PCM softball ends historic season with fourth-place finish at state tourney

FORT DODGE — The season did not end the way the PCM softball team wanted it to on Friday.

But the Class 3A No. 6 Mustangs went toe-to-toe with two of the best teams in the class the past few days and brought home a state semifinal trophy from Harlan Rogers Sports Complex.

And no other PCM team in program history can claim to have done that. No matter how hard the past few games were on the Mustangs’ emotions.

“We told the girls before the game started, regardless of what happened in this game, we’re going to be super proud of what this season was,” PCM head softball coach Shaun Hudnut said. “We talked about how challenging it is to get back here, and we were able to do that. Then we took that next step of playing in the state semifinals. We came up short in that one and today, but it’s still our best finish ever.”

The Mustangs were tied with No. 5 Albia through five innings and were hoping to get one final at-bat from the top of their order with the game on the line, but the Lady Dees had other ideas.

Camden Webb and relief pitcher Rylee Parsons walked four Albia batters in the bottom of the sixth, PCM committed its only error of the game and Lady Dees’ clean-up hitter Addie Pearson slugged a walk-off grand slam to end the game early, 9-1.

Webb, who took the loss in the circle, also allowed a bases-loaded two-run single to No. 9 hitter Madeline VanLoon to break the 1-all tie.

Webb didn’t get a check swing strike from the home plate umpire that would have been the second out early in the inning, too. An appeal to the first-base umpire also ended with a no swing call.

“It was a 1-1 pitcher’s dual through the fifth and things just got away from us,” Hudnut said. “It didn’t go quite the way we wanted it to go that inning, but the check swing they didn’t give us was clear on film. If we get that call it would have been two outs, and it completely changes the entire complexion of the inning.”

As frustrating as that non-call was, PCM (26-6) still had only four hits at the plate, and the Mustangs left the bases loaded in the fourth and sixth and did not score in those frames.

PCM’s lone run came in the fifth. Kyra Naeve singled, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Addison Hudnut and stole third before scoring on an RBI fielder’s choice by pinch hitter Lillian Knapp.

But Albia starting pitcher Grace Pence, who made the all-tournament team, had a perfect game through three.

“We had multiple scoring opportunities in the game,” Coach Hudnut said. “We have to figure out how to punch a run through. We have to score more than one run when we get up here.”

Tori Lindsay was hit by a pitch for a school record 18th time to open the fourth. She went to second on Addison Steenhoek’s sacrifice bunt and then Libby Winters and Lillian Humpal delivered back-to-back singles with one out.

Pence (24-3) got out of the inning with back-to-back strikeouts though.

“I just keep adding to it,” Lindsay said about the hit by pitch school record. “I guess I’m just hittable. I do hug the plate a lot.“

In the sixth, Humpal walked with one out but was thrown out trying to steal second base.

That became a more significant result after Hadley Millang and Naeve walked and Webb singled to load the bases.

The Mustangs’ final at-bat ended with another strikeout by Pence, who fanned eight in the win.

“It was exactly like the Wahlert game,” Coach Hudnut said. “We had opportunities early in that one and didn’t cash in. We had a chance to be up two or three or possibly four today, and that changes how they attack at the plate, too. That’s a big area we can still grow in. We cut down on our strikeouts this year in a big way so we got better, but there’s still room to grow offensively.”

Winters, Humpal, Naeve and Webb had PCM’s four hits. Naeve scored one run, walked once and stole one base to lead the offense, while Humpal and Millang each walked once.

It was Naeve’s 10th steal of the season and Humpal ended the summer tied for second on the team with nine walks. Knapp registered her fifth RBI of the year from the bench.

Winters was the Mustangs’ all-tournament team selection. She finished 7-of-11 from the plate with one double, one triple, two RBIs and two runs and she got the pitching win in the quarterfinals against West Liberty.

She also made an incredible defensive play against Wahlert on Wednesday that ended up No. 2 on ESPN’s top 10 plays for the day.

Winters finished her freshman season with a .529 batting average and an on-base percentage of .555. She also led the Mustangs with 54 hits, 41 runs, 15 doubles, five triples, 32 RBIs, 79 total bases and 23 steals.

“Everyone brought what they had this year, and I wish it was enough to get to the state championship, but there’s always next year,” Lindsay said. “This is a special group.”

There won’t be a next year for Steenhoek, who was the team’s only senior. She finished her final season ranked second on the team with 37 hits, 13 doubles, 56 total bases and seven hit by pitches.

She ranked third in batting average at .398 and posted a fielding percentage of .991 and set a school record in career putouts.

Webb was the losing pitcher. She allowed seven runs — six earned — on eight hits and four walks and she fanned four in 5 1/3 innings.

Parsons did not get an out. She allowed two earned runs on one hit and one walk.

“(Parsons) started the first two games and (Webb) didn’t get into the semifinal game,” Coach Hudnut said about his decision to start Webb in the circle on Friday. “We have all the confidence in the world in (Webb), and we wanted all of our pitchers to get experience up here. She didn’t get to pitch a whole lot up here last year either, and we know going into a double-elimination tournament next year we’ll need all three pitchers. We’re trying to play the long game some, too.”

Webb faced one over the minimum through three innings. Pearson belted a solo home run in the fourth to give the Lady Dees a lead. Albia (30-4) stranded a total of five runners in the fourth and fifth frames.

Pearson led the Lady Dees with two home runs and five RBIs from the No. 4 spot in the lineup. She hit eight homers this summer.

VanLoon, who led Albia with a .471 batting average, had two hits and two RBIs from the No. 9 spot.

Pence ranked second in 3A with 274 strikeouts in 164 2/3 innings. Her .98 ERA ranked fourth.

“Kudos to Albia. They’re a great team,” Coach Hudnut said. “The pitcher is great, and they can hit up and down the lineup. It was a third-place game so it was about growth, too, for us. We let (Webb) go there to grow through some stuff and get experience with that.”

Besides tying for second in the state with the 18 hit by pitches, Lindsay also did not commit an error in 101 chances.

Fifteen players in 3A with at least 43 opportunities did not commit an error this summer but only four had more chances than Lindsay.

“It’s super important to me,” Lindsay said about her defense. “My friends make fun of me for taking my EDDs (every day drills) seriously. It’s just the kind of person I am and how I was raised. My goal this year was to get my job done and help the team win.”

Notes: The 3A all-tournament team consisted of 11 players, four from state champion Williamsburg and three from runner-up Dubuque Wahlert. The Raiders claimed their third straight 3A title with a 3-2 win over Wahlert in Friday’s championship game. Williamsburg defeated Albia, 9-1, in the semifinals. … PCM and Albia played for the first time since 2017. … The Mustangs tied for 24th in 3A with 11 home runs. Albia finished with 13, but state champion Williamsburg clubbed 24 and runner-up Wahlert slugged 49. “We set the school record with 21 home runs last year,” Coach Hudnut said. “We don’t need to hit 30 or 40, but we do need to be able to put the ball out of the park here and there. We would like to be around 15-25 as a team. We have some girls who can do it, but it’s about staying consistent throughout the whole season. We can make some small changes in our approach and how we attack pitches with launch angles.” PCM was seventh in the class with a school-record 65 doubles and set a school record with a 3A-most 42 hit by pitches. … Webb finished with an earned run average of 2.37 in 85 2/3 innings and Parsons had an ERA of 2.49 in 84 1/3 innings. ... Albia finished with a 3A-best .97 ERA this summer.