Van Meter softball holds off sixth-inning surge by Central Springs, advances to Iowa state championship
Van Meter jumped out to an early lead in Wednesday’s state semifinal matchup, but the Bulldogs needed to fight off a sixth-inning comeback by Central Springs to pull out a win.
The Bulldogs defeated the Panthers, 10-9, to advance to the Class 2A state championship game. Van Meter will play No. 1 seeded Iowa City Regina on Friday at 5 p.m.
Central Springs struck first, scoring on a sacrifice bunt to take the early lead.
Van Meter took the early deficit, albeit small, in stride. Lauren Wallace and Maddie Waldorf picked up a pair of singles, and then Macy Blomgren cashed in with a three-run homer to steal back the lead.
“I didn’t have a whole lot of experience with this type of pitcher,” Blomgren said postgame. “We’ve never played them, so I just found my pitch and I hit it. With the type of speed we were facing, it’s gonna go far.”
The Panthers got one back on an error in the second inning, and then an RBI single from Lainie Bouillon tied the game with only one out. Central Springs couldn’t capitalize on anything else, keeping the game even going into the bottom of the third.
Van Meter came out strong in the third. Maddie Waldorf would’ve been out with a sacrifice bunt, but an errant throw allowed her to get on first. She then stole second, and the Bulldogs already had Wallace on third. Blomgren was walked, giving Van Meter bases loaded with zero outs.
More: Here are the top 10 Iowa high school softball recruits at the 2023 state tournament
Ella Reimers stepped up and was able to score two on an error. Cali Richards sacrifice bunt scored Kennedy Wiedman and left another player on third with only one out. Beth Button scored Reimers, and the Bulldogs finished the third inning with a 7-3 lead.
Central Springs worked its way into a bases-loaded situation in the top of the fourth, but Katie Vaught caught the fly out to center field to stop the Panthers in their tracks.
Waldorf continued Van Meter’s heavy hitting in the fourth. She sent a three-run dinger — the Bulldogs’ second of the game — over the center fielder to give her team a 10-3 lead after four frames.
Central Springs changed pitchers — from Cooper Klaahsen to Cameron Cobb — after Halle Karaidos singled early in the fifth. The Panthers managed to finish that inning without giving up any more runs.
The Panthers, once again, found themselves with bases loaded and two outs. This time, Aurora Stepleton blasted a double into left field and sent three teammates home. Bouillon and Lizzy Hamand each followed with an RBI, and Central Springs found itself just two runs behind Van Meter.
More: How to watch the 2023 Iowa high school state softball tournament
It looked like the wheels were coming off for the Bulldogs. A couple of errors cost Van Meter another run, as Hamand went from first all the way home to move Central Springs within one. Blomgren struck out the next batter.
“In my opinion, we take criticism pretty well,” Blomgren said. “So, I was kind of getting on the outfielders and the people who were making the errors. We weren’t doing our best and we could do a whole lot better. We just weren’t playing our game on defense.”
Central Springs stopped the Bulldogs in their tracks and kept the score within one to close out the sixth inning. Blomgren and the defense took care of business in the top of the seventh and secured Van Meter’s spot in the championship.
“We know Regina is a great team,” Blomgren said. “We lost to them last year (in the quarterfinal), so I think that’s gonna motivate us even more.”
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: Van Meter beats Central Springs, advances to state softball title game
