthers opened play Friday evening against Ankeny, a 5A team that just fell out of the top 15.

Though Creston (14-5) held the Hawks (7-8) to no runs in five of six innings, an offensive run by Ankeny in the third saw five runs. The Hawks went on to win 5-2 in the Panthers’ only loss of the tournament.

Outside of the third inning when Creston gave up two doubles, a single and a home run, pitcher Taryn Fredrickson was strong in the circle.

She threw 104 pitches, 65 of which were strikes. She struck out nine batters, including her first four batters faced.

Offensively, the Panthers logged only three hits against the Hawks, all three coming from Sidney Staver and Jaycee Hanson. Staver logged two singles and Hanson put up the team’s only scores with a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth.

In the outfield, fielders Cora Smith and Jersey Foote put up three and two catches, respectively.

The Ron Fox Clinton Players of the Game were Creston’s Jaycee Hanson and Ankeny’s Sarah Munger.

Creston vs Knoxville7-0

Saturday afternoon, Creston shut out a 1-9 Knoxville team, led by Avery Staver who put up two home runs and five RBIs in three plate appearances.

In the circle, Fredrickson allowed two hits, no runs and struck out nine batters.

The Panthers had a slow start offensively but were able to put up five runs in the fourth and two in the fifth with Avery batting in five of the seven runs.

Fredrickson was two-for-two at bat, scoring two runs with pinch runner Sidney McDonald.

The Ron Fox Clinton Players of the Game were Creston’s Avery Staver and Knoxville’s Jordyn Counts.

Creston vs Lenox11-6

The tournament came to a close Saturday night with the Panthers defeating Lenox 11-6.

The first two innings saw heavy offense from both teams as they each logged six runs in two innings.

Tigers’ senior Zoey Reed started things off for Lenox (6-8) with a single that ended in the first score of the game. The Panthers were able to get out of the inning allowing just the one run.

Once Creston took the plate, they showed what Panther softball is all about — power hitting.

Senior Ava Adamson hit the first pitch from Lenox’s Reese Reed over the center field fence to tie the score.

After the Panthers returned to the dugout after celebrated Adamson’s hit, Avery Staver stepped up and smacked a home run of her own, her third of the tournament.

Fredrickson got on base with a single and Sasha Wurster came in as a courtesy runner, eventually scoring. Also scoring in the first was senior Evy Marlin who stole home on a wild pitch to Hanson.

Despite the 4-1 lead, Lenox came back in the top of the second to regain the lead, 6-4.

Creston pitcher Kennedy Strider had some struggles this inning, giving up several walks to load the bases. She struck out senior Izzy Curtis, but the next batter, Lenox star Sadie Cox, connected for a grand slam to take the lead.

Strider struck out three batters, allowing five hits, six walks and six runs.

Scoring in the second for Lenox with Cox were Danielle Robinson, Hadlee Christensen, Ashlynn Allee and Zoey Reed.

Freshman Reese Reed pitched for the Tigers, striking out two batters, walking two and allowing seven hits and 11 runs.

While Lenox’s offense stalled out in the remainder of the game, the Panthers put up seven more runs — two in the second, four in the fourth and one in the fifth.

The seven runs came from Adamson, Avery Staver, Fredrickson, Hanson, Jensan Tussey, and two from Strider via courtesy runner McDonald.

Marlin and Avery each logged two RBIs with one each coming from Adamson, Fredrickson and Tussey.

The Ron Fox Clinton Players of the Game were Creston’s Ava Adamson and Lenox’s Sadie Cox.

Clarke vs East Union11-1

Saturday afternoon at Southwestern Community College, the Clarke Indians (5-7) took down the East Union Eagles (4-8) in an 11-1 victory.

Though the Eagles looked to keep it close, responding to a 3-0 lead with a run of their

own in the second, they gave up eight runs in the bottom of the second to dig a hole they couldn’t climb out of.

Putting up the Eagles’ only run of the game was senior pitcher Tristan Lear. In the circle, she struck out two batters, walked eight and allowed eight hits.

Abbi Nash pitched for Clarke, striking out six batters, allowing two walks, one hit and one run.

Three Clarke players scored two runs, Maisy McCoy, Miah Graves and Avery Watson. Graves and Watson both logged triples in the win.

Graves, Reese Shaw and Parker Truitt each had two RBIs.

Other scorers for the Indians were Shaw, Ahnka Hewlett, Maddie Youngs, Truitt and Claire Jacobsen.

Standings

The Panthers, now 11-0 in the Hawkeye 10, lead the conference over Clarinda (13-5, 5-0).

This week, Creston plays two more conference matchups —

versus Shenandoah (5-6, 4-5) on Tuesday and at Glenwood (7-8, 5-6) on Thursday.

Clarinda is on the road this

week, traveling to Harlan for a doubleheader Monday, at Atlantic Tuesday and At Red Oak Thursday.

Photos available online.

HAWKEYE 10:

1. Creston (16-5, 11-0)

2. Clarinda (13-5, 5-0)

3. Kuemper (9-9, 7-1)

4. Atlantic (12-8, 7-3)

5. Lewis Central (15-6, 8-4)

6. Glenwood (7-8, 5-6)

7. Shenandoah (5-6, 4-5)

8. Harlan (1-14, 1-8)

9. Denison (4-10, 1-9)

10. St. Albert (2-11, 0-6)

11. Red Oak (2-12, 0-7)

PRIDE OF IOWA:

1. Wayne (10-1, 6-0)

2. SE Warren (8-3, 6-1)

3. MStM (7-7, 4-4)

4. Mount Ayr (4-6, 3-3)

5. Nodaway Valley (3-5, 3-4)

6. Lenox (6-8, 2-4)

7. East Union (4-8, 1-5)

8. Central Decatur (3-6, 1-6)