Prep softball: Sabers basking in state championship success

Aug. 16—BUSSEY — Zack Dunkin remembers driving the Suburban down to Corydon for a season-opening contest at Wayne back on May 23.

In the passenger seat was senior Grace Bailey, who would stepping into the pitcher's circle that night at the George Sailing Athletic Complex for the Twin Cedars softball team. It was on the way to the non-conference clash with Wayne that Bailey saw the preseason Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union softball rankings has been released.

"We're not ranked," Dunkin recalled Bailey informing him. "My reaction was 'Eh. No big deal.' It is kind of a big deal. You want that respect. It makes it so much easier to be one of those top eight teams that have that home field advantage at the end of the year.

"For us, that proved to be a big thing."

From unranked to undisputed. Not even a 4-3 season-opening loss at Wayne could stop the Sabers from achieving historic success this summer using a 21-game winning streak to get the ball rolling on a season that would culminate with the program's first-ever state championship. Twin Cedars captured a Bluegrass Conference title, a regional championship in thrilling fashion winning 7-6 over Sigourney on Ali Mockenhaupt's game-winning two-out RBI double that brought Bailey home from first base and three wins at the program's first state softball tournament since 1978.

The memorable journey that started with a tough road loss in Corydon to Wayne ended almost exactly two months later in Fort Dodge with a thrilling 6-3 win over Southeast Warren in the Class 1A state softball championship game. The Sabers captured plenty of memories and plenty of awards bringing home just the second state championship trophy in school history next to the 2014 state baseball title with multiple players earning all-state, all-tournament and all-district honors for their success together on the field.

"When we got to Fort Dodge for the state tournament, I heard from a bunch of the IGHSAU officials," Dunkin said. "They actually apologized to me. They told they were just a little late to the party with us. I was a little upset about it before, but it didn't really change our approach all season. We had the confidence and the ability to know we were the best team each time we stepped on that diamond. We tried to take any hope away from the other team just by looking at us knowing that we were going to kick some butt."

Last Wednesday's season-ending banquet allowed the entire community of Twin Cedars to applaud the incredible effort of 15 young women from south central Iowa. In the weeks since coming home with the program's first state title, the exposure of playing and winning games at state broadcast on statewide television and worldwide streaming has put the little school less that 15 miles west of Eddyville on the map.

"My wife actually went to the dentist in Norwalk (last Wednesday) and her hygienist told her congratulations," Dunkin said. "We got honored during the Knoxville Nationals. That was a cool experience. We'll enjoy it while it lasts. Our community's support was great all the way through."

Brooke Roby, Mockenhaupt, Bailey, Chloe Durian and Jetta Sterner will get to walk out of Twin Cedars as seniors that played and won a state championship together in their fifth and final season of high school softball together. Roby is experiencing her own thrill of winning a state championship after her older brother, Otis, was part of the Saber baseball team's undefeated run to the 1A state championship eight years earlier.

"My brother still wears that crown to this day," Roby said. "He gets to talk about being an all-state player for a state championship-winning team for the rest of his life. That's something I get to say as well.

"It's just a great feeling. You'll never forget this moment."

Like Dunkin, Roby has also been humbly surprised with the far reach of the success she and her 14 teammates from small-school southern Iowa were able to have simply by playing their game and finding success on the biggest stage in the state. Each and every Saber player has received multiple congratulations from longtime friends and fellow communities members near home as well as people across the country who may have caught any one of the three games that are still currently available to watch through the IGHSAU's YouTube channel.

"I went to New York a couple weeks ago and someone out there saw the state championship game," Roby said. "It's crazy. Word has gotten around. People have noticed. It's pretty amazing for this small school that we've done something nobody is going to forget.

"You kind of feel like a little bit of a rock star. It's something people will remember forever and it's a great feeling that we all got to be a part of it."

— Scott Jackson can be reached at sjackson@ottumwacourier.com. Follow him on Twitter@CourierScott.