Ferrell home run sends Cardinal through

KEOSAUQUA — There is always more to a pitch, a hit, a play than what it seems on the surface.

Ava Ferrell’s three-run home run off Van Buren County’s Chelsey Huff in the sixth inning of Friday’s Class 2A postseason softball game gave Cardinal a 3-0 win.

A combination of many things led to the deciding hit -- a line-drive home run over the left field fence for Ferrell, her first on any level -- of the third game between the two teams. There was a 4-1 VBC win at Cardinal June 1 and Huff’s no-hit 1-0 win June 21. Cardinal coaches learned a few things from those games. The coaches also watched Thursday’s win against Danville in person.

“There were 17 pages of notes, observations and pitch calls we went over,” Cardinal head coach Sabrina Morrison said. “We had a lot of debate about who we should pitch.”

Nicoa McClure, an eighth-grader, went all seven innings for the shutout with four hits, a walk and four strikeouts.

Morrison won state championships with Cardinal in 2003 and 2004. The Comets had a “great morning practice getting mentally prepared. It was just going to come down to which team came out more fired up."

Cardinal (17-13) certainly came out of the game fired up.

“Our girls stepped into the batters box thinking about the pitch they wanted to hit,” Morrison said. “It was about mindset because (Huff) was in our heads for that no hitter.”

One pitch to Ferrell will be in Huff’s head for a long time. “I left a pitch down the middle and it was supposed to rise,” Huff said. “It rose for sure, right off her bat.”

Two batters before Ferrell’s home run, Cardinal’s Emma Becker and Huff battled through a 15-pitch at bat before Becker walked.

“I couldn’t believe how many of them I hit foul,” Becker said. “We just believed. We know we can do it.”

Brinlee Ostrander had a one-out hit to start the inning and she was out at third when fellow eighth-grader Kinsey Hissem reached on a fielder’s choice.

Ferrell went to the batter’s box with coach’s words in her head. “Don’t swing because it’s a strike, look for your pitch.” Ferrell liked what she saw.

“It was an 0-2 count and it was right where I could hit it good,” Ferrell said. “I knew it was good but I didn’t think it was a home run.”

It was that and more. It sent Cardinal to a regional final on the road against its third straight ranked opponent. The Comets (17-13) were scheduled to play Monday, but will now play Tuesday against the winner of 14th-ranked Iowa City Regina (17-12) and No. 3 Louisa-Muscatine (20-8), a game delayed twice due to weather. Cardinal defeated No. 11 Wapello Wednesday.

It ended the record-breaking 22-6 season of Van Buren County, ranked 15th.

Chelsey did not have her best stuff but she has been great all year,“ VBC coach Randy Smith said. ”Give them credit.“

“This team has been my family for a long time and it’s the part I’m going to miss the most about not playing anymore,” said Huff, a senior along with Isabel Manning and Brooklynn Cormier. “Brooklynn has been my catcher quite a while. Her and Cala (Smith) and Callie (Kracht) played on an Ottumwa team with me. Ally (Campbell) is basically my sister. There are a lot of good young players coming up and I will have fun watching them.”