Castensen lifts Storm to walk-off win
INDIANOLA, Iowa - Kelsey Castenson (Harcourt, Iowa/SE Webster) hit a walk-off single to left center in the bottom of the seventh as top-seeded Simpson beat fourth-seeded Coe 1-0 in round two of the Iowa Conference Softball Tournament on Thursday afternoon at Simpson Softball Complex.
The staples of Simpson's game plan thoughout the season remained in-tact in the postseason. The No. 14 Storm (30-8) relied on the pitching of Whitney Oviatt (Carnation, Iowa/Cedarcrest), tough defense and timely hitting in advancing to an anticipated contest with second-seeded and No. 5 Luther at 4 p.m. Friday.
Oviatt (21-5) went all seven innings in the win, allowing four hits and striking out four. The senior reached a milestone with her 400th career strikeout when she fanned Coe's Sidney Ridout for the second out of the fifth inning.
Coe starter Ashley Simon carried a no-hitter into the sixth before Jessica Barkley (Mitchellville, Iowa/SE Polk) broke up the no-no to lead off the inning. Carissa Coopman (Davenport, Iowa/North) came into the game as a pinch runner for Barkley and immediately advanced to second after a sacrifice bunt by Amanda Enochs (Des Moines, Iowa/East), but was later caught stealing third to end the inning.
Simon (20-9) struck out 10 and allowed three hits for the the Kohawks (23-15), who face sixth-seeded Loras in an elimination game at Noon on Friday.
In the bottom of the seventh, Keri Sorensen (Bettendorf, Iowa/Pleasant Valley) singled up the middle with one out and moved to second on a Kelsie Host (Altoona, Iowa/Southeast Polk) sacrifice. After an intentional walk to Kortney Proctor (Wilton, Iowa/Wilton, Iowa) put runners on first and second, both runners advanced on a throwing error from Coe catcher Abby Wedemeier.
The extra base wouldn't make a difference, as Castenson drove the first pitch she saw from Simon off the wall in left for the game-winner.
Simpson's game against Luther can be heard live on 105.3 KEDB FM and online www.kedb.fm. You can also access live stats for all tournament games at www.simpson.edu/livestats.
