There’s an old saying that every time you watch a ball game something happens that you’ve never seen before. That certainly was the case late Thursday night when ADM and Carlisle met for the Class 4A Iowa High School State Softball Championship north of Ft. Dodge. Four pitchers were used in the game, won 7-6 by Carlisle, and two of the girls have Mothers who are Jefferson-Scranton High School graduates. Plus, each girl has two grandparents currently living in Jefferson.

Carlisle sophomore Mallie Stoner’s Mom is Mandy (Gerken) Stoner and ADM sophomore Lauren Hagedorn’s Mom is Kris (Curnyn) Hagedorn. Stoner pitched three innings in the middle part of the game for the Wildcats and Hagedorn went the distance for ADM. Stoner did not bat in the title game, but Hagedorn was three for four with a triple, two singles, and two runs batted in, and Hagedorn was named Captain of the 11 player Class 4A All-Tournament team.

Kris Curnyn was the 1994 Jeffette of the Year and Mandy Gerken graduated a few years after that and was a J-S athlete as well. Both Mom’s played high school softball for Jefferson-Scranton.

John and Nancy Gerken are Stoner’s Grandpa and Grandma while John and Alana Curnyn are Hagedorn’s grandparents.

Since both pitchers are sophomores, who knows how many more times they’ll face each other over the next two seasons. Both schools are in the Raccoon River Activities Conference, so at least twice in 2025 and ’26 during the regular season, and another one or two postseason meetings is a possibility as well..