NEW SHARON – Talk about switching the scripts!
During the regular season, North Mahaska’s softball team beat Montezuma 7-1 and 14-2.
The Warhawks put the ball in play, and profited when Montezuma made a total of 12 errors in those two games.
Friday night, June 30, the Bravettes came out swinging and shocked North Mahaska, 7-3, in the opening round of regional play.
The Bravettes jumped in front 1-0 in the first inning, and pitcher Kallie Robison and her teammates never looked back.
Now, the 13-12 Bravettes get to face the top-rated Class 1A team, Martensdale-St. Mary’s (22-6) at 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 5, in Martensdale in a regional semifinals game.
Both teams entered Friday’s regional opening game with 12-12 records. The Warhawks started the game without top pitcher and hitter Regan Grewe, because of a coach’s decision.
Grewe came on in the fourth inning, with her team trailing 5-1.
Montezuma was in attack mode from the git-go and wound up with 10 hits to North Mahaska’s four.
“We were loose to begin,” Robison told KGRN’s Chris Varney afterward. “We took batting practice at home before we came. Our coach (Jeremy Van Zee) told us it’s post-season, and everyone is 0 and 0.”
A single by Madison Van Zee and later a Warhawk error gave the Bravettes a 1-0 first inning lead.
Robison slammed the door on North Mahaska immediately, pitching two shutout innings.
Then, the Bravettes put up four runs in the third, on four hits and four North Mahaska errors. Ellen Cook singled to drive in a run and later Izzy Roorda doubled off the left field fence, bringing home two runs to make it 5-0.
A hit batter and a wild pitch, combined with Madeline Doonan’s single just over shortstop Jadyn Shearer’s outstretched glove, put the Warhawks on the board in the home half of the third.
Grewe came on in relief of Jocelyn Pinkerton to pitch in the fourth and retired the first two Bravette batters. But then Chloe Snook doubled to center field. Van Zee walked, then Ellen Cook singled to center to take Montezuma’s lead to 6-1.
A bunt single and and a Montezuma error put runners on second and third, then Doonan’s roller under the third baseman’s glove made it 6-3 in the fifth.
Robison, though retired the Warhawks in order in the fourth and sixh innings, then the Bravettes played add-on in the sixth.
An error and Van Zee’s bunt put two Montezuma runners aboard, then Ellen Cook’s single chased one home to make it 7-3.
A two-out hit in the seventh gave North Mahaska one last chance, but Robison got a batter to hit the ball to right, where Laila Kercheval made a running, sliding catch to end the game.
The Bravettes, swinging early in counts from the start, were the aggressors in this game.
The Bravettes made two errors to North Mahaska’s five.
“After we scored a run in the first inning, I knew we had come to play,” Robison told Varney. Robison mixed occasional change-ups in with an assortment of fastballs. “I was able to hit all four quadrants of the plate, but the outside corner belonged to me,” she said.
Robison had been Montezuma’s main pitcher for five seasons. “I’ve been in some tough situations during that time. We’ve got some top-notch hitters in the SICL, so I’ve learned to smile and enjoy it,” she said.
Robison said the Bravettes’ attitude for this game was, “we can do this,” she told Varney. Regarding the next challenge – against Class 1A’s best team, “if we play for each other and play loose and relaxed,” said the senior, “why not us?”