Mustang Muscle: PCM softball thumps Clarinda for first state berth

MONROE — Having never qualified for the state tournament before, the PCM softball team didn’t need any extra motivation in its Class 3A Region 2 championship game on Tuesday.

But a few comments and opinions from Clarinda’s side certainly served as that and the Mustangs used it to their advantage during a 13-1 triumph over the Cardinals.

PCM scored early and often and ended the game after four innings to clinch its first-ever state softball tournament berth.

“We had a lot of motivation. They didn’t want us to host this game,” Addison Steenhoek said. “You don’t come into our house and not expect us to give a good fight.”

The Mustangs came into the game ranked eighth in 3A and Clarinda was ninth. The higher ranked team gets to host the regional finals, and the Cardinals simply felt like they should have been ranked higher.

It was PCM though that showed its worth, scoring three runs in the first, two in the second and eight in the fourth.

“Clarinda is an excellent team. They had an argument to be eighth,” PCM head softball coach Shaun Hudnut said. “We heard the things that were said. It was probably more of a joke, but at this point, you use anything as motivation. They definitely had an argument to host, but we were ranked a little higher. I’m glad we got to host and prove that we deserved that ranking.”

PCM opens its first state tournament with a quarterfinal matchup against No. 2 Williamsburg (30-12) at 7 p.m. on Monday in Fort Dodge.

The Mustangs out-hit the Cardinals 11-5 and the visitors were hindered by four errors.

Steenhoek had a big night at the plate. She was asked to lay down a sacrifice bunt in the first, had a sacrifice fly in the second and belted her fourth homer of the season to start the eight-run fourth.

Steenhoek, singled, doubled and homered and finished with three RBIs and one run. Her four homers are tied for the team lead.

“It’s absolutely invaluable from the two hole to move a runner like she did,” Hudnut said. “We were just fighting to get an early lead there. Then she battled back from 0-2 to a 3-2 count to jack a homer. She’s so versatile. She embodies what we want all of our hitters to be. We want them all to be able to hit the ball hard but also bunt when needed.”

Steenhoek’s homer in the fourth came with one out. Tori Lindsay was then hit by a pitch in front of Libby Winters’ RBI double.

Lillian Humpal also was hit by a pitch before Camden Webb reached on a single. Humpal and courtesy runner Peyton Lathrum scored on Hadley Millang’s two-run single and Addi Hudnut followed with a two-run single of her own.

After Hudnut stole third, she scored on an error. Holly Wood then stole second before scoring the game-ending run on Steenhoek’s RBI single.

The 13 runs scored by the Mustangs came one game after PCM was limited to one in a 1-0 win over Clarke in the regional semifinals.

“We got a great scout from (former head coach) Cathy Hayden,” Coach Hudnut said. “She gave us great information about how to attack (Clarinda starting pitcher Mallory Woods) as a hitter. We’ve had a lot of confidence in our hitters all year. We’re young so we’re going to be streaky at times. It’s a matter of keeping your head up and churning and we just moved the line along all night long.”

Rylee Parsons (15-2) earned the win in the circle after allowing one earned run on five hits and three walks. She struck out two in three innings, lowered her earned run average to 1.25 and now has 99 strikeouts in 89 1/3 innings this season.

Webb tossed a perfect fourth to lower her ERA to 1.11.

“It’s unbelievable. It doesn’t feel real at the moment,” Parsons said. “I’ve shown up here since youth nights as a little girl dreaming of this to happen. To make history at PCM is amazing.”

Millang tallied two hits, one double, two RBIs and one run, Winters doubled and tallied two runs, three RBIs and two steals and Drake chipped in one hit, one walk and two runs.

Drake leads the Mustangs (24-4) with 13 walks, while Winters has a team-best 33 hits, 32 RBIs and 13 steals.

“This is amazing. I have been waiting for this since eighth grade,” Drake said. “The fact that it’s my senior year makes it that much more special. And it’s even better after not being able to play last year.”

Wood tallied one hit, one run, one RBI and one steal, Ila Keuning chipped in one hit, Humpal was hit by a pitch and scored one run, Lindsay was hit by two pitches and scored one run and Lathrum, Carly Wilkerson and Ryan DeVore all scored one run.

Lindsay leads PCM with a .474 on-base percentage. She’s also scored a team-high 31 runs and has been hit by a team-most 10 pitches.

Coach Hudnut guided the PCM baseball team to a state tournament berth in 2010. This time, he’ll take the softball program to Fort Dodge for the first time with his daughter Addi in the starting lineup.

Addi Hudnut finished with one hit, one run, two RBIs and one steal and she was hit by one pitch in the win.

“I was fortunate enough to experience this as a baseball coach,” Coach Hudnut said. “It’s awesome to be able to do this now in softball. It’s really cool to share this with Addi, too. It’s a memory we will always have.”

Drake is the team’s lone senior. She missed basically all of last season due to injuries suffered in a car accident.

Her final season has included 26 hits, 25 runs and an on-base percentage of .454. Her fielding percentage is a team-best .995.

“I couldn’t be happier for Lark. She’s been with us for five years and lost her junior year to a car accident,” Coach Hudnut said. “She never took anything for granted. She ended up being our only senior. She’s been the ultimate leader for us all season and an emotional big sister for the girls.”

Clarinda (33-8) scored its lone run in the third on an RBI single by Presley Jobe. Ryplee Sunderman led the Cardinals with two hits, one double and one run.

Parsons pitched around plenty of traffic in her three innings in the circle. Clarinda, which was seeking its first state berth since 2001, started the game with back-to-back singles, but the runners were stranded at second and third.

In the second, the Cardinals had runners on first and second with one out but did not score. They also stranded two runners in the third.

The Cardinals came into the game averaging nine runs per game and batting .345 as a team.

“Knowing they are a strong hitting team, it was important to score runs early to show we can hit, too,” Lindsay said. “Their coach said we can only hit a little bit.

“That gave us a drive to come here and say you’re not going to come to our house and throw us around. We’re going to show you how PCM does it.”