Raiderettes heading to Fort Dodge
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Mt. Ayr 5, WCV 1
The Raiderettes did it again. They are headed to Fort Dodge to the State Softball Tournament for the third time in five years after missing out last season.
Mount Ayr hosted their first Regional Final in 25 years, hosting and eventually falling to Underwood in 1997.
Fast-forward to 2022 and the Raiders face the West Central Valley Wildcats who boasted a 28-8 record, their first winning season in 13 years with a roster that was absent of any seniors.
The Raiderettes started senior Addy Reynolds in the circle.
The first inning saw three up and three down for Reynolds, while the Wildcats pitcher, Marissa Hagen took up pitching duties for the visiting team.
Reynolds hit a double before fellow senior Halsie Barnes doubled to drive in Reynolds to put the Raiderettes on top.
The Wildcats answered back in the second.
Junior Kamryn Nourse stepped up to the plate and drilled a first pitch for a double, before eighth grader Lillian Gilbert hit a Nourse home on a ground out.
The game wouldn’t see another run until the third inning, when the Raiderettes caught a break as Reynolds doubled on a dropped fly ball.
Breya Nickle drove in Reynolds on a double to put Mount Ayr back on top.
It was the fourth inning when the Raiderettes broke open the flood gates. Zoey Larsen doubled on a hard hit ball that missed going over the fence by maybe a foot.
Linsie Barnes would then step to the plate and hit her second home run of her career, extending the Raiderette lead 4-1.
“I knew it was my pitch and I’m going to hit it out,” said Barnes. “The minute it hit my bat I knew it was gone.”
“I love that girl to death,” said coach Bret Ruggles. “It goes out and everyone is so shocked and we see it quite a bit.”
The Raiderettes final score of the night that would see the score at its final 5-1 came after Reynolds singled.
Nickle would again put her bat to use with a sacrifice fly that saw Reynolds home in the bottom of the fifth.
The Wildcats got a baserunner on to start the top of the seventh, but ensuing bunt was thrown out at first and as the runner was heading to third, she was tagged out.
Addy Reynolds punched the strikeout across the plate for out three to punch the tickets to State for the Raiderettes.
“We knew three or four of their girls had bunting experience and would be ready to lay one down,” said Reynolds. “We have Halsie (Barnes) and Zoey (Larsen) up on the defense and Linsie Barnes played first base in JV last year, so her covering first, we have a lot of experience, so we know we can handle the bunt.”
Reynolds is heading into her third State Tournament with the Raiderettes, however, in the beginning of the season, she wasn’t quite sure she would make an appearance at Fort Dodge.
“To be completely honest I would’ve never guessed that for this season and it’s turned out to be the best season for my senior year,” said Reynolds. “I’m glad to be back there for the third time in my career, so hopefully we can go make a mess up there.”
Senior Halsie Barnes was taking everything in after the game.
“To be able to host a Regional Final at home was huge for us,” said Barnes. “Our home town, we show up and support each other. It was great to see all the people. The beginning of the season was rocky and we didn’t know where we were going to end and for us to go to State is huge, it feels really good.”
Senior Payten Lambert had two strikeouts in the contest, but in her third at-bat, coach Ruggles visited with her and on the next pitch, Lambert was able to single to put up another hit for the Raiderettes.
“He told me I needed to clear my head because I had been struggling and after he talked to me I acted like it was a normal game and it worked out,” said Lambert. “When I walked down the hill and saw all those people there I got into my head. I knew the beginning of the season it looked a little rocky, but after playing I-35 I knew no one would stop us. We work so well together and we are like a huge family.”
Coach Ryan Reynolds is in a unique position, coaching and calling pitches for his daughter Addy.
“I’m relieved right now because that was a tough game. They put some really good swings on us and put pressure on us and we just did a really good job and got out of a couple of tough jams,” said coach Reynolds. “Hopefully now we can sit back and enjoy it a little bit.”
Coach Carly Carrall knows Wildcat head coach Krysten Topliff very well, playing collegiate softball togther for the Graceland University Yellow Jackets, as well as sharing a dorm.
“I said the other night after beating I-35, man can we stop playing teams with coaches that I like,” said coach Carrall with a laugh. “We all played college softball together so we know how to prepare and what it takes to get a game won. It’s a friendly rivalry. You don’t talk during the game but after you give them a hug, no matter what.”
Coach Bret Ruggles was ecstatic to be taking his team back to Fort Dodge for the third time.
“It’s three different celebrations,” said Ruggles of each Regional Final they won. “You watch the West Monoana one, we broke the seal after 25 years. The next year is the shocker in Earlham where not one of us thought we were going to get it but two miracle plays put us in and now this one was more like we did it, we got back. To get my three seniors back is phenomenal.”
The Raiderette practice the night before ran late with the girls asking questions about the scouting report on the Wildcats.
“Sometimes teams don’t take scouting very well. This group wants to know,” said Ruggles. “We were only going to have practice for an hour fifteen and we sat out here for 35-40 more minutes because they were just asking questions. They want to know every little bit about this game.”
The goal in the past for the Raiderettes is to get to the State Tournament and have a good time. That hasn’t changed in 2022.
“Don’t care who we play, don’t care what the seed is, I’m guessing eighth, that’s okay I don’t mind it” said coach Ruggles. “We are up there and we will take our shot.”
The Raiderettes will play on Tuesday, July 19 in Fort Dodge at 3 p.m. against Central Springs. Win or lose, the Raiderettes will come back Wednesday at 1 p.m. in the losers bracket, or 5 p.m. in the winners bracket.
Stats
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 F
WCV 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
MA 1 0 1 2 1 0 0 5
Hitting
AB H R BI
Lambert 3 1 0 0
Reynolds 3 2 3 0
Nickle 2 1 0 1
H.Barnes 3 1 0 1
Larsen 3 1 0 0
Wise 0 0 1 0
L.Barnes 3 1 1 1
Streit 3 0 0 0
Ruggles 3 0 0 0
Streit 3 0 0 0
Henle 2 0 0 0
Knight 0 0 0 0
TOTALS 25 7 5 3
Pitching
IP H ER R K
Reynolds 7 5 1 1 4
TOTALS 7 5 1 1 4
Mt. Ayr 4, I-35 2
The Raiderettes traveled to Truro to face the Interstate-35 Roadrunners in the Regional Semifinal on Friday, July 8.
The Mount Ayr girls had only defeated the Roadrunners twice in the last 13 games, once in 2018 and once in 2009, both at home in Mount Ayr.
Last season, the Raiderettes were knocked out of regional play by the Roadrunners so the Raiderettes came into this one with a chip on their shoulder.
The Raiderettes went to bat and on an Addy Reynolds home run scored their first run.
Roadrunner pitcher Katie Murphy retired the side and the Roadrunners looked to do damage.
The Roadrunners loaded the bases and looked poised to strike.
Raiderette pitcher, Addy Reynolds, got out two on a strikeout, but put the tying run across after hitting Kadence Alery by the pitch.
A ground out ended the inning with the contest tied.
In the second inning, the Roadrunners saw three batters and put three down quick.
The Roadrunners left one stranded in the second as the Raiderettes escaped the inning.
It was the third inning that saw the Roadrunners take the lead after skillful base running.
The Raiderettes tied the contest again at two runs after Reynolds started the bats off with a single that saw her steal second and put onto third by a Breya Nickle bunt. Reynolds found home after a passed ball put confusion in the Roadrunner fielders.
It was in the sixth inning that the Raiderettes took the game.
Addy Reynolds led off and hit her second home run of the night and 10th of the season to put the Raiderettes ahead.
Nickle got a piece of the ball in the second at bat that saw her around the bases to third.
She was knocked in by Halsie Barnes before the Roadrunners executed a double play to end the side.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Raiderettes saw three and put three down to upset the Roadrunners and advance to the Regional Final on Monday, against West Central Valley.
Stats
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 F
MA 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 4
I35 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 2
Hitting
AB H R BI
Lambert 4 0 0 0
Reynolds 3 3 3 2
Nickle 3 2 1 1
H.Barnes 3 1 0 1
Larsen 3 0 0 0
L.Barnes 3 0 0 0
Streit 3 1 0 0
Ruggles 3 1 0 0
Knight 0 0 0 0
Henle 2 0 0 0
Clark 1 0 0 0
TOTALS 28 8 4 4
Pitching
IP H ER R K
Reynolds 7 6 2 2 3
TOTALS 7 6 2 2 3
Mt. Ayr 13, SWV 1
The Raiderettes began their road to Fort Dodge on Wednesday, July 6, hosting the Southwest Valley Timberwolves.
The Timberwolves got their bats going early after three hits in the first, however, only one run scored.
The Raiderettes would face Timberwolf pitcher Ryanne Mullen. After a leadoff ground out, the Raiderette bats got hot and scored nine runs, that was helped by Linsie Barnes hitting her first career home run that saw three runs on the board.
Mount Ayr would keep base runners on the bags and Addy Reynolds would drive in three runs after hitting a home run out of center field.
Mullen and company would get out of the inning and the Raiderettes added four runs, along with another Reynolds home run, to close the game out and advance to the next regional game after four innings.
The Raiderettes recorded 13 runs on 16 hits with 13 RBI and three home runs. The Raiderettes only struck out once.
The Mount Ayr fielders committed only one error, while recording 12 putouts on 16 total chances with three assists.
Reynolds pitched four innings, allowing one run on three hits while striking out four.
Stats
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 F
SWV 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
MA 9 0 2 2 0 0 0 13
Hitting
AB H R BI
Lambert 4 1 2 0
Reynolds 3 3 3 6
H.Barnes 3 3 1 1
Larsen 3 1 1 0
L.Barnes 3 2 1 3
Huntington 0 0 0 0
Nickle 3 2 1 0
Wise 0 0 0 0
Streit 3 1 1 0
Ruggles 2 1 0 1
Clark 0 0 0 0
Henle 2 2 1 2
Lumbard 1 0 0 0
Knight 0 0 2 0
TOTALS 27 16 13 13
Pitching
IP H ER R K
Reynolds 4 3 1 1 4
TOTALS 4 3 1 1 4
