By: Nathan Bloechl — [email protected]
Fort Dodge, Iowa — It’s always been a day-by-day approach for Wildcat softball head coach Doug Van Pelt.
You shouldn’t expect things to change just because it’s the state tournament, should you?
For Humboldt, they checked off goal number one for day number one of the Iowa High School State Softball tournament: win your first game.
The Wildcats got a super-human effort from sophomore pitcher Ellie Jacobson, timely hitting by sophomore Mady Lange, and stellar outfield defense from sophomore Carlie Thompson — get the theme there? — en route to a 3-0 win over Atlantic, Monday night.
Humboldt got the scoring started in inning number three, where Lange drilled a two-out line drive into center-field to score freshman shortstop Jori Hajek. Hajek singled in the at-bat prior, but Thompson was thrown out at the plate trying to score.
Atlantic would threaten in the top of the fifth, putting two on with two out for Alexis Handel, a Division I recruit, who has slugged 11 home runs. Jacobson went right after her, coming inside with the heat, getting Handel to ground into a fielder’s choice. The Trojans would not threaten the rest of the night.
“I went out there and asked [Ellie] if she wanted [Handel] or Anderson there” Wildcat head coach Doug Van Pelt explained. “It was [Ellie’s] choice, and she went right after her. It set us up for the final few innings, big time.”I
Humboldt then added insult to injury when they scored two more times in the home half of the inning. Mady Lange provided the clutch hit, riding a 1-0 fastball deep to the fence in right-center, scoring Hajek again.
The next batter, Jacobson, then singled home Lange to cap off the scoring.
You may have read the headline and are confused, so let’s clarify quickly: Humboldt has one win (in the wagon) and two more they’re still chasing.
Standing in their way next will be top-seeded Davenport Assumption, who bested Benton Community, 14-4. The Knights have been the unanimous #1 team in 3A all season long, but this group, the 2018 Humboldt Wildcats, are not afraid of anyone.
“They’re number one for a reason” Van Pelt asserted of Assumption, Monday night.
“But,” he said tongue-in-cheek, “this is a funny sport, all you have to do is come up with some timely knocks and squeak a couple runs across and you never know.”
“We’re not going to back down, we came down to here to win this thing.”
First pitch is slated for 11:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, pre-game is set for 11:15.