BONDURANT — Heart of Iowa Conference rivals Prairie City-Monroe and Class 3A No, 10 Collins-Maxwell/Baxter both won their opening games at the Bondurant-Farrar tournament on Saturday.
That put the Mustangs and Raiders up against each other in the semifinals. With so much expected to be riding on the conference meeting later this season, both teams elected not to go with their ace pitchers in the circle.
That was an advantage for PCM as Chelbie Gillespie out-dueled CMB’s Heather Jessen and Sydney Schmidt during a 12-10 victory.
PCM started the day with a 5-2 win over host Bondurant-Farrar. The Mustangs took down HOIC foe Roland-Story in the championship game, 8-1.
Jayci Vos hit a two-run home run in the win over the Lady Jays in the opener. Gillespie was 2-for-4 with two runs, while Abby Waddell and Katie Vande Wall each had two hits and one run.
Kayla Jennings threw six innings, allowing no earned runs and three hits while walking three and fanning four.
The Raiders blasted previously unbeaten Webster City (4-3) 15-3 in their opener. They scored 13 runs in the first inning. CMB defeated Earlham, 15-2, in the third-place game.
Katie Camp had three hits, Abbey Kahler and Mikayla Houge each added two hits and three RBIs and Payge Jurgens collected two hits and scored two runs. Megan Ritter, Mikayla Eslinger, Gracie Cheville and Emma Husak all scored two runs. Hannah Caple had two hits.
Kahler (4-0) earned the win in the circle. She fanned seven and allowed three hits and one run in three innings.
PCM (5-3) and CMB (7-1) played three innings because of a time limit. CMB led 5-0 after one inning, but PCM scored 10 in the second and two in the third to win by two.
Jennings doubled twice, scored twice and drove in two runs, while Vos had two hits and three RBIs. Courtney Bridges and Jaiden Rogers each had two RBIs, and Kenzie Johnson and Anna Shaver scored two runs each.
Holly Jessen had two doubles to lead the CMB offense. Ritter, Camp and Houge each scored two runs.
Houge also had two walks and an RBI. Jurgens walked three times.
Against Earlham (2-8), Jurgens got a few pitches to hit and finished with three hits, two runs and six RBIs. She blasted her first home run of the season.
Kahler had three hits, three RBIs, two doubles and two runs, while Camp added two hits, two runs and two stolen bases. Houge had two hits, Ritter scored three runs and Kaitlynn Kelly crossed homeplate twice.
Houge improved to 3-0 as a pitcher. She allowed two earned runs on four hits and struck out seven.
PCM’s Jennings improved to 4-3 in the circle with a win over Roland-Story in the title game. She allowed two hits and no earned runs while striking out nine.
Vande Wall led the offense with two hits and three RBIs, while Brooke Nicholson added two hits, one run and two RBIs. Jennings had two doubles, Waddell drove in two runs and Rogers, Johnson and Madison Foster all scored twice.
PCM plays at 7 p.m. Monday at Saydel, while CMB plays at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Roland-Story.