Creston softball wins in six
Jun. 7—The Panthers (4-5) put on a show in their home opener Tuesday, the softball team hitting two home runs and a grand slam to defeat the Clarinda Cardinals (9-5) 15-5 in six innings.
It took a few innings to get the ball rolling, and it was the Cardinals who found the first runs of the night.
Jerzee Knight scored on a hit from Kaylah Degase, and Degase and Ryplee Sunderman made it home on a home run by Lylly Merrill to put the Cardinals up 4-0 in the third.
"We just want to keep playing the game, and we just emphasized keep playing the game," Creston coach David Hartman said. "We knew that we would start swinging and have a chance to catch them. I don't think there was really any panic anywhere, we just kept playing."
Zoey Vandevender began what would become a 10-run victory for the Panthers with a walk to first. Senior Caitlin Bruce bunted, getting out at first but sending Vandevender to second.
A deep single by Nevaeh Randall earned the Panthers' first run of the night as Vandevender crossed home plate.
Jersey Foote hit a pop fly to outfield, but the fielder dropped the ball, sending her to second and Randall making it home from first.
Foote made it home as Ava Adamson connected for what would have been a triple. As Adamson slid to third, the third baseman missed the catch, and she took the opportunity to make it home on the error — tying the score at four.
Senior Keely Coen pitched the first three innings for the Panthers, striking one out, before sophomore Taryn Fredrickson came in to close with three strikeouts and only one allowed run.
Though the Cardinals couldn't repeat their offensive performance in the fourth, the Panthers kept the momentum going.
Sophie Hagle sent a ball out between two defenders to make it to first and stole second before Bruce hit a a double, Hagle making it to third.
Randall put up a home run to send the three of them home and increase the lead to 7-4.
The Cardinals found a run in the fifth from Presley Jobe, but Adamson responded with a home run to start the bottom of the fifth.
"Ava did a good job working into a count she could handle, and then got her all or none swing off — she had a good pitch," Hartman said. "You really can't do any better than that. Ava's been swinging it. Not everybody is going to swing it every night, but somebody is going to swing it every night. That's the beauty of this team."
The team kept moving, getting the bases loaded, Bruce sending one home and keeping them full as Randall stepped to the plate.
"We count on Nevaeh to get big hits," Hartman said. "She's come through a number of times throughout her career. Tonight she was huge."
Randall put her skills on display as she knocked the ball out of the park in a grand slam to lead the Cardinals 13-5 in the fifth.
Adamson scored her third run and Jacy Kralik found her first to end the game in the sixth.
"I think we need to continue to get better defensively, and we've got to continue to make pitches," Hartman said. "We had a really rough night last night where we really got a gut punch in a couple of games we should have won, and especially the second game. So for us to bounce back after being down early is really really huge for our psyche, and it's really a credit to our girls and our toughness."
The Panthers return to action Thursday in Shenandoah before hosting the John Stephens Classic this weekend.
During the classic, the Panthers play Friday at 10 a.m. against Bondurant-Farrar and 5 p.m. against Ankeny. Saturday, they play against Mount Ayr at 8:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. versus DCG. The Creston games will all be at the high school.
Area teams competing Saturday:
Lenox vs. Bondurant-Farrar at 9:45 a.m. at SWCC
Clarke vs. Atlantic at 10:15 a.m. at the high school
Mount Ayr vs. Saydel at 1:15 p.m. at SWCC
Clarke vs. Lenox at 3 p.m. at SWCC
East Union vs. Clarinda at 4:45 p.m. at SWCC.
