Panthers go 20-0 in conference

Creston wrapped up the Hawkeye Ten’s first perfect softball season in 15 years with a seventh-inning walkoff hit for a 6-5 victory over Clarinda Thursday night.

State track qualifier Cora Smith was standing on first base as a pinch runner for Jensan Tussey, who was hit by a pitch to start Creston’s seventh inning. That brought up Creston leadoff batter Ava Adamson, who ripped a double through the left-center gap for the winning RBI double.

Smith, who was running on the two-strike pitch in a steal attempt after Adamson had fouled off a bunt, scored easily from first base. Coach Dave Hartman never hesitated in sending the swift freshman left fielder home for the winning run.

“We were running on the pitch, so as soon as she hit it I said we’re not stopping,” Hartman said. “Cora was rounding third before the ball got to the shortstop. She’s a heck of an athlete and they had no chance to get her. Ava had been hitting it hard all night, right at people. This one got through.”

Adamson admitted to being frustrated at her lack of hits earlier in the doubleheader, despite hard contact in several at-bats. She got a boost from teammates.

“I was too much in my head and thinking about stats and all that,” Adamson said. “Sasha [Wurster] came up to me and told me to just have fun. Jensan did her job and got on base. I just went up there thinking I’m just going to try to get a base hit. I wasn’t going to try to hit a home run or do too much. It was a good pitch, just a little inside. I waited and hit it up the middle.”

Timely homers

Earlier, second baseman Avery Staver tied the game at 5-5 with a solo home run, her 13th of the season. That puts her at second place all-time for home runs in a season, surpassing teammate Jersey Foote’s total of 12 last season. The one-season record is 21 by current Grand View University first baseman Nevaeh Randall.

The hitting star of the day, however, was Jaycee Hanson. The junior first baseman hit a three-run home run in the 5-0 victory in game one, and followed with another three-run blast in the fourth inning to build a 4-0 lead in the nightcap. For the day, Hanson had three hits and seven RBIs. She now has seven home runs for the season.

“I worked all winter because I wanted to be good this summer for my team, and to just get better,” Hanson said. “I had a lot of confidence and when I saw my pitch I just swung.”

“Jaycee has put in the work,” Hartman said. “Last year she had some issues with pitch selection, just plate discipline. She’s worked a lot on her own to get better.”

Clarinda, which includes former Creston all-state first baseman Sara Keeler on the coaching staff, has been hampered much of the season with injuries sidelining standouts Jerzee Knight and Brynn Isaacson. But, the Cardinals rallied from that 4-0 deficit to take a 5-4 lead in the top of the fifth. A diving catch in right field by Sasha Wurster prevented Clarinda from extending its rally, and Smith had multiple running catches Thursday in left field.

After Staver tied it with her homer and Clarinda put a runner on in the sixth, Hartman opted to bring senior pitcher Taryn Fredrickson in to relieve starting pitcher Kennedy Strider. Fredrickson, who had 97 pitches in the opening game, recorded four strikeouts and allowed no hits in getting the final five outs.

Fredrickson passed the 200 strikeouts mark for the season in the first game.

“I wanted to let KK [Strider] beat them, but at that point if they got somebody on I was probably going to make the switch,” Hartman said. “Kennedy threw strikes the whole day. They are a ranked team and they are going to get some hits. The girls really wanted to get the unbeaten [conference] record, and I wasn’t going to leave the best pitcher in the conference sitting in the bullpen in that situation. Taryn said she wasn’t sore and had no issues. Kennedy pitched well and allowed Taryn to sit for a long time before throwing again.”

Hartman said it’s no accident that two of the most dangerous hitters in the lineup, Adamson and Staver, are batting first and second in the lineup with the maximum chances of getting extra at-bats. When the batting order turned over again and Adamson came up in the seventh inning with a chance to win the game, that was by design.

“I started that about 10 to 12 years ago,” Hartman said. “We were at a baseball game and Ankeny had their best player batting third. The game ended with him in the on-deck circle. I’ve had Nevaeh Randall and now Ava batting leadoff here. Never end the game without your best hitters coming to the plate.”

It was the first Hawkeye Ten softball champion to go undefeated in the conference since the Creston team in 2010 when all-state pitcher Madison Frain was a sophomore. That team, which also included future DMACC players Shelby Kramer and Katlin Briley, went 28-4 overall and bowed out in the regional semifinals in a 6-0 loss to Winterset.

Adamson said the team set a goal to win the conference and avenge last year’s loss to Clarinda that decided the title. Once that was clinched last week when the Cardinals suffered their third league defeat, the players wanted to finish out the league schedule at 20-0.

“We took a goal into the season to be Hawkeye Ten champions,” Adamson said. “It was upsetting last year when we didn’t, and we knew we had a special team this year. We have a really good bond. Tonight we had already clinched the title, but going undefeated in the conference was something more and it was special to get it over Clarinda when they beat us for the championship last year.”

Saturday rained out

The Panthers were scheduled to take on two defending state champions — Van Meter (Class 2A) and Carlisle (4A) — Saturday at the Carlisle Tournament, but those games were rained out.

Creston travels to Chariton in non-conference play tonight.

Creston 5, Clarinda 0

Clarinda pitching: Mallory Woods 2K 1BB. Creston pitching: Taryn Fredrickson 9K 2BB. W — Fredrickson. L— Woods. HR — Cr: Jaycee Hanson. 2B — Cr: Ava Adamson. Cl: Annika Price. RBI — Cr: Hanson 4, Adamson 1. Multiple hitters — Cr: Evy Marlin 2, Hanson 2.

Creston 6, Clarinda 5

Clarinda pitching: Addison Wagoner 3K 1BB. Creston pitching: Kennedy Strider 1K 2BB, Taryn Fredrickson (6) 4K 0BB. W — Fredrickson. L— Wagoner. HR — Cr: Jaycee Hanson, Avery Staver. 3B — Cl: Maddie Cole. 2B — Cr: Ava Adamson. Cl: Mallory Woods. RBI — Cr: Hanson 3, Adamson 1, A. Staver 1, Evy Marlin 1. Cl: Cole 2, Stevie Wilmes 1, Annika Price 1, Mallory Woods 1. Multiple hitters — Cr: A. Staver 2. Cl: Addison Wagoner 2.