Castlewood saved its best for last in turning back a stubborn Freeman-Marion-Freeman Academy squad in the opening game of the Class B State Softball Tournament Thursday at Players Softball Complex.
The top-seed Warriors trailed heading into the bottom of the fifth inning before scoring five unanswered runs the rest of the way to secure a 7-3 victory.
The contest was a stark contrast to an earlier meeting between the two which Castlewood won 16-1.
“We knew it would be. They’re a good team,” said Castlewood coach Craig Horn. “Their pitcher (Harli Ross) has come a long way and they’ve got some good bats in there.”
The Phoenix entered the tourney having won six of their last eight games, including a 1-0 decision over last year’s state champion Deuel in the SoDak 16.
“They’ve been getting better all year; you can see just from how many they’ve won in a row to end the season,” Horn said. “Hats off to them.”
Castlewood, which has been to all four sanctioned state tournaments, relied on its experience when it mattered most.
“Seniors stepped up big there, had some big hits,” Horn said. “The Kudrna sisters (Cydni and Sophia) definitely got our bats going big time.”
The Kudrnas each singled in the second inning before Kayla Goens ripped a single just under the third baseman’s glove that resulted in a two-run double to give the Warriors a 2-1 lead.
“That’s a senior that did that. She cracked that one,” Horn said. “State tournament’s her spot. Last year she lit up the state tournament.”
Goens understood the situation and wanted to make sure she delivered.
“I knew that there was two people on base and we were behind,” Goens said. “I just needed to do something to get those runs in. I stayed patient and got behind it.”
Goens took the first pitch for a called strike before blasting a rocket down the left field line.
“I don’t really like taking the first pitch just because I don’t know, it doesn’t ever seem to work for me,” Goens said. “I just got to stay patient and taking the first pitch helps me stay patient.”
The Phoenix regained the lead in the top of the fifth with a pair of runs, before Castlewood took control with four runs in the bottom half of the frame.
Again, both Kudrnas and Goens played a key role.
Cydni Kudrna started the uprising with a leadoff double. She came in on Sophia Kudrna’s RBI single. After a hit batter, Goens connected on a deep sacrifice fly that brought in Kudrna from second. Morgan Wilson also drove in a run in the frame.
The Warriors tacked on another run in the sixth inning to finish off the victory.
“We’ve been here four years now. It’s just the same thing,” Goens said having big-game experience. “We’re going for that ‘ship, so we gotta play good.”
When asked what it will take moving forward, Goens responded, “I think just keeping our heads up, being positive towards our teammates. Hitting the ball like we did today,” she said, “especially towards the end of the game. That was crazy.”
F-M-FA will face Avon in consolation action at 10 this morning, while Castlewood takes on Hanson at 2 this afternoon in the semifinals.
“The team definitely played hard,” Horn said following the victory. “They were ready and took advantage of their opportunities.”
Freeman-Marion-Freeman Academy 100 020 0 – 3 5 4
Castlewood 002 041 x – 7 9 4
Harli Ross, Isabel Waltner (6) and Claire Loofborrow; Claire Horn and Lilly Jacobson. 2B – Castlewood, Cydni Kudrna, Kayla Goens.
Hanson 11, Avon 10
In the most dramatic opening-round game of the day, Hanson scored six runs in the bottom of the seventh to grab an 11-10 walk-off victory over Avon.
Hanson was down to its last out, trailing 10-9 before Haleigh Haiar singled in Rylee Furgeson to tie the game. Jozlynn Tegethoff then hit a ground ball to the second baseman, who threw home to try to get the runner, but Delaney Jarding was ruled safe in a bang-bang play at the plate to account for the game-winning run.
Avon had built a 7-0 advantage through four innings. Pria Sesler had a two-run single in the first inning, and came around to score on a triple by Kaydence Metzger.
Rilyn Thury and Pria each drove in runs in the top of the fourth.
Hanson climbed back into the contest with five runs in the bottom of the fourth. Furgeson plated a pair with a triple, then scored on a sac fly, and errors accounted for two other runs.
The Pirates extended their lead with three runs in the top of the fifth to make it 10-5. Pria had a two-run double in the inning. That set the stage for the seventh when Necee Suber, Jacey Schoenrock, and Marah Doyle each drove in runs and another came in on an error before Hanson eventually surged ahead for the win.
Avon 400 330 0 0 – 14 4
Hanson 000 500 6 – 11 10 4
Kaydence Metzger and Brielle Voight; Jacey Schoenrock and Jozlynn Tegethoff. 2B – Avon, Voight, Metzger, Pria Sesler; Hanson, Necee Suber 2. 3B – Avon, Metzger; Hanson, Rylee Furgeson.
McCook Central-Montrose 13, Redfield 0
Second-seeded McCook Central-Montrose rapped out a dozen hits, played flawless in the field and claimed a 13-0 win over Redfield.
The Fighting Cougars scored five runs in both the second and third innings, and added three more in the fourth.
“We knew they were going to be a good team, defensively,” said Redfield coach Bradley Cihak. “We didn’t hit the ball as hard as I thought we could today. I wish we would have hit the ball a little harder. They’re a team that offensively, they put balls in play. They made you work.”
Mya Morrison highlighted the second inning with a two-run double into the left field corner. The junior said she has struggled to keep the ball in play.
“I’ve been struggling in at bats, they’ve been going left,” Morrison said, “and I changed my feet a little bit and finally got it to go in, I guess.”
Morrison added a sac fly in the five-run third. The Cougars had six hits in that frame, including an RBI single from Zaidee Pulse, and a two-run single from Josalyn Troupel.
MCM tacked on three more runs in the fourth for the final margin of difference.
Landry Andal and Braylee Meyer each had three hits in the victory.
Morrison said the Cougars need to keep playing as a team throughout the tourney.
“We try and just do one pitch at a team, just deal with one thing at a time,” she said, “and not worry about what happened.”
Cihak said MCM pounced when it had the Pheasants down.
“They saw our heads were down and they definitely took advantage of that,” Cihak said. “Definitely something we’ve got to work on and talk about going into (Friday), that if we get in another situation like this, we’ve got to keep playing and not get down on ourselves. Get the next play to bring the energy back to us and get a swing to go our way.”
McCook Central-Montrose faces Gayville-Volin in the semifinals at 4 this afternoon. Seventh-seeded Redfield will take on Florence-Henry in consolation action at noon.
“We don’t want to meet only the expectation of seventh seed. We want to prove that we did deserve to be here (Friday),” Cihak said. “We’re going to come out with better energy. We’re going to come out ready to play. Now that we’ve got the nerves of that first state tournament game done, we’re going to come out and show what we can do on the field.”
Redfield 000 00 – 0 4 3
McCook Central-Montrose 055 3x – 13 12 0
Makayla Schulz, Octavia Paulsen (3) and Ashlee Stroud; Zaidee Huls and Mya Morrisson. 2B – McCook Central-Montose, A. DeKnikker. 3B – McCook Central-Montrose, Morrisson.
Gayville-Volin 3, Florence-Henry 1
Sixth-seeded Gayville-Volin received a solid pitching performance on the way to topping Florence-Henry 3-1.
Jolie Westrum allowed just three total hits and did not give up an earned run in a complete-game effort for the Raiders. The junior struck out a pair and walked just one on the day.
G-V scored single runs in the fourth, fifth and seventh to steadily build a lead.
Ali Westrum drove in a run in the fourth, Paisley Dimmer knocked in a run in the fifth, and Kendra Beeck delivered an RBI double in the seventh.
Florence-Henry broke through with a run in the bottom of seventh. Taylor Vavruska singled to start the frame, moved into scoring position and came across the plate on an error.
Dimmer had a game-high three hits for the Raiders. Vavruska led F-H with a pair of hits.
Florence-Henry meets Redfield in consolation play at noon today, while Gayville-Volin will square off against McCook Central-Montrose in the semifinals at 4.
Gayville-Volin 000 110 1 – 3 11 3
Florence-Henry 000 000 1 – 1 3 4
Jolie Westrum and Kayden Bye; Elizbeth Reiter and Ashlynn Vavruska. 2B – Gayville-Volin, Kendra Beeck; Florence-Henry, Aubrey Schmidt.
