Panthers bow out in regional final

DALLAS CENTER — The come-from-behind formula that worked for the Creston softball team in a 3-2 regional semifinal win over Lewis Central came up short Tuesday night against fourth-ranked Dallas Center Grimes.

The Mustangs (33-7) bolted to a 6-0 lead in the first four innings on the way to an 8-2 win over the No. 12-ranked Panthers (32-7) at the Burnett Complex in Dallas Center. As Class 4A Region 2 champs, Dallas Center-Grimes is one of three Little Hawkeye Conference members in next week’s state tournament in Fort Dodge.

The others are No. 2-ranked Norwalk (33-7) and unranked Pella (22-12), which knocked off Little Hawkeye member and sixth-ranked Carlisle in regional play. DC-G opens state tourney play at 10:30 a.m. Monday against nearby rival ADM (27-8). Pella faces top-seeded Cedar Rapids Xavier at 10 a.m. Monday.

Creston, the Hawkeye Ten Conference champion at 20-0, was unable to match DC-G’s power hitting display in the early innings Tuesday. After senior catcher Ava Adamson stroked a double on the first pitch of the game, the Panthers didn’t have another baserunner until Avery Staver’s single to start the fourth inning.

By then, the Mustangs had built a 4-0 lead on Jenah Gray’s 17th home run of the season in the second inning with a runner on, and a pair of runs in the third inning.

Kale Montag made it 6-0 in the bottom of the fourth on a two-run homer, and Addie Abens belted another two-run shot in the sixth to stretch it to 8-1. Mila Kuhns hit a solo shot in the fifth inning for Creston, leaving both teams tied with 52 home runs this season.

Late rally

Creston gradually got better offensively during the game, finishing with the makings of a rally in the seventh inning. Jersey Foote singled, and Kuhns beat out a grounder to shortstop to put runners on the corners with one out.

Sidney Staver followed with an RBI single to make it 8-2, before DC-G sophomore pitcher Tessa Jones snuffed the rally with a flyout and her 10th strikeout of the game. Creston finished with eight hits to DC-G’s seven.

Creston pitcher Taryn Fredrickson finished her final Panther game with five strikeouts, three walks and seven hits allowed.

Coach Todd Merical, in his first year at Dallas Center-Grimes after a long career at Johnston in succeeding the legendary Steve Schlafke, and Creston coach Dave Hartman are brothers-in-law. Hartman is married to Merical’s sister Lori.

Merical said he was never comfortable until Creston’s final out, even with the 8-1 lead.

“That’s a good team,” Merical said. “When I saw that we were in the same regional, I was concerned. They swing it one through nine, and their pitcher is second in the state in strikeouts. We knew it was two evenly-matched teams. Tessa had a good mix going tonight against their hitters, and our kids made some good adjustments in the box. We beat a really good team tonight.”

Merical said Jones was able to coax Creston’s hitters into chasing some tough pitches to hit early in the game, compiling six strikeouts among the first nine batters she faced.

“You never know how antsy kids might be in a big game like this, and Tessa took advantage of some of that early I think,” Merical said.

Hartman concurred, saying the Panthers settled into their game plan in the later innings. But, by then the margin was a big ask against this caliber of opponent.

“I thought our plate discipline would win the game for us,” Hartman said. “Late in the game I thought it might allow us to come back, but we just dug too much of a hole. Our whole plan was to not chase anything up, and we chased a lot early. When we started hunting pitches down, which was the game plan, we started swinging it pretty well.”

Whether it was a pitch on the corner that didn’t get called for a third strike, or a flyball that fell in between fielders with two outs in the sixth just before Abens crashed her two-run shot in the sixth, the Mustangs repeatedly took advantage of extended innings.

“We played OK,” Hartman said. “We needed to catch a fly ball and then they hit a two-run homer, but that was my fault. I had planned that if we had a base open that we were going to put that girl (Abens) on and pitch to Montag. Gray and Abens are their best hitters, but Montag had just hit a home run, so I didn’t do it. I thought the girl left early on the steal and I was chirping about that. Then Abens hit it out.

“It was a tough night,” Hartman continued. “We couldn’t close a couple of innings and they got a couple of big swings. I know Taryn and Ava got frustrated at times with the (strike) zone. Jaycee (Hanson) hit one that almost got out to the opposite field. The truth is, they are just a really good team.”

Adamson and Kuhns each had two hits in their final game, also finishing with the team’s only extra-base hits. Gray and Montag each drove in two runs on two hits for the Mustangs.

Six seniors

Six Panthers left the field for the final time, capping a successful chapter of Creston softball. The seniors are Adamson, Foote, Fredrickson, Kuhns, third baseman Evy Marlin and right fielder Sasha Wurster.

During the past five seasons since they entered the high school program as eighth graders, the Panthers earned three conference championships with records of 20-12, 25-5, 24-11, 20-16 and 32-7. This season they were the first team to go unbeaten in Hawkeye Ten play since Creston’s 2010 team went 18-0.

“That’s a great senior class and they have been big contributors for many years,” said Hartman, wrapping up his third season at the helm. His assistants were Gracie Hagle and Peyton Rice, former Panthers who played collegiately.

Returning starters include second baseman Avery Staver, the team’s home run leader with 14, along with Hanson at first base, left fielder Cora Smith and utility player Sidney Staver, who frequently batted seventh in the lineup as designated player.

Sophomore Kennedy Strider was 5-3 as a varsity pitcher, and a frequent pinch-hitter with a .409 batting average. Outfielder Jensan Tussey (.312) was also a pinch hitter. Backup catcher Sidney McDonald was a frequent courtesy runner, contributing to the team’s 122 stolen bases in 129 attempts.

As a team, Creston batted .383 with 52 home runs and 314 runs scored (8.0 per game). Fredrickson pitched 168 innings, closing with 255 strikeouts and 55 walks. Teams hit .155 against her while compiling a 27-4 record. She plans to pitch at Simpson College next year.

DC-G 8, Creston 2

DC-G pitching: Tessa Jones 10K 0BB. Creston pitching: Taryn Fredrickson 5K 3BB. W — Jones (22-4). L— Fredrickson (27-4). HR — Cr: Mila Kuhns. DCG: Jenah Gray, Kale Montag, Addie Abens. 2B — Cr: Ava Adamson. RBI — Cr: Kuhns 1, Sidney Staver 1. DCG: Gray 2, Abens 2, Montag 2. Multiple hitters — Cr: Adamson 2, Kuhns 2. DCG: Gray 2, Montag 2.