The 2012 softball season closed with ten games played in Ft. Dodge
on Friday, resulting in five champions being crowned and Estherville-Lincoln
Central earning their second best finish in school history. The fifth-ranked
Midgets took the diamond against third-ranked Bondurant-Farrar (fur-rahr) for
the Class 3A third-place game, however, would lose a second-consecutive,
one-run game, 2-1. ELC got on the board in the first, as Emily Kirchner reached
on a fielder’s choice. The junior would eventually score on a RBI single by
Christina Tendal. The Blue Jays responded with a run in the second, and the
game remained tied through five innings. In the sixth, Bondurant-Farrar took
the lead for good on an ELC error that allowed Ashley Burrows to score from
second. The Midgets would outhit the Blue Jays, 6-4, with Kellie Christensen
going 2-for-3 to lead the charge. Kendall Bosch, who was selected to the Class
3A All-Tournament team, allowed just one earned run and struck out five over
seven innings. Estherville-Lincoln Central caps the year at 28-8 and with a
fourth-place finish. Only the third-place Midgets of 1996 were better.
Bondurant-Farrar was 37-8. In the 3A title game, ninth-ranked Ballard defeated
top-ranked Solon, 5-4, behind a three-run homer in the sixth inning by Kenzie
Ihle. The championship is the first for Ballard.
In Class 1A, Martensdale-St. Mary’s needed eleven innings to
win their first title, 1-0, over Earlham on a squeeze play. The third-place
game went to Don Bosco, 9-8, against Charter Oak-Ute.
The Class 2A crown belongs to Treynor for the first time, as
they shutout Des Moines Christian, 4-0. Durant claimed third-place, defeating
Sumner-Fredericksburg by an 11-6 margin.
Another school claiming their first softball title was
Indianola, winning the Class 4A championship game, 1-0, over Dallas-Center
Grimes. Clear Creek-Amana took a 6-2 victory over Washington for third.
And the first-ever Class 5A champion is top-ranked Ankeny,
who held the defending 4A champs from Des Moines East scoreless in a 2-0
victory. Ankeny
has won seven state softball titles. The third-place contest went to Pleasant Valley, 5-2, over Iowa City West.