Call it heartbreak. Call it a punch to the gut. Whatever your preferred descriptor, the No. 1 ADM softball team’s season-ending 4-3 loss to Creston Tuesday night in Adel was tough to swallow, as the Tigers suffered a bitterly disappointing loss in the regional finals for the second consecutive season.
The Tigers (32-5) had Creston down to its final out when Alyssa Higgins delivered a two-run single in the seventh that put Creston ahead 4-3 after the Panthers had trailed the entire game. ADM suffered a similarly gut-wrenching loss in last year’s regional finals when still in Class 3A, as eventual state champion Clarke (Osceola) rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the sixth inning and walked-off the Tigers in the seventh inning.
Tigers starter Molly Jacobsen, a likely repeat first-team all state selection, suffered some bad luck in the seventh when Creston (26-6) put together the winning rally.
With one out, Allie Thomsen hit a chopper to the left side that Kenzi Sutton couldn’t handle cleanly and was ruled an infield single. Shelby Palser followed with a bloop single to right in front of Montana Popp, and both runners advanced on Lexi Little’s soft grounder back to Jacobsen.
Higgins then stepped in and delivered the first hard-hit ball of the inning, a rocket up the middle and past a diving Sutton that scored both runners and gave the Panthers their first and only lead of the night. ADM maintained itself on life suport when Gabbie Glenn drew a two-out walk, but Kate Collins popped out to short right field to end the game.
It was a bitterly disappointing end to an otherwise tremendous season for the Tigers, who didn’t lose back-to-back games all season. ADM finished 9-4 against ranked opponents.
ADM broke open a scoreless game in the fourth, scoring three times off Creston’s Haylee LeMasters (18-4). Glenn and Collins reached to start the inning, and after Jacobsen popped out, Sutton and Popp followed with RBI singles. Lexi Wyant then laid down a perfect squeeze bunt that scored Sutton and put the Tigers ahead 3-0.
Creston got on the board in the fifth courtesy of Thomsen, who lead off with a double and later scored on a wild pitch, and drew within one on Taylor Briley’s one-out solo blast to left in the sixth, just her second home run of the season.
Jacobsen (32-5) went seven innings, surrendering four earned runs on seven hits with nine strikeouts and no walks. The lefty junior was dominant through the first four innings, when she allowed just two hits and struck out seven. Creston’s run in the fifth snapped a 22-inning scoreless streak for Jacobsen, surpassing her previous season best by one inning.
LeMasters (18-4) settled down after the fourth, working around a baserunner in each of the final five innings, including in the sixth, when Sutton lead off with a double and was sacrificed to third by Popp.
The Panthers are advancing to the state tournament for the fourth time in program history and the first time since 1996. ADM has made 12 appearances, the last coming in 2008.