Winters’ clutch hit powers PCM softball to walk-off win over West Liberty

FORT DODGE — Libby Winters is an unassuming quiet freshman who can often be seen in the back of the team’s victory selfie pictures.

But when she strolled to the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning with her squad down 4-2 in the opening round of the Iowa High School State Softball Championships, not a single member of the PCM softball team had any doubt she would come through for her team.

Winters hammered a pitch from West Liberty starting pitcher Mallory Wulf that got by center fielder Sully Hall.

The triple that reached the fence in left-center field scored two runs and Winters gave the Mustangs a win in walk-off fashion after she sprinted home following a throwing error by the Comets.

“She hit the ball hard, and I thought originally we’d get one run there and be in a good spot to win it,” PCM head softball coach Shaun Hudnut said. “When it crossed up the center fielder, I thought holy crap we’re going to tie it now. We got lucky with the overthrow to third. When you hit the ball hard, good things can happen.”

The Mustangs trailed 1-0 after five innings and lost a 2-1 lead in the top of the seventh but claimed their first-ever quarterfinal win at the state tournament, 5-4, after a three-run seventh of their own in front of 4,724 fans at Iowa Central Field inside Harlan Rogers Sports Complex.

Winters, who leads the Mustangs in several offensive categories, wasn’t trying to be a hero in her final at-bat, but she delivered perhaps the biggest hit of her prep career so far with the game on the line.

“It felt good off the bat,” Winters said. “It was a hard, straight hit, but I thought it was right to the center fielder. It was still at the fence when I got to second, so I just kept going. And the ball got past them on the throw in so I figured I may as well just go for it.”

The Class 3A No. 6 and fourth-seeded Mustangs advanced to the state semifinals where they face No. 1 and top-seeded Dubuque Wahlert at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday on the Channel Seeds Field.

Winters finished the game with four hits, one triple, two runs and two RBIs and she earned the win in the circle after getting the final two outs in the top of the seventh.

Winters improved her team-best batting average to .537 and raised her team-high on-base percentage to .563. She also leads PCM (26-4) with 51 hits, 40 runs, five triples, 32 RBIs, 75 total bases and 23 stolen bases.

She lowered her earned run average to 1.17 after stranding a runner on base and getting the final out in the seventh on a swinging strikeout.

“It felt great to do that for my team,” Winters said. “And now Addie Steenhoek gets another game.”

Steenhoek is the team’s only senior. She would have gotten one more game anyway but is now guaranteed two more games with her teammates.

She reached base three times in the game. Steenhoek was hit by a pitch in the first inning, singled in the sixth and drew a one-out walk after Tori Lindsay singled with one out in the bottom of the seventh.

“It’s not just about having one more game. It’s more about having a few more days with these girls,” Steenhoek said. “We have a blast in the dorms before the games, and I’m blessed to get the chance to do some more damage and maybe pull off a big upset. We have no expectations going into this game so we can just play free, play fun and have a good time.”

The game against West Liberty was scoreless through two innings, but PCM left the bases loaded in the bottom of the first. Winters and Lillan Humpal singled after Steenhoek was hit by a pitch.

But Wulf got Hadley Millang to pop out to the first baseman and Camden Webb grounded out to first base to end the threat.

“We didn’t get a great jump on the (Humpal) base hit,” Hudnut said. “I thought we should have scored on that. I thought that would come back to haunt us, but thankfully it didn’t.”

West Liberty (22-8) scored in the top of the third against PCM starting pitcher Rylee Parsons.

Kylee Daufeldt led off the inning with a double and then scored on Jayleen Kivi’s one-out RBI single. Daufeldt had two of the Comets’ seven hits.

Wulf retired the Mustangs in order in the second, third and fifth innings and Webb walked with two outs in the fourth but was left stranded.

Winters singled with two outs in the third but was later called out after the first-base umpire determined she left early on an attempt to steal second base.

It was the only thing Winters did wrong on the night.

PCM took its first lead in the sixth. Steenhoek and Winters opened the frame with back-to-back singles and then Humpal moved them up a base on a sacrifice bunt.

That brought Millang to the plate, and she delivered a clutch two-run single to push the Mustangs in front for the first time. The freshman ranks second behind Winters with 29 RBIs this summer.

“I was just looking to put the ball in play and get us off the slump we were in,” Millang said. “We just had to stay confident in ourselves.”

Parsons went back to the circle for the seventh but was pulled after giving up a lead-off double to Pearson Hall.

Parsons handled Hall, a Drake University softball recruit, and the rest of West Liberty’s potent offense well most of the night. She was charged with two earned runs on five hits and struck out one and needed only 68 pitches to get through six-plus innings.

“You want to win, but you can’t let the nerves get to you,” Parsons said. “You have to figure out how to pitch like it’s just another game.

“We knew they would be a difficult team to pitch to. They’re a good hitting team one through nine. We talked about living out of the zone with them. You want to throw strikes, but we wanted them to chase.”

Parsons said Hudnut did not tell her she was starting in the circle until the day of the game. Pitching in last year’s state tournament certainly helped the veteran junior this time around.

“I knew what to expect,” Parsons said. “We didn’t even know where to park last year. This year, we just won a game so it feels awesome.”

Camden Webb relieved Parsons in the top of the seventh but gave up the lead after allowing two earned runs on two hits and two walks in 1/3 of an inning. One of those hits was a two-run go-ahead double by Wulf.

Hudnut then made the switch to Winters, who improved to 4-1 after getting the final two outs.

“(Parsons) pitched a heckuva game,” Hudnut said. “We had to limit damage and make sure the bottom of the order wasn’t getting on base for the girls at the top. She did an excellent job with 1-4. Pearson Hall is batting .614 with 15 homers and she got one hit and it was the one she got late. She executed the game plan perfectly.

“We went with our gut as far as taking her out. It didn’t work out, but luckily we got back in it in our at-bat in the seventh. Those were two big outs from (Winters).”

Lillian Knapp grounded out to Pearson Hall at shortstop in her pinch-hit at-bat to open the seventh. Lindsay smoked a hard single to left field and Steenhoek walked to put the tying runs on base. Ryan DeVore replaced Steenhoek as a courtesy runner on first base before Winters came through with the two-run triple. DeVore scored two runs in the win.

“I’m trying to put the ball in play,” Winters said. “I didn’t have my best game here last year, so I’m just trying to get good hits, advance runners and keep the thing moving.

“We tend to score more in the later innings. We kept our confidence up and just kept grinding. When we were down by one, it drove us and fueled us to get more runs.”

PCM takes a seven-game win streak into the state semifinals against top-ranked Dubuque Wahlert (36-7), which survived its quarterfinal game, 1-0, against No. 13 and eighth-seeded Center Point-Urbana on Monday.

The Mustangs have yet to lose to a 3A program this summer. They played another error-free game and have just 19 miscues in 30 games.

Winters and Millang, two of PCM’s freshmen starters, accounted for five of the team’s eight hits and all four RBIs. Webb also walked twice and improved her team-high total to 13 this summer.

“Seeing the smile on some of these girls’ faces is the best feeling ever,” Steenhoek said. “I get to experience it with them, but I’m so happy for (Millang). She was due and she deserved it.

“(Winters) was so big tonight. She’s a player you trust and rely on both offensively and defensively. She knew exactly what she had to do and did more than we thought she’d do. She’s smart in the box and on the bases. And so humble, too.”

Notes: Pearson Hall will play collegiately at Drake next season. Her older sister, Finley Hall, is currently on the Bulldogs’ roster. … West Liberty made its first appearance at the state softball tournament since 2021 and qualified for only the third time in school history. … The top four seeds in 3A all advanced. The other semifinal game pits No. 2 and defending state champion Williamsburg against No. 5 Albia. Three of the four 3A quarterfinal games were decided by one run. Williamsburg defeated No. 10 Washington, 7-2. Albia edged No. 9 Estherville Lincoln Central, 2-1.