PCM softball proves last year was no fluke, advances to state tourney

MONROE — The PCM softball team clinched its first-ever state tournament berth last summer.

The Class 3A No. 6 Mustangs proved that run was no fluke on Tuesday after downing 11th-ranked Missouri Valley, 13-5, in six innings.

“You have a top-10 team the whole year and come back and do it two years in a row,” PCM head softball coach Shaun Hudnut said. “It means a lot for this program and these girls.”

PCM trailed the 3A Region 4 championship game 2-0 after one inning and fell behind 5-1 in the top of the third but rallied with three in the third, four in the fourth and five in the sixth to end the game early.

The Mustangs out-hit the Lady Reds 11-9, and Missouri Valley had the game’s only error.

“I’m excited. I had a lot of emotions at the end just because it kind of hit yesterday, our last game on the home field,” PCM senior Addison Steenhoek said. “But I’m just excited. Glad we get another opportunity to go to Fort Dodge and hopefully do some damage there. We’re wanting to bring back some better hardware this time around.”

Steenhoek is the Mustangs’ lone senior. She finished the night with three hits, two RBIs and one walk.

It was her solo home run in the first inning that got PCM on the board.

“We weren’t really happy with how the inning went so I knew with one out, I wanted to hopefully do some damage and get on base,” Steenhoek said. “I didn’t expect to do that. But the opportunity presented itself, so I’m glad I could get it, give that to my team and just show up for them.”

Missouri Valley (29-7) scored two unearned runs against Camden Webb in the first inning. It was 2-1 after the Steenhoek homer, but the Lady Reds added three in the third to push their advantage to 5-1.

Audrie Kohl hit her 10th homer of the season and her two-run shot highlighted the three-run third.

That triggered a pitching change for PCM. Rylee Parsons came on in relief for only the second time this season and slowed Missouri Valley’s momentum from the circle.

“Having the pitchers we do gives us a lot of flexibility,” Hudnut said. “(Parsons) did a great job for us in relief. She knew to be ready at a moment’s notice. I really think the subtle change in speed and movement of pitches threw Missouri Valley off just enough. The contact was much weaker or right at us.”

Parsons allowed one earned run in the third, but got the win after surrendering four hits. She’s 13-1 this season.

The no-decision shifted to a win for Parsons after PCM’s offense took off in the final four innings.

“In that situation, it’s really just trying to rally the girls, keep their spirits up and let them know we still have six innings of ball left, and we just have to fight our way back into it any way we can,” Hudnut said.

Addi Hudnut led off the third with a walk. She stole second and third before Tori Lindsay was hit by a pitch. Steenhoek and Libby Winters delivered back-to-back RBI singles before Hadley Millang’s two-out RBI single trimmed the Mustangs’ deficit to 5-4.

“You know, it would have been really easy to fold when we dropped down 5-1,” Coach Hudnut said. “Missouri Valley is a great team, and this is kind of what their MO is. They jump out on teams early but, you know, we didn’t get down. We just fought and scratched and clawed and battled our way back and then grabbed that lead and never looked back. We couldn’t be more proud of how our girls responded.”

Addi Hudnut walked with two outs in the fourth. PCM loaded the bases after Lindsay was hit by another pitch and Steenhoek drew a walk.

That brought Winters to the plate, and the freshmen put the Mustangs (25-4) in front for good with a three-run double.

Winters leads PCM with a batting average of .516, which ranks 13th in 3A. She also has a team-best 38 runs, 14 doubles, 30 RBIs and 69 total bases. The 14 doubles rank tied for fourth in 3A.

Lillian Humpal was hit by a pitch after Winters’ double. Winters scored on Millang’s two-out RBI single.

Millang finished with three hits, one double, one run and two RBIs in the win.

“We talked about just letting the game come to us, not chasing her pitches, hitting our pitches, being selective and when she comes in the zone, hit the ball hard,” Coach Hudnut said. “And the girls did that up and down the lineup. Got big hit after big hit.

“Libby had the huge double that put us up 7-5 and that was a turning point in the game.”

Steenhoek, who threw out her 11th base runner trying to steal a base to end the fourth, opened the sixth with a single. Winters followed with a walk and then Humpal’s two-run double pushed the margin to 10-5.

Two more runs scored off an error that came after Webb laid down a bunt. Kyra Naeve’s only hit of the game was a walk-off RBI single on a 3-2 count.

“Nobody ever held their heads low, even when we got down early in the game,” Steenhoek said. “Nobody gave up. Everybody was fighting until the end. And that’s what we’re gonna need at Fort Dodge, too.”

Winters contributed two hits, one double, one run, one walk and four RBIs, while Humpal doubled, scored one run and had two RBIs and was hit by one pitch.

Webb totaled one hit, one run, two RBIs and two walks. She leads the Mustangs with 11 walks. She also allowed four runs — two earned — on five hits and two strikeouts in the circle.

Lindsay was hit by two pitches and scored two runs, Naeve had one hit and one RBI, Addi Hudnut walked twice, scored two runs and stole two bases and Ryan DeVore scored three runs as Steenhoek’s courtesy runner.

Lindsay has been hit by a team-most 16 pitches, which ranks second in 3A.

PCM’s offense is now averaging 8.17 runs per game. The Mustangs walked six times, were hit by three pitches, laced three doubles and clubbed one homer.

Dilynn Meade led Missouri Valley with three hits, two runs and two steals. Kaitlyn Evans added two hits and one run and Kohl took the pitching loss.

The Mustangs take a six-game win streak into the state tournament. They play seventh-ranked West Liberty at 7:30 p.m. on Monday on Iowa Central Field inside Harlan Rogers Sports Complex in Fort Dodge.

Third-ranked Mount Vernon and fourth-ranked Davenport Assumption both were upset in the regional final. PCM and West Liberty play in the 4-5 matchup in the 3A bracket.

The other state qualifying teams are No. 1 Dubuque Wahlert, No. 2 and defending champion Williamsburg, No. 5 Albia, No. 9 Estherville Lincoln Central, No. 10 Washington and No. 13 Center Point-Urbana.

The PCM-West Liberty winner plays the Wahlert-CPU winner in a state semifinal at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The losers play each other in a consolation game at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

“We felt like we had a little bit of pressure this year coming in, but just knowing that, we just have another opportunity, too,” Steenhoek said. “Like I said, it was a good team. We were a little nervous coming in, but we always come in with confidence, and just hope we can do the great thing and going back just shows great confidence. Even when we are down 5-1.”