Sweet repeat
Staff Photo by Sam Martin
The BCLUW softball team steps forward to accept its Class 2A state softball championship atrophy on July 23 after beating Wayne of Corydon 9-0.
Comets win second straight state title
By Sam Martin
The Record Sports
FORT DODGE — The quest is complete.
The BCLUW softball team beat Wayne of Corydon 9-0 here July 23, finishing off the Comets’ second straight Class 2A state championship, and putting an exclamation point on an unprecedented run of dominance for the team from the NICL West.
“Our saying all year long was ‘No opportunity wasted’ and I think we took advantage of everything we could tonight,” said head coach David Lee. “The kids will be excited and they’ll remember this a long time. This sure is a statement team, there’s no doubt about that.”
Where last year’s championship was characterized by low-scoring nail-biters, this year’s repeat was anything but: a 3-0 win over Hinton opened this year’s tournament. The Comets beat Mount Vernon 7-0 in the semifinals, then beat Wayne to become just the 12th team —and first in Class 2A — in state history to win back-to-back softball titles. The last team to accomplish the feat was West Des Moines Valley in 2007-08.
“It’s amazing to do this twice in a row,” said center fielder Haddie Vawter, one of four Comets — along with Sarah McCoy, Nicole Fisher and captain Jamie Fisher — to be named to the all-tournament team. “I’m just so happy to be a part of the team I am because they’re very special people to do this two times in a row.”
If “no opportunity wasted” was the team’s theme this season, BCLUW’s week in Fort Dodge could be summed up with “lots of runs early.” Sixteen of their 19 runs came in the first or second innings, including an eight-run first frame in the title game against Wayne.
“When we’ve had the opportunity to do it, we’ve really stayed there and made sure it happened,” Lee said. “Last year in the tournament, we couldn’t get anybody on, we couldn’t create anything. This year worked to just where we had somebody on and were able to put some pressure on them.”
In the title game, Jamie Fisher reached on a dropped third strike to open the inning and Vawter reached on a bunt single. Nicole Fisher placed a bunt between pitcher Cassandra Darrah and first baseman Branygon Kunzie, scoring courtesy runner Kendall Scurr.
Krista Morris’ bunt plated a run, and McCoy’s sacrifice added another run. Kylee Button contributed an RBI single, and Jamie Fisher delivered the biggest blow, a two-out, three-run double to left-center field. Scurr, running for Fisher, scored on Wayne’s fourth error of the inning.
“It was quite a rally,” said Vawter. “We got a lot of momentum going and that carried us through the rest of the game.”
Jamie Fisher closed out her prep career in dominating style, striking out 16 over seven innings, scattering two hits and a walk.
“It just felt really good,” she said. “All of my pitches were working today.”
“She’s had better days than this, but I don’t think she’s had better days where she can refocus and come back and make the next pitch good,” Lee said. “She was good at that. That’s what makes a great pitcher.”
Seven of BCLUW’s starting nine hit .300 or better in Fort Dodge, led by Nicole Fisher’s 5-for-9 week. She scored four runs and drove in five, including a two-run home run in the first inning of the quarterfinal game against Hinton that tied her with Lori Adams atop the school’s career home run record with 29.
“Comet softball is just — it’s an honor to play for it and just so fun,” said Nicole Fisher. “I’m going to miss it a lot, miss playing with all my friends and all my teammates and Jamie. But I think we had the best five years we could’ve had.”
Her sister, Jamie, went 3-for-10 with four driven in. Vawter collected three hits and three runs, and McCoy — who will enter her sophomore year already a member of two state-championship teams — had five hits in eight trips to the plate, scoring three runs.
Jamie Fisher struck out 32 over 21 innings, allowing just seven hits in three shutout performances. Fisher, who allowed just one run in six career tournament games, was named captain of the all-tournament team for the second year in a row. She was the first pitcher since North Polk’s Sammy Snygg in 2006 to record three shutouts in a state tournament.
Lee, who called this season the most pressure-filled in his 35 years of coaching, credited his group with shedding the weight of being the state’s top-ranked, defending-champion team, a squad with targets on their backs all season.
“When you win the whole thing with everybody coming back, immediately the expectation is to do it again,” Lee said. “In sports, that’s pretty hard to do. I don’t care if you’re the Yankees or the Celtics … It’s hard to repeat because everybody plays their best against you.
“I think it’s just a real tribute to our kids to be able to stay focused in the concept that you’ve got to win this game before there’s another game,” he added. “All year long we were able to do that, probably as good or better than any team I’ve ever coached, and that led to what happened tonight for these kids.”
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