Panthers rally to advance

Creston rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the fifth inning to take a 3-2 victory over Lewis Central in the Class 4A Region 2 semifinal at Panther Field Saturday night.

No. 12-ranked Creston (32-6) plays at No. 4-ranked Dallas Center-Grimes (32-7) at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the regional final at Dallas Center. The Mustangs defeated Glenwood Saturday, 8-0.

In the top of the seventh inning at Panther Field, Creston senior pitcher Taryn Fredrickson got her 11th and 12th strikeouts of the game, with shortstop Mila Kuhns making the final play on a ground ball.

Just a few minutes earlier, Kuhns was robbed of a home run by a leaping catch at the fence by Lewis Central left fielder Cami Damgaard.

Lewis Central had taken a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning on a single by Camryn King after two walks. Fredrickson then snuffed that rally with three consecutive strikeouts.

Mahri Manz, LC’s leadoff batter, hit a solo home run in the fifth for a 2-0 lead over the Panthers. That inning ended on a running catch in center by Jersey Foote.

The Panther offense finally got untracked in the bottom of the fifth against LC freshman pitcher Sophia Frascht. Sidney Staver and Jaycee Hanson each reached on infield errors. After a popout, Panther leadoff batter Ava Adamson delivered a two-run double up the middle to tie the game at 2-2.

“Ava has never been afraid to go to the plate. She’s the right girl in that spot,” Creston coach Dave Hartman said. “She’s such a clutch player. In the last three years Ava has probably won five or six games with walk-off hits.”

Like many Creston batters in the game, Adamson had been frustrated with the outcome of two earlier at-bats that resulted in a flyout and groundout.

“We came into this game a little nervous. We were playing to not lose instead of playing to win,” Adamson said. “In that last at-bat I was trying to go back to that space of just having fun in the box, instead of thinking ‘Oh my gosh I need to get a hit right now.’ I was just happy I was able to get a hit for my team.”

Creston finally pushed ahead in the sixth inning. Jersey Foote smashed a triple to right field, and scored the lead run on Evy Marlin’s groundout to shortstop. Kuhns nearly made it 4-2 when her drive to left was snared at the top of the fence by Damgaard.

“Coach tells me I’m early when I’m popping it up, so I tried to wait a little longer,” Foote said. “I was thinking double, but I saw coach waving me over so I kept going.”

“Jersey can run,” Hartman said. “I wanted to get her to third so we could score on something that wasn’t a hit, and that’s what we did when Evy hit the ball on the ground. Davis is a tremendous shortstop for them, but the hit took her to her glove side, so she had to go to first. Evy is a tough kid. She put it up the middle of the field, giving us a chance to score.”

Fredrickson, who frequently showed emotion after recording strikeouts in the game, got the eighth and ninth batters in the LC lineup out on strikes before Kuhns threw a strike to Hanson at first after fielding Manz’s grounder. Both teams played error free in the game.

Fredrickson said the team didn’t panic after falling behind 2-0. She allowed only two hits while compiling 12 strikeouts and six walks.

“I knew we could score against that pitcher,” Fredrickson said. “Playing a team three times, they are eventually going to know what you’re throwing, but I trust Ava and what she calls, and I trust myself.”

“Where would we be without Taryn?” Hartman said. “She’s a great role model for younger kids because she’s good for one reason — she’s worked and worked. She made so many big pitches tonight when they had people on.”

Tuesday’s matchup

In some respects, the Panthers will be playing a mirror image of themselves in a strong hitting Dallas Center-Grimes team with an outstanding pitcher. Coach Todd Merical gained his 1,000th career victory earlier this season.

The Mustangs are batting .390 as a team with 48 home runs. Infielder Jenna Gray had 16 homers and 50 RBIs. Outfielder Adie Abens has hit 12 homers with 45 RBIs. Sophomore pitcher Tessa Jones is 20-4 with 168 strikeouts in 137 innings with a 1.48 ERA.

Creston is batting .383 with 51 homers, led by Avery Staver with 14 homers. Adamson and Foote each have eight home runs, and Hanson has seven.

Fredrickson is 27-3 with 250 strikeouts in 162 innings and a 1.43 ERA.

“They can swing it one through nine. In some ways they’re really similar to us,” Hartman said. “Tessa Jones is a real high level thrower. They have a Division I shortstop who can really play. They are just a solid team that can beat you in a lot of ways and they are well-coached. It will be a really good matchup.”

Lewis Central pitching: Sophia Frascht 1K 0BB. Creston pitching: Taryn Fredrickson 12K 6BB. W — Fredrickson. L— Frascht. HR — LC: Mahri Manz. 3B — Cr: Jersey Foote. 2B — Cr: Ava Adamson, Jaycee Hanson. RBI — Cr: Adamson 2, Evy Marlin 1. LC: Manz 1. Multiple hitters — Cr: Fredrickson 2.