(Fort Dodge, IA) — The softball season came to an end for Exira EHK Audubon on Wednesday — Rachel Eglseder for Edgewood Colesburg threw a 2 hit shutout and the 8th seeded Vikings advanced to the 1A State Championship game with a 5-0 win.
The Spartans did not get a runner to third base in the game and only one player got to 2nd — they had just three baserunners total. The Vikings scored once in the 4th and then put the game away with 4 runs in the top of the 6th. Eglseder retired the last 8 batters she faced.
Exira EHK Audubon still finished with a 25-6 record and was one of the final four teams in Class 1A. While Taryn Petersen and Riley Miller will get post-season honors with the numbers they put up, the Spartans were a state team this season because of the depth of their starting line up. Sophomores Bryli Petersen and Lucy Stanerson both saw their batting averages jump by about 100 points; Senior Jordan Mulford raised her average by almost 150 points. Head Coach Tom Petersen says they worked at it
The Spartans will have a new outfield next season — LF Abby Wanser, CF Anna Larsen, and RF Jordan Mulford all are seniors and Petersen says they will be hard to replace
Evelyn Gomez is the 4th senior and while she did not play, Petersen is grateful for her being part of the team. There is still a lot of young talent with 8th graders Skyla Rasmussen, Aubrey Nelson, and Brenna Nelson. There’s also Sophomores Brooklyn Snider and Catcher Zoey Rasmussen. Coach Petersen says the team showed heart this year and he hopes they will be hungry next year
Maya King will join Miller and Petersen as the team’s three seniors next summer.
