William Penn Closes Season with 12-Inning Thriller
Cedar Rapids–The Statesmen softball team could not keep the fairy-tale story alive another day as it was eliminated from the Heart of America Athletic Conference Championship Friday.
WPU (20-30) fell into the consolation with a 7-0 loss to #4 seed Mount Mercy and was then knocked out of the event and had its season come to a close with a 10-9 loss to #6 seed Evangel in 12 innings.
The eighth-seeded Statesmen made it to the second day with a 4-1 win over the Heart’s regular season champion Grand View on Thursday, but ran out of magic against the Mustangs and Crusaders.
William Penn never figured out MMU pitcher Jayna Witzany in the championship bracket matchup, being outhit 10-5 without a single extra-base hit.
Mount Mercy, which was 31-13 after the win, scored two in the first, three in the second, and one more in the third, while the navy and gold were unable to post a base knock through the first three frames.
Valeria Quiroga (Fr., San Benito, Texas, Sociology) led off the fourth with a single and Lexi Riccardi (Sr., Redwood City, Calif., Biology) added another, but the Statesmen rally stalled. It proved to be the last good scoring opportunity for the team.
Ashton Brown (Fr., Ottumwa, Iowa) entered the game as a reliever in the second inning and was fairly effective, allowing just two runs (both earned) on five hits in 4 2/3 innings. She struck out three.
Quiroga led the hitting lineup with two hits in three at-bats.
The season finale was nowhere close to being as cut and dry, but it was plenty entertaining. WPU and EU combined for not just 19 runs, but also 25 hits and nine errors.
The Crusaders (31-17 after the win) sprinted to a 5-0 lead after the top of the first. The Statesmen refused to wave their proverbial white flag, matching all five of those runs in the bottom of the second.
William Penn recorded only one hit in the second, but did draw four walks and took advantage of two Evangel errors to tie the game at 5-5 after two innings.
Both sides were good for two runs in the fourth with the Statesmen doing all of their damage with two outs on the scoreboard. Quiroga singled and Riccardi drove her in by clearing the left-field fence with her fifth home run of the spring.
Evangel regained the edge in the top of the fifth, but with one swing of the bat, and a little luck by an aggressive Crusader right fielder, Lexi Resa (Jr., Liberty, Mo., Biology) touched all four bases on an inside-the-park home run. She roped a line drive into right field and the EU player dove forward to catch it. She failed to catch it or even slow it down and the ball rolled all the way to the fence. Resa dug in and eventually beat the throw to home plate to knot the score at 8-8.
That is where the score stood, despite both crews producing several top-notch opportunities. The Statesmen had runners in scoring position in the seventh, ninth, and 11th innings, but to no avail.
The Crusader offense finally awoke in the 12th with a pair of runs, and unfortunately WPU could not follow suit. Riccardi singled and Rachael Haessly (Jr., Alpine, Calif., Biology) also earned her way on base via an error. Riccardi scored later in the play courtesy of another error to pull WPU within one, but Haessly was eventually stranded at third base to conclude the contest and the 2021 campaign.
Peyton Parker (Jr., LaPorte City, Iowa, Sports Management) bounced back from a disappointing start against Mount Mercy to throw a school-record 11 2/3 innings. She struck out five, while scattering 12 hits. Just three of the five runs she allowed were earned. The old program record for single-game innings pitched was 10 (started recording it in 1999).
Offensively, the navy and gold were outhit 15-10 with Resa ending up 3-for-6 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Riccardi joined her in the multi-hit club, finishing 2-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs.
The Statesmen left 16 runners on base in the setback.
