Not this time: Wolves get revenge on Mustangs, advance to regional championship game

CAMP POINT, Ill. — It was deja vu for the Pleasant Hill softball team ahead of their Class 1A Camp Point Regional semifinal game against Mendon Unity on Wednesday.

The Wolves’ 2022 season ended in a 13-inning loss to Unity in the regional semifinals in Camp Point when Pleasant Hill was the No. 1 seed and Ava Wombles was the starting pitcher.

Wombles had a restless night ahead of the rematch.

“I was having nightmares about it,” Wombles said.

She had nothing to fear as her three-run home run during an eight-run second inning catapulted the Wolves to a 12-2 victory.

“I wanted to have a chip on my shoulder,” Wombles said. “We didn’t even think about the fact that they have only won three games. We treated them like they were the higher seed, honestly.”

Wombles’ three-run shot to left field gave the Wolves a 4-0 lead, and the smile on her face while she rounded the bases said everything.

“I was a lot more relaxed after that,” Wombles said. 

Pleasant Hill senior outfielder Jade Peebles felt the same way as the Wolves’ lead grew.

“We had that weight off our shoulders,” Peebles said.

Following Wombles’ home run, Mustangs pitcher Addison Spilker walked Peebles and Kaitlyn Borrowman before McKinley Lowe’s two-run double extended the Wolves’ lead to 6-0. An Emma Henderson two-run single two batters later and a Kali VanStrien sacrifice fly accounted for the other three runs in the inning.

While the Wolves seemed relaxed at that point, coach Ryan Lowe said this wasn’t the case before the team made the hour-long trip from Pleasant Hill.

“They were pretty uptight all day,” Lowe said.

Some tunes on the bus ride helped calm those nerves.

“We tried to keep them loose with some music,” Ryan Lowe said. “We were pretty lively on the way here. That’s fine and dandy in my book. I’d rather them be loose and having fun than be all uptight.”

Even though the loss two two years ago weighed heavily on Peebles and others who played in that game, she said the Wolves used it as fuel to not let it happen again.

“We went back to that game like we don’t ever want to be in those shoes again, we don’t want that taken away from us again,” Peebles said. “It was some extra motivation for sure.”

Unity scratched across runs on an Abby Pilkington sac fly in the fourth and a Sofia Shaffer double in the fifth. The Mustangs (3-16) had four hits in those two innings after only having one baserunner in the first three innings.

Unity coach Dan Arnsman said the offensive progression was symbolic of his team’s trends at the plate throughout the season.

“Late in the season, our bats started coming around,” he said. “When you give up those crooked innings, it makes it difficult to come back, but I was pleased with the at-bats we put together and that we were able to get some runs across.”

With the victory, the Pleasant Hill senior class has the chance to accomplish something no class has ever done in a girls sport — win three regional championships. The Wolves sandwiched the 2022 loss between regional titles in 2021 and 2023.

“Being in the regional championship is huge,” Lowe said. “We don’t see a whole lot of regional championships. It’s pretty special.”

Pleasant Hill will take on Camp Point Central at 10 a.m. Saturday.