The game goes longer; Croghan gets stronger

CENTER POINT - With the proverbial finish line in sight, a lone voice came out of the Center Point-Urbana dugout:

'Don't let up, Sam!”

She didn't. She just kept getting stronger.

Samantha Croghan retired the final 11 batters she faced, and a sixth-inning squeeze by eighth-grader Maddie Karr was the difference as sixth-rated CPU held off Independence, 1-0, in a Class 3A softball regional semifinal Friday night at the Bob Bowers Sports Complex.

Croghan, a junior, took a shot off the shin via a comebacker by Independence's Chloe Henningsen in the bottom of the fourth.

Henningsen reached base on the infield hit. She was the last Mustang to do so.

'I got hit in the leg, and that hurt,” Croghan said. 'I wanted to finish the game. I didn't want to come out.”

She finished, all right. She finished with a flourish.

CPU (28-9) will play No. 12 Mount Vernon (29-9) in a regional final at 7 p.m. Monday at Cedar Rapids Jefferson. The winner advances to the state tournament July 21-25 at the Rogers Sports Complex, Fort Dodge.

Mount Vernon edged Anamosa, 1-0, Friday.

Independence's Steph McMillan matched Croghan pitch for pitch. The difference in the game, ultimately, was the short game.

Indee (13-26) was 1 of 6 in sacrifice attempts early in the game. The Mustangs stranded six runners in the first four innings, then didn't get a baserunner against Croghan the rest of the way.

'I thought bunting would be the key, and it was,” said Mustangs Coach Ed Roalf. 'We didn't get it down, and that was the difference in the game.”

The Stormin' Pointers finally broke through in the sixth.

Back-to-back hits by Claire Chandler and Elizabeth Hearn opened the door with one out, and - with runners at second and third - Karr laid down the tie-breaking squeeze. Chandler beat the throw home with room to spare.

Karr is one of numerous youngsters on the CPU roster. Of the starting 10, Croghan and Hearn are juniors; the rest are eighth- and ninth-graders.

CPU swept the Mustangs 7-1 and 7-1 in their regular-season double-header. CPU Coach John Olachnovitch had an inkling it would be different Friday.

'It's tournament time, that's why,” he said.

Hearn had two of CPU's five hits.

Independence started the season 0-13, then played .500 ball the rest of the way.

'You've got to give them a lot of credit,” Olachnovitch said. 'They became a pretty decent team by the end of the year.”

CENTER POINT-URBANA 1, INDEPENDENCE 0 (Class 3A Regional Semifinal)

Center Point-Urbana 000 001 0 - 1 5 0

Independence 000 000 0 - 0 5 2

Samantha Croghan and Elizabeth Hearn. Steph McMillan and Kelsey Ratchford. W - Croghan (15-7). L - McMillan (7-14).

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@sourcemedia.net