The Indianola softball team finished on the wrong side of just a couple of big plays in the regional final at WDM Valley Tuesday evening, falling just a game short of the state tournament 3-1 in a game heard live on 94.3 KNIA.

The Indians started off the game with an excellent opportunity to score, with leadoff hitter Alley May hitting a double that struck the top of the fence and bounced back into the field of play for a double, followed by an intentional walk to Destiny Lewis, but couldn’t score a run to take the lead. The Tigers answered with a run in the bottom half of the inning to take a 1-0 lead.

Lewis hit a deep fly ball over the fence in the third inning down the third baseline that would have tied the score, with two of the three umpires signaling home run, however it was ultimately called a foul ball and the Indians couldn’t take advantage of more runners on base, with the Tigers eventually getting an insurance run in the bottom of the fourth for a 2-0 lead. Lewis eventually found paydirt for the Indians lone run in the contest with a no-doubt solo shot to left center in the sixth to cut the lead in half, but the Tigers again answered with a home run of their own, and the Indians went down in order to end the contest and the season.

Head coach Stacy Evans tells KNIA Sports it was not a large senior class that is lost to graduation, but they went through a lot and will be better for overcoming all the obstacles.

“I want to pass those seniors on to the next piece of their life, and I want them to remember what they took away from this season. There were a lot of ups and downs, and a lot of things we had to overcome. This loss will not define them, and they will go on to do great things, some of them will continue to play softball. The postgame huddle was hard, there was a lot of loss in their eyes and something they will remember, but it won’t define them.”

The Indians end their season with a record of 14-6, and graduate three seniors.