It was not the path they expected to take, but the Pella softball team still earned a mercy-rule win over South Tama to begin the Class 4A playoffs in a 16-4 game heard live on 92.1 KRLS Thursday.

While the Dutch started with a four-run bottom of the 1st, Pella otherwise struggled through the first three-and-a-half innings, committing four defensive errors, and at one point, allowing the tying run on base against the winless Trojans in the top of the 4th. Pella’s offense finally grabbed the reigns of the regional opener, scoring 12 tallies in the bottom of the 4th for the win.

Katie Scheckel was 3-for-3 with a home run and four runs scored to lead the Dutch at the plate. Avery Parks finished 3-for-3 at the plate, Lucy Carlson and Kiki Riggen went 2-for-2, and Riley Parks was 2-for-3. The Dutch improve to 21-11 and travel to No. 12 in 4A Bondurant-Farrar on Saturday. Coverage will air on the KRLS2 stream at KNIAKRLS.com and the free mobile app.

Pella’s No. 9 in 3A baseball team opens against a familiar foe tonight at home with Newton in a substate first round matchup. The Dutch swept the Cardinals 3-0 in the regular season and have won every matchup with the Little Hawkeye Conference team since June of 2022. Pella will hope their offense can overcome a slow finish to the calendar this week against Cardinals ace Finn Martin, who went 6 1/3 innings against the Dutch on May 29th, when he struck out seven batters on 100 pitches.

Coverage begins at 6:30 this evening on 92.1 KRLS and Pella Dutch Live.