Carlisle softball defeats ADM for Iowa high school state championship

FORT DODGE — There was a bit of déjà vu happening in Fort Dodge.

The Class 4A Iowa high school softball state championship game featured Adel-DeSoto-Minburn and Carlisle.

Carlisle’s players wore red jerseys with yellow and white trimmed sleeves and collars, white block numbers, and a golden-yellow Wildcat on the back.

The Wildcats beat the Tigers, 7-6, to win the state title.

Here’s the thing, though: Carlisle’s first-ever state championship in softball, which the program earned 30 years ago, was eerily similar to Thursday night's.

The Wildcats played – and beat – ADM to claim that first championship trophy in 1994. Carlisle’s players of today wore the same jerseys as that 1994 team, according to senior Ally Nolte – which celebrated its 30th anniversary this year.

There were even relatives on both teams. Michelle Erb – mother of current players, Kaliyah and Alyvia Freeman – played for Carlisle in 1994.

“It doesn’t feel any different,” Carlisle head coach Jim Flaws said postgame. “For these girls, this is a moment they’ll never forget. And it feels just as good as the others.”

No. 7-seeded Carlisle started scoreless in the opening inning, but thanks to a triple play by the Wildcats' defense, ADM stayed off the scoreboard, too.

The second inning marked the beginning of Carlisle’s catch-up play. The Wildcats scored the first run of the game when Natalie Ramsey brought Alyvia Freeman around to score.

But it wasn’t long before Ellis Smith’s double scored two runs for No. 4 ADM, and then the Tigers added another off a base hit by Aniston Tollari.

ADM tacked on a couple more runs in the third, but Carlisle continued to battle back.

Kaliyah Freeman batted in two runs and then Ramsey brought her home, moving Carlisle within one run of the Tigers’ lead. Nolte – wearing No. 30, 30 years after the Wildcats’ first state softball championship – sailed a two-run home run over the center field fence to take back the lead for her team.

The Tigers added one more run in the fifth, but that was all ADM would muster for the rest of the game.

With the score tied, 6-6, a bunt from Addyson Eginoire allowed Evan Johnson-Miers to score the go-ahead run, and then the Wildcats leaned on their defense.

Carlisle’s pitcher, Addesyn Abel, struck out four batters in the final two innings. Those were her only strikeouts of the night.

“I knew I needed to give more to my team,” Abel said. “I just wanted to do it for them. They really wanted it and I really wanted it, and I had to make sure I was doing my best for them.”

While she stepped up in the circle, her teammate Harley Brower made one of the biggest plays of the game in left field.

With one out on the board and two runners on base in the seventh inning, Brower caught the second out close to the fence. Without her grab, the game could’ve ended very differently. Abel struck out the next Tigers’ batter, and Carlisle’s players rushed to home plate in celebration.

“All of our hard work has officially paid off,” Brower said. “It’s so special. (My teammates) have been with me my entire life. It’s just so special to us.”

Despite the Wildcat’s history of success, Carlisle entered the tournament as the second-lowest seed. Slowly but surely, they battled their way through to the title.

“The only way you earn respect is by winning the championship,” Flaws said. “So, I think they’ve earned some respect with this one.”

Alyssa Hertel is the college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at ahertel@dmreg.com or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel .

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Carlisle softball defeats ADM for Iowa high school state championship