Lady Hounds get to Chiefs in regional semis

GAME PLAN

We had a game plan coming in and Ada likes to go outside or maybe bend her curve ball in, so we worked the outside a lot.”

Jared Rehm, FM girls head coach

KEOKUK – Fort Madison was looking to change things up a bit in the post-season after dropping two of three regular season games to Keokuk.
Thursday’s Class 4A Region 5 quarterfinal showed that Hounds’ Head Coach Jared Rehm made the right call in showing the Chiefs a different look in the circle. That led to an 18-7 win, ending Keokuk’s season and moving the Hounds into the regional semifinal Saturday at Cedar Rapids Xavier.
Rehm started senior Lauryn Helmick, who hadn’t pitched against the Chiefs in any of the three previous games this year, while Keokuk ran out Ada Wood again. Wood pitched against Fort Madison in three of the teams' four matchups this season.
“We had a game plan coming in and Ada likes to go outside or maybe bend her curve ball in, so we worked the outside a lot,” Rehm said.
“That’s why we pitched Lauryn because they hadn’t see her at all.”
The Hounds flirted with the 12-run rule and the 10-run rule but Keokuk kept chipping away to force a full seven innings of softball that went close to 2 ½ hours at Joyce Park.
Fort Madison opened up a quick 10-1 lead after just two innings and had the game in control.
With the game tied at 1 after the first inning, the Bloodhounds went to work in the top of the second. Kylie Lumino singled to lead off the inning. Ava Taylor drew a walk and then Olivia Buckner laid down a sacrifice bunt, but the throw was errant from Wood to first, allowing Lumino to score and putting two more runners in scoring position.
Helmick, who in addition to getting the win for Fort Madison, went 3-of-4 with two runs scored and two RBIs, then walked to load the bases. Alivia Holmes then walked scoring Taylor. Buckner would score on a passed ball and Elle Ruble would walk to load the bases again. Brylie Lorence then singled scoring Helmick for a 5-1 lead with no outs.
Lorence had a sterling night at the plate, going 5 for 5 with four RBIs, and a run scored. She was thrown out twice at home on force plays.
“I was seeing the ball well and (Wood) was a little wild today, so that worked to my advantage.
"It's a big win and gives us a lot of confidence going into Saturday,” Lorence said.
Fort Madison would score four more runs on two more walks and a single by Helmick for a 10-1 lead after two.
Helmick would hold the Chiefs in check with no runs allowed in innings 2-4, but Fort Madison couldn’t get the one run they needed in the fourth to invoke the 12-run rule.
In the top of the fourth, Fort Madison had two on with one out. A Lorence single would score Holmes for the 12-1 lead but a fly out and a ground out would strand two runners, one short of the mercy rule. Helmick would hold the Chiefs scoreless in the bottom of the fourth and Fort Madison would add two more in the top of the fifth.
With the Bloodhounds looking to end the game with the 10-run rule, the Chiefs were able get at Helmick in the bottom of the fifth with one out and Fort Madison up 14-1. Keokuk started with a single and a double to put two on. Helmick would get a pop out to second for the first out, but Suzie Whitaker would double to center scoring two for a 14-3 game.
Rehm made a trip to the circle to calm the Lady Hounds down with a runner on third.
“It was just to calm down. The runner at third didn’t matter and we just needed one out. I just wanted to calm the nerves, settle them down.”
Helmick would get a strikeout for the second out leaving the Hounds just one out from the win, but Keokuk would then put the next five hitters on and climb back to within seven at 14-7 before Helmick would get a ground out to get out of the inning.
Jordyn Marshall came on in the sixth and shut the Chiefs down 1-2-3. Fort Madison would add four runs in the top of the seventh for an 18-7 lead. Marshall gave up a single to open the bottom half of the seventh, but was able to get three of the next four, including a fly out to Taylor Johnson in left for the final out.
Ruble, Elizabeth Tanner, and Lumino all had two-hit games for the Hounds.
Lumino also worked behind the plate the whole game and, again, was calling pitches.
“I’ve been doing that all year. I’ve gotten to know all the pitchers really well. That was a big win for us. We worked hard, but the first two times they beat us. I think throwing Ada Wood again wasn’t a good choice for them because we were ready for what she was going to throw,” Lumino said.
She said the fifth inning, the Hounds lost focus a little.
“I was unsure there for a while in the fifth and we got a little frustrated just trying to get out of the inning,” she said.
Rehm said the history with the Chiefs has been sporadic.
“We’ve had this kind of game last year twice with Keokuk. One went nine innings. We won both, but this has been a back-and-forth affair.”
Saturday’s semifinal puts the Bloodhounds against the Region 5 No. 2 seed Xavier Knights (23-10). The winner will face the winner of the Carlisle/Knoxville semifinal at the higher seed finalist location on July 16 for the right to go to state.