FORT DODGE — The second ranked team in class 2A entering the state softball tournament, and number-1 seed in the 8-team field, Durant Wildcats, put the past behind them and advanced to the 2A semifinals with a 9-0 victory over #11 and 8-seeded Logan Magnolia on Monday, July 17. The Wildcats were appearing in their third straight state tournament, their fifth in six years and sixth trip in program history. The previous two trips, Durant has lost in close, one-run ball games, leaving the Wildcats disappointed even though they brought home top-8 finishes. This year however, was different. Durant scored runs in five of their six at-bats in methodically getting past their opponents from the Western part of the state.
“We were kind of hoping that the third time was the charm, and for us, fortunately it was,” Durant coach Steve Hopkins said. “The kids are focused and driven, and we’ve had a sour taste in our mouth the last couple of years, and they’re here to prove a point.”
The Panthers were ranked 11th in the final class 2A poll. Logan-Magnolia was ranked all season, starting the preseason rankings at #11 and getting as high as #9.
“I think if we played this team 10 times, we’d split with them, but today wasn’t the day we were going to do that,” Logan-Magnolia coach Trent Kuhl said.
“I know this group of girls,” Kuhl said. “They weren’t happy with today. They’re going to be willing to give us a good, hard practice tomorrow, and come out and take care of business on Wednesday.”
The Wildcats have outscored their last four postseason opponents 4 to 0 in the first inning and have scored first in each of their last five postseason games this summer.
Sophomore Kamryn Meyer looked liked a seasoned veteran in the pitching circle, flirting with a no-hitter in the game, allowing two hits over six innings of work. The Wildcats ace struck out eight and walked one batter and did not give up a run. Meyer was unhittable in the regional games leading up to state, giving up only one unearned run in 14 postseason innings leading up to state. She also surrendered three hits and struck out 23 opposing batters in that time. Jenna Lawson pitched in the game too, working a scoreless seventh inning.
Durant finished with 11 hits in the game, reaching the double-digit mark for hits in three of their last four postseason games. All but one of their regulars in the starting line-up collected a hit. Cathy Ralfs was 3-for-4 with a home run and 2 RBI’s while Mallory Warner was 2-for-4. Ruby Kappeler, Hannah Happ, Aubrey Werthmann, Haleigh Carnes, Kelly Alexander and Kira Schult all had hits in the game. Werthmann and Schult each drove in three runs and Kappeler had one RBI.
Durant swiped six bases in the game led by Alexander with 2 while Kappeler, Meyer, Carnes and Schult each had one.
The ball game was a matchup against two, top-5 hitting schools in class 2A. The Wildcats entered the game the third best hitting 2A team and Panthers the fifth best in 2A. Logan-Magnolia had two players in their starting lineup that had earned 2A All-Tournament team honors in 2016 and the Panthers were making their third straight trip to state under coach Trent Kuhl who is in his eighth year. Those players were senior Jenna Peschel who is a Iowa Central Community College signee and junior Kylan Straight. The game was a contest of two conference champions too, with Durant winning the River Valley Conference and Logan-Magnolia winning the Western Iowa Conference.
Durant scored the game's’ first run in the bottom of the first inning. Durant sent five batters to the plate in the inning. Ruby Kappeler reached base on an error and advanced to third on a Hannah Happ sacrifice bunt. Kappeler would score on an Aubrey Werthmann sacrifice fly to put the score at 1-0.
Durant added to their lead with two runs in the bottom of the second inning. Happ led off the inning with a double before the Panthers got Werthmann to fly out. Cathy Ralfs then blasted a 2-run home run to push the score to 3-0. The home run was her fourth in as many postseason games and team leading 7th of the season.
Those runs were more than enough for starter Kamryn Meyer. Meyer and the Wildcats retired the Panthers in order in four straight innings from the second to the end of the fifth with Meyer collecting six strikeouts.
Durant pushed their lead to 6-0 after a 3-run fourth inning. Durant nearly batted around in the inning and got two scoring hits in the inning. Ruby Kappeler had a RBI single scoring courtesy runner Abbey Rhoades who ran for Mallory Warner who led off the inning with a single, and a 2-run single by Aubrey Werthmann scoring Kira Schult and Kappeler. Durant had four hits in the inning with singles coming from Warner, Kappeler, Werthmann and Ralfs.
Durant tacked on two runs to extend their lead to 8-0 after five innings. Haleigh Carnes and Kelly Alexander each walked to lead off the fifth. Both would score on a bases clearing double by Schult. Schult would collect another RBI in the bottom of the sixth when she drew a bases loaded walk.
Logan-Magnolia had two scoring chances in the game. One in the first when they got a runner to third with two outs. Kylan Straight walked and moved to third on two ground outs, but Durant got out of the jam. The Panthers advanced a runner to second in the sixth, but could not score.
The Panthers were one of the top home run hitting teams this season with 29, good for third in 2A. The Panthers line-up sported five players with over a .400 batting average - Kylan Straight (.546), Megan Wilson (.495), Kenzie Cunard (.431), Jenna Peschel (.442) and Abbie Carlson (.411). Those batters were the top-6 in the Panther order. All struggled, as Durant shut the quintet down holding them to a combined 1-for-12 in the game with a Jenna Peschel single the only hit. Only one other batter claimed a hit and that was number-9 hitter Reanna Rife who was 2-for-2. As a team, the Panthers entered the game with a team batting average of .394.
Abbie Carlson took the loss after only making it through four complete innings, but she did work into the fifth before being taken out. She gave up six runs, five earned on eight hits. She struck out three and walked two. Carlson saw her record fall to 28-4 with the loss and was the top pitcher in the Western Iowa Conference leading the conference in starts and pitching record, . Reanna Rife pitched two innings in relief and gave up three runs on three hits. She walked four and struck out one.
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