1,000 career strikeouts

WINFIELD — As the hope of a long postseason approaches on the Winfield-Mount Union softball field, the Wolves’ top player for the last five years has hit a career milestone.

On Thursday, in a 9-1 Southeast Iowa Super Conference win against Pekin, senior ace Madie Anderson brought her career strikeout totals to quadruple digits, surpassing the 1,000 mark. In a 2-1 win over Holy Trinity on Friday, she closed out the week at 1,028.

“As a coach, it’s a godsend,” said Wolves’ head coach Walt Jackson. “To have a girl that loves the game that much and that will focus and practice and put all the work in to be the leader that she is, it’s just great.”

Anderson says she wasn’t counting. When she struck out her fourth Pekin batter on Thursday, the historic announcement surprised even her.

“It kind of snuck up on me,” Anderson said. “I didn’t really know it was going to happen.”

The fifth-year starter has been in the pitcher’s circle for every single WMU softball win since she stepped on the field at the beginning of her eighth-grade year. She struck out 14 Pekin batters on Thursday and 18 more on Friday against Holy Trinity.

The Wolves had plenty of offense against Pekin. Kayreanna Sharer went 3-for-3 with a home run and four runs scored. Anna Anderson was 2-for-3 with a triple and two RBIs. Madie Anderson knocked in two.

Holy Trinity had the game tied at 1-1 entering the bottom of the fifth, but Madie’s little sister came up clutch once more. Anna Anderson knocked in Carlee Sloan, who scored both WMU runs, to give the Wolves a 2-1 lead.

Now, WMU sits at 13-3 overall and 9-2 in conference play. The 15th-ranked team in Class 1A has two weeks of play left before the postseason, plenty of time for its ace to keep piling up the Ks, which fill up the outside of the left field fence in every home game.

“It’s crazy to think I’ve been pitching for Winfield for five years,” Anderson said. “That seems like a long time, but it went by so fast.”