Carlisle uses small ball to defeat Fort Dodge
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Fort Dodge is down, but not out.
The third-seeded Dodgers were backed into a corner by an 8-3 loss to No. 2 seed Carlisle on Tuesday evening at Rogers Park. Head coach Andi Adams' squad now must go on a run to remember starting Wednesday morning against North Polk at 10:15 a.m., as Fort Dodge (39-5 overall) could play as many as three games in a 12-hour window to potentially reach the Class 4A championship round.
"We've got a quick turnaround and I'm confident we'll respond," Adams said. "We've got a long road ahead, but I'm not going to count our kids out. They've shown toughness and resilience all year long.
"It won't be easy, but that's the opportunity in front of us with the new (double elimination) format. We have to try and make the most of our second chance now."
The Wildcats (35-5) were impressive in taking a 4-0 lead on Channel Seeds Field thanks in large part to the vintage small-ball tactics of the Jim Flaws system. The lead-off batter reached base and scored for Carlisle in each of the first three innings.
"That's their program for you," Adams said. "It's (predicated on) getting runners on base so that they can put the pressure on with their bunting and run game (they had four sacrifice bunts and four stolen bases yesterday). They were able to do that against us, which really makes the margin for error slim in your execution.
"Have to give them credit. They beat us. They're motivated and kind of on a mission to erase the memory of (2025) and get back on top. But if we get to face them again, I know we'll give our all."
The Wildcats won the state championship two years ago, but were upset in the regional round and missed state last season. Now, with 10 players still on the roster from that title group, there's certainly a measure of unfinished business on Carlisle's mind.
"We have a lot of players who have been through this - both the highs of winning and the lows of (not making it and the motivation that follows)," said Flaws, who has six state championships to his credit. "So many of them were here two years ago (and three were regulars on the school's 4A basketball championship squad this past winter). I'm just very proud of them.
"Fort Dodge is a really, really good team. We knew facing them on their home field was going to be a tremendous challenge. Even as the two seed, we felt like an underdog."
The Dodgers didn't go away quietly. They slowly chipped away at the four-run deficit, plating their first run in the fourth on an Ellie Doster double and a Macy Wills RBI single.
Hope Alstott drilled an RBI triple with two outs in the fifth to score Emersyn Lara, who had singled. The momentum continued to build into the sixth, when Doster led off with a single and courtesy runner Brooklyn Gilliland raced home on a hit by Grace Nichols.
A Wills single put runners at first and second with no one out. That chased Carlisle ace Mallie Stoner (21-4) - an Iowa State University recruit.
Freshman Estella Bowman calmly ended the threat without any further damage, though, as a caught stealing, strikeout and groundout to second ended the frame with the Wildcats still in front.
Carlisle then opened the floodgates with four insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth, capped by a two-run double from No. 9 batter Rosemary Hemsted.
Alstott was on base three times for the Dodgers, and both Doster and Wills were 2-for-3.
Eight different Wildcats scored runs, and seven collected hits. They also stole four bases.
"We don't want this season to end," Adams said. "It's been such a fun group to be around; they're great kids who do the best they can. So hopefully we have some more left in the tank for (Wednesday).
"It will be tough, but nothing is impossible."
North Polk is the No. 7 seed and has a 21-17 record. The Comets eliminated Clear Creek-Amana on Tuesday.
The winner will square off with Carlisle at 2:45 p.m., back on Diamond 1. If the Wildcats prevail, they're in the finals. If either the Dodgers or Comets knock off Carlisle, there will be a rematch at 7:15 p.m. to decide the bottom of the bracket's championship qualifier.
Top-seeded Adel-ADM is joined by Western Dubuque and Burlington on the other side of the 4A bracket. The championship contest is slated for 7:30 p.m. Thursday on Channel Seeds Field.
CARLISLE 8, FORT DODGE 3
Fort Dodge 000 111 0 - 3 9 2
Carlisle 211 004 x - 8 8 2
WP-Mallie Stoner (5 IP, 9 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 3 K); SV-Estella Bowman (2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K); LP-Aubrey Alstott (5.1, 8 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 1 BB, 3 K). 2B-FD: Ellie Doster; C: Rosemary Hemstead. 3B-FD: Hope Alstott; C: Anyah Oatts. S-C: Mira Heidemann, Ella Smith, Claire Benson, Anyah Oatts. SB-FD: Macy Wills; C: Chloe Rolling, Akyvia Freeman, Estella Bowman, Anyah Oatts.