How Kiana Carnes' clutch hit gave Waukee Northwest the 5A state softball championship

Kiana Carnes wasn't rattled by the intense pressure she was up against in the fifth inning of the Class 5A championship game of the state softball tournament Thursday in Fort Dodge.

In the bottom of the fifth inning in a scoreless tie between Waukee Northwest and Fort Dodge, Carnes stepped up to the plate for the Wolves with the bases loaded and two outs. She got two strikes on her going up against Dodger ace and Iowa recruit Jalen Adams, sending the large contingent of Fort Dodge fans in attendance into a loud chant.

But Carnes stayed calm in the batter's box.

"It was really loud," Carnes said. "I had to stay focused on just myself and my at-bat."

After fouling off an Adams pitch Carnes stepped into the box, saw a pitch she liked and took it to the gap in right field. The ball landed on the grass and sent two runners across home plate.

"I kind of blacked out for a second," Carnes said. "I was so excited. It was so loud and it was awesome. I was just really happy."

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That turned out to be the difference in a 2-0 Northwest victory that gave the Wolves a state championship in their first year as a program.

"It's amazing," Carnes said. "We really set the tone for the program. It's great."

It was Northwest's night and Carnes set the tone. She got the first two outs of the game with a great stab on a liner by Adams and scooped up a grounder by Tory Bennett to retire both Iowa recruits and begin what was a great night by the Wolves in the field.

"The nerves were there to begin with — it's a big stage," Carnes said. "I just had to do what I knew how to do at third and it worked out."

Center fielder Ella Parker made a huge play in the bottom of the fifth for Northwest.

After the Wolves big top of the fifth Fort Dodge answered with a single by Lucy Porter to start off the bottom of the inning. But on the next Dodger at bat Parker made a nice catch in center field off a ball hit by Meah McCaleb and she doubled up Porter at first for a double play.

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The other two outfielders, Ava Smith and Emily Klaiber showed great range all game in never letting a ball get past them. Northwest shortstop Reagan Bartholomew was also outstanding.

"They've been working so hard the entire year to make plays like that," Oetzmann said. "It was great to execute them at the most important time."

Smith doubled in the second inning, Zuri Patterson singled in the fourth and Smith, Maddie Oetzmann and Carnes all singled in the big fifth inning for the Wolves. Parker added a single in the seventh, giving Northwest six hits off an elite Division I prospect.

"The big message was just to execute," Northwest head coach Carrie Eby said. "Both teams were playing great defense all the way through, and we thought if we kept plugging away hopefully things will fall our way. We had a couple of hits and Kiana came up huge."

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Oetzmann was named the 5A all-tournament captain after firing a four-hit shutout with five strikeouts and no walks in the title game. She only gave up two runs over three games during the tournament to help her team win the championship.

"It's crazy," Oetzmann said. "I've never felt like this before. I don't think I ever will again."

Northwest finished its first season at 35-7.

Fort Dodge ended with a 37-7 record.

Led by Bennett at short and Haley Wills at third the Dodgers had plenty of defensive gems of their own in the championship game. But they just didn't have it at the plate against a team they were playing for the fifth time this season.

"We didn't score," Adams said. "You can't win a game with zero runs."

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Adams gave up six hits and finished with one strikeout against the Wolves. She was joined by Bennett, Myers and Porter in picking up one hit for the Dodgers on offense.

Adams finished her legendary career as a participant in five state tournaments, three championship games and one championship at Fort Dodge.

"The hardest part isn't the loss, it's not being able to play with these girls anymore," Adams said. "This team wasn't one to look at stats or anything like that. It's been great to be with such an amazing team over the years. It's just been awesome to be in such a positive environment."

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Waukee Northwest bests Fort Dodge in 5A state softball title game