Indians Earn Trip Back To State
The Oskaloosa Indians Softball Team punched their ticket for a return trip to the state softball tourna)ment in Fort Dodge. (photo by Denis Currier/Oskaloosa News)
by Jamie Brockman
After missing out on a trip to Fort Dodge a year ago, the 14th ranked Oskaloosa Softball team earned a return trip to State with their 1-0 upset win at #2 A-D-M in the Class 4A Regional Final Tuesday night. This marks the fourth trip to State in the past six years for Coach Jay Harms and the Indians. They also qualified for State in 2014, 2016 when they won the championship, and 2017.
Oskaloosa got off to a slow start as Tigers starting pitcher Abby Hlas retired nine of the first 10 Indians batters through the first three innings.
Meanwhile, A-D-M had runners on in each of the first four innings, but each time Osky slammed the door leaving seven Tigers runners stranded.
Oskaloosa scored the games only run in the top of the fourth inning on a gutsy call by the coaching staff. Ava Vandewall led off with a base hit, the only Osky hit of the game, then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Abby Braundmeier then reached on an error giving Osky runners at first and third with just one out. That’s when veteran Coach Jay Harms called for the suicide squeeze which was executed perfectly. Maddie Haines laid down a bunt with Vandewall charging towards home sliding in ahead of the throw to give Osky a 1-0 lead. From there, Osky sat down the final nine A-D-M batters to get the win and punch their ticket to the Class 4A State Softball Tournament.
Hayle Hacker got the win pitching all seven innings. She allowed 0 runs on four hits while striking out four and walking three. Abby Hlas suffered the loss despite allowing only one hit and striking out six.
Oskaloosa scored one run on one hit, committed no errors and left three runners on base. A-D-M scored 0 runs on four hits, committed one error and stranded seven base runners.
Oskaloosa has been very impressive through the postseason beating 13th ranked Norwalk and 2nd ranked A-D-M, both on the road. The Indians improved to 25-14 on the season and will be the number seven seed in the eight-team Class 4A field. Oskaloosa will face number two seed, 26-14 North Scott on Tuesday at 3 pm in Fort Dodge.
You can follow the Indians through the State Tournament on Osky News Live with Jamie Brockman and Doug Dekock calling the action.
