Center Point-Urbana denies Mount Vernon in regional final

MOUNT VERNON — No. 13 Center Point-Urbana is heading to Fort Dodge after upsetting No. 3 Mount Vernon, 6-4, in a Class 3A regional final on Tuesday, July 15, at Van Metre Family Field.

And the state patrol might want to keep an eye out, because the Stormin’ Pointers don’t slow down for much.

“We just ingrain it in our girls,” CPU Coach Kendra Wolff said. “They’ve got to take off and they’ve got to be aggressive. We’re going to make the other team make plays.”

CPU (25-12) put the pressure on early and often against Mount Vernon (27-12). Sophomore Grace Estling led off the game with a lazy fly ball to the outfield that dropped between three Mustang defenders.

She ended up on third base, turning a single into a triple.

“I mean, I ran to first and saw they didn’t have it, so I just kept going,” Estling said. “It was definitely big for our team to get us going.”

Junior Ella Simon brought her home on a Mount Vernon error, then scored when Tara Crowley hit a two-out infield single.

It was 2-0. And CPU — which eliminated the Mustangs in regional play a year ago, 3-0, and split a Wamac doubleheader on June 9 — felt pretty good.

“We knew that they were a good team, but we are also a good team,” Estling said. “We beat them in the regular season, so we knew we could do it now.”

CPU added two more runs in the second inning, with Simon hitting a two-run single, and one more in the third, when Crowley doubled and came home on a single by Brynley Havel.

The Mustangs used five walks and a hit batter to plate four runs in the bottom of the third inning.

In the middle of it, with the bases loaded, Wolff elected to walk Mount Vernon No. 3 hitter Hayden Gookin.

“I told the girls the numbers say to walk her, are you OK with this?” Wolff said. “We had to make it interesting.”

Wolff also switched pitchers during the inning, going from Mya Hillers to Simon. Simon came in with the bases still loaded and no outs. She induced a ground out at home, got a strikeout and then a fly ball to right field to end the threat. It was 5-4.

“I told our girls the game is going to be a roller coaster,” Wolff said. “When we have a bad inning, we can’t live down there. Ride the highs, and that’s what we did.”

The Stormin’ Pointers added an insurance run in the fourth on an RBI ground out by Simon after Kyra White doubled to start the inning.

Monday was a battle for Gookin, who came into the game with a 0.91 ERA and 0.75 WHIP. She gave up nine hits — mostly dinks and dunks — and three walks, but struck out 12.

The Mustangs only had two hits over the final four innings.

“We couldn’t quite put it together,” Mount Vernon senior Libby Dix said. “This team believed in itself, but just fell short.”

A trip to state could’ve put an exclamation point on a big year for the Mustang girls. They won state titles in volleyball and basketball, were runners-up in wrestling and track, and third in cross country.

“They did their best, but that doesn’t mean the ball is going to bounce their way,” Mount Vernon Coach Robin Brand said. “But gosh darn it, I couldn’t be more proud of this team.”

CPU qualified for the fifth time in school history, and the first time since 2017. The Stormin’ Pointers were given the eighth seed and open against top-seed Dubuque Wahlert (34-7) at 7 p.m. Monday, July 21, in Fort Dodge.

CPU 221 100 0 — 6 9 0

Mount Vernon 004 000 0 — 4 5 1

Mya Hillers, Ella Simon (3) and Gracie Hoskins; Hayden Gookin and Brynlee Bettcher. W — Simon (12-5). L — Gookin (21-5). 2B — Tara Crowley (CPU), Kyra White (CPU), Sophia Patten (MV). 3B. — Grace Estling (CPU).