One pitch in the bottom of the 1st inning was enough to be the difference in a regional playoff loss for the Lady Dutch softball team, who fell to No. 10 Winterset on the road 5-3 in a game heard live on 92.1 KRLS.

Pella gave up two walks to begin the game, with Winterset starting pitcher Thea Banning crushing a pitch to right center over the fence to give the Huskies a 3-0 lead after three batters. Maddie Parks settled in from there in the circle, retiring 15 of the next 16 Winterset hitters she faced, and also scored a run on a suicide squeeze in the 3rd after stealing two bases. But two more runs cost Pella in the bottom of the 6th, and despite a two-out, two-run double from Brynnlin Kroymann in the 7th, the Lady Dutch couldn’t muster the rally they needed to save the season. Head Coach Teresa Thompson says the early Winterset home run set the tone, however, she was proud of the team’s fight to keep it close throughout despite the early setback.

Parks finished with 6 strikeouts in the circle, and Kroymann batted in all three runs for the Lady Dutch. Pella finishes the season 13-19, and says farewell to five seniors.

Meanwhile, Pella’s baseball team fell to Washington in front of the home fans last night, 7-3.

On senior night, Ben Akers suffered the loss, but didn’t allow an earned run in four innings on the hill, while classmate Gabe Thomas reached base four times on a single, two walks and a hit-by-pitch.

Nick DeJong had three hits and two RBI for the Little Dutch, who fall to 9-21 on the season. They’ll return to action tomorrow night at home against Fort Madison.