Hounds end year one run shy at Knoxville

Kruse's performance

"That was the best I’ve seen her pitch all year long. I’m not just saying that. Her accuracy was on point."”

Jared Rehm, FMHS girls softball coach

KNOXVILLE – A lot of two-out damage was done Thursday night in Knoxville.
Unfortunately, Fort Madison came up on the short side of things in a 3-2 loss to Knoxville in the Class 4A Region 6 post-season bracket, ending the Lady Hounds' season.
Fort Madison finishes the year 16-13 overall and 7-8 in the Southeast Conference.
The Hounds rallied in the top of the 6th to come back from a 3-0 deficit.
Taylor Johnson got on beating out an infield single to short, but was called out at second on an iffy call where Knoxville shortstop Emma Dunkin seemed to have touched second and slid past trying to get a double play, but appeared to have caught the ball after she left bag.
Lauryn Helmick, who was safe at first on the fielder’s choice, would come around to score when senior Erika Kruse blasted a shot into the lawnchairs beyond the right-center field fence sending fans scattering on the liner.
Kruse’s homer cut the lead to 3-2, but Fort Madison wouldn’t get any closer as Knoxville senior Ashlyn Finerty set the Hounds down 1-2-3 in the top of the seventh.
The Lady Panthers opened the scoring in the third inning when Kruse surrendered a lead-off walk and then plunked Addison Dunkin to put two on with no outs.
A sacrifice bunt moved the two up to 2nd and 3rd. Kruse would coax an infield pop-up for the second out freezing the runners, but Brittany Bacorn and Finerty would both single back-to-back to score two.
Reilyn Turnbull snagged a liner at second to end the inning but Panther starter Ciara Heffron was dealing right along with Kruse who probably had her best night on the mound all season hitting the strike zone regulary with velocity and accuracy.
Bacorn would add a bomb that probably traveled close to 250 feet over the left-center fence in the Knoxville half of the 5th, also with two outs for what would prove to be the game-winner.
Kruse struck out six and gave up the three runs on just five hits.
“That was the best I’ve seen her pitch all year long. I’m not just saying that. Her accuracy was on point,” said Fort Madison Head Coach Jared Rehm.
Rehm lost Neeley Rehm on Sunday to a knee injury. The Hounds have been playing without power-hitter Lexi Whaley all season after she underwent shoulder surgery prior to the start of the year.
Jared Rehm said he wanted to give his daughter a chance to hit with the outcome still in doubt.  The senior was second on the team for the year in singles with 31 and was hitting .343 on the year.
“It was kind of like a senior send-off really. We were hoping she could get something into the outfield and then get to first and we’d have had someone come in for her,” Rehm said.
After the game, Rehm said he had considered appealing the play at second where Johnson was called out.
“I pondered it. But I thought (the other official) was 84-feet away. He made the call and I didn’t see him overturning it. It’s a judgment call over there. There’s a whole lot I can’t do about that,” Rehm said.
If Taylor had been ruled safe, Kruse’s home run would have been a three-run bomb and would have tied the game.
Fort Madison will lose three seniors – Kruse, Emily Steffensmeier, and Rehm.
Rehm said he’ll miss the seniors who he’s been working with for the past eight years, and longer with his daughter.
Kruse finished the year with eight home runs and 25 RBIs, while hitting .438 second best on the team to junior Helmick’s .441. She was also 4-8 on the year on the mound with 46 strikeouts and a 6.03 ERA.
Steffensmeier hit .393 with 29 hits, six doubles, and 13 RBIs. She had a sparkling .937 fielding percentage. Rehm was 12-5 on the mound before suffering the injury last week. She struck out 67 hitters and carried a 3.84 ERA.