Patience pays off for Indians over AGWSR

CLARKSVILLE — Clarksville coach Katie Wedeking’s move to reinsert freshman Jenna Myers into the lineup turned out to be a stroke of genius.

The outfielder stepped up with a two-strike count and and just after the Indians had just taken a 2-1 lead in the Class 1A Region 7 final on Monday, July 20, she hit a two-run homer to help third-ranked Clarksville pull away for a 6-1 victory over No. 14 AGWSR.

It marked Clarksville’s third trip to the state tournament in four years.

“I told Jenna, she’s been in our batting lineup all year and she thinks she is in a slump and it was all mental,” Clarksville head coach Katie Wedeking said. “I told her before the game she wasn’t going to start. She was going to start in the dugout and watch their pitcher, watch our hitters, get our heads focused in on the game and don’t worry about anything else.

“Then I said, ‘I’ll find a time to have to you come in.’ And she walked, and the next time, I gave her another shot and it made me look good.”

Myers, too, admitted she felt she was slumping.

“I’ve been in a slump lately, so it was nice to get the bat on the ball,” Myers said. “I kind of knew (I was going in) but it was shocking to go in that soon.

“I just knew I had to keep my head on the ball and be confident. The (coaches) were saying, ‘keep your head up, you are going to get it.’”

It took the patience of Chloe Ross, however, to get to that point.

Ross walked three times, scoring the tying and go-ahead runs in the fourth and fifth innings.

“I kind of knew that we had to be patient tonight because when we lost to Janesville two years ago, none of us were patient, we just wanted to hit really bad and we were kind of that way in the beginning of the game,” Ross said. “I knew I had to be patient and I was waiting for that first strike and there were a few that could have been a strike, but they were a little inside and so I was just waiting on those because I really don’t like the inside pitches, anyway.”

Coach Wedeking added, “I think she has the school record for walks, but yeah, we told them beforehand that AGWSR averages one walk an inning, so we told them to be patient and that’s kind of what she does best. And she had super-smart base running on the third base line, perfect slide at home.”

The last time both teams played, Clarksville emerged with a 6-0 win on June 1, 2019. In that game, Ross was 1-of-2 with a walk against Rachel Sicard.

“I honestly don’t remember much from last year (when we played), but I think she (Sicard) is faster,” Ross said. “There is not really that much spin, but she is a good pitcher. She gave us a run for our money.”

Pitcher Kori Wedeking struck out 12 Cougars, but drew the ire of AGWSR co-coach Scott O’Brien, who was ejected from the game for arguing with umpires about the senior’s delivery.

“I’ve made the comment for four years, no one enforces the rules when she pitches and they aren’t going to enforce them now,” O’Brien said. “When you show them they are not enforcing the rules and they take it out on you instead of them doing their job. I don’t know where the Girls’ Union’s values are anymore, but they have misplaced them when it comes to the sport of softball.

“Two innings in a row, we (co-coach Brenda Drake and I) pointed out you could see a cleat mark dragged in one direction and then a cleat mark dragged in another direction. You can’t make a second cleat mark unless you are re-planting, which is violating the rules. She’s done it her whole career, but the Girls’ Union doesn’t care.”

AGWSR got on the board first without the benefit of a hit. MaKenna Kuper led off the game by being hit with a pitch, went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Ali Gerbracht and then scored on a two-out error on a high throw from short on a ball hit by Taylor Sperfslage.

“It was great to get off to a good start, you always want to do that,” O’Brien said. “I just wish we could have held onto it a little longer. But the girls battled hard. We’ve got a lot of young kids, four freshmen on defense, that’s what happens. We pick up the ball, make that play…”

Coach Wedeking wasn’t sure if her players were tight early in the game, but she admitted she was.

“I think I was at least,” coach Wedeking said. “I was telling them, ‘we’ve got to get something done,’ and they were like, ‘we have over half the game left. Once we score one, we’ll be fine.’ I was like, ‘okay’.”

The Indians advance to play Akron-Westfield on Tuesday, July 28 at 7:30 p.m. at Rogers Park in Fort Dodge.

AGWSR bows out at 11-5.

“(We had) a lot of resilience,” O’Brien said. “We could have said, ‘what the heck?’ But, good leaders, great kids, that’s the main thing. Ali Gerbracht is one heck of a leader, she’ll be sorely missed. Five years starting as a catcher. Rachel, too, those two and Sammi deNeui kept grinding away. Great kid to have around the team. (Next year) somebody has to step up and fill the pitching role, a lot of RBI, fill that, too.”

Clarksville 6, AGWSR 1

AGWSR 100 000 0 - 1 1 3

Clarksville 000 141 x - 6 5 1

Winning battery — Kori Wedeking and Ainsley Lovrien. Losing battery — Rachel Sicard and Ali Gerbracht. Two or more hits — AGWSR, None; Clark (Cheyenne Behrends, Wedeking). 2B — AGWSR, None; Clark (Behrends 2). 3B — AGWSR, None; Clark (Wedeking). HR — AGWSR, None; Clark (Jenna Myers). SB — AGWSR (Gerbracht, Taylor Sperfslage); Clark, None. RBI — AGWSR, None; Clark (Myers 2, Cailyn Hardy,  Emma Poppe).