Jefferson drops finale to Valley

FORT DODGE - Anna Gernant hit a pair of home runs, and Hailey Heinen added another as West Des Moines Valley edged Cedar Rapids Jefferson, 6-5, in the Class 5A third-place game at the state softball tournament Friday afternoon.

The J-Hawks finished 36-9. Their fourth-place finish was their best since 2008.

'We came out and hit the ball all over the place, but they just hit a few more,” said Jefferson's Kennedy Dighton, who was named to the 5A all-tournament team.

Heinen's two-run home run in the fourth gave Valley (37-7) the lead for good at 4-2.

Jefferson had nine hits, two each from Dighton and Tori Brandon.

The game marked the end for five Jefferson seniors - Alissa Good, Alyssa Olson, Hannah Towns, Brandon and Maddie Hansen.

'There's no way you can put a value to those five kids,” Coach Brian Erbe said. 'They won a lot of games the last few years and got us to three straight state tournaments. They always led by example.”

GREENE COUNTY EDGES CPU

Greene County rallied from an early 4-0 deficit, then scored a run in the bottom of the fifth inning to edge Center Point-Urbana, 7-6, in the Class 3A third-place game.

CPU finished 30-15. Afterward, Coach John Olachnovitch announced that he would not be returning next season.

'I just have too many irons in the fire,” he said. 'We're going to be going into a new conference next year (at Mount Mercy, where he is an assistant coach), and our recruiting base will be getting broader.

'It's tough, because this is a great group of girls. I hope somebody can step in and run with it.”

Olivia Brecht (a 3A all-tournament selection) and Taylor Henderson both had three hits for the Stormin' Pointers. Claire Holtz hit a home run.

Greene County finished (32-7).

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