Boys soccer
No. 2 DM Hoover 2, No. 12 Pella 1
DES MOINES — The Pella boys were seeking another trip to state after their runner-up finish last year while Des Moines Hoover was eyeing their first state tournament berth since 2008.
It didn’t take long for the Dutch to strike against the highly-touted Huskies as a corner kick from Teddy Apostolopoulos was headed in by Logan Solomon in the third minute of the game to put Pella in front 1-0. Both sides a couple more chances in the first half but Pella would hold their 1-0 lead at the break.
Hoover would hold possession for most of the second half and kept looking to use their speed with long balls behind Pella’s back line. The Dutch continued to be tested and Hoover would finally strike for the tying goal int he 61st minute with a low shot beating the keeper to tie things up at 1-1. Just a few minutes later, a perfectly placed free kick by Hoover’s captain would float into the far corner of the net and all of a sudden it was 2-1 in favor of the Huskies.
Pella would try to get some offense going over the final minutes but couldn’t find the equalizer as Hoover would hold on for the 2-1 win to advance to state for the first time in 15 years.
“We were proud to have all of our seniors in the game in the final minutes of play,” Pella head coach Mark Solomon said. “We grieve together that our season is over, and that this is the final run for our seniors, but we're proud of the quality of soccer we played this season.”
Pella finishes the season with a 9-8 record with seven of those losses coming by one goal. They will also say farewell to five seniors.
West Branch 2, No. 14 Pella Christian 1 (OT)
PELLA — Pella Christian was host of a substate final showdown between the Eagles and West Branch on Wednesday.
Both teams found the back of the net once in the first half and that score would hold through regulation with the game being sent to overtime. But with penalty kicks looming, West Branch would score the winning goal late in overtime to seal their spot at state.
Theo Hugen scored the lone goal for PC while Kaleb Pogany had a big night in net with 11 saves for the Eagles.
Pella Christian ends their season with a 7-9 record and will graduate six seniors.
Softball
Pella Christian 9, Pleasantville 0
PELLA — The Eagles picked up win number one of the season with a 9-0 shutout win over Pleasantville on Wednesday.
Brynn Roozeboom was 2-for-3 with one home run and three RBIs while Faith Kacmarynski ended up 2-for-3 with one double and three RBIs. Emma Eekhoff was 3-for-4 with a double and one RBI while Maddy Van Zee and Amaia Agre both drove in one run.
Eekhoff got the win after pitching seven scoreless innings and allowing four hits and one walk with 11 strikeouts.
Pella Christian (1-1) finishes out their three-game homestand on Friday at 7 p.m. with a game against Des Moines Christian (0-1).
Baseball
Pella Christian 9, Pleasantville 3
PELLA — Pella Christian added another win on Wednesday in a game that featured 18 walks and 10 hit batsmen.
It was 2-2 after the first but PC would score seven of the next eight runs over the course of the game to gain the victory.
Corbin Westerkamp reached all five times going 1-for-1 with a double to go with two walks and two hit-by-pitches. Lincoln Vander Molen, Luke Fynaardt and Johnson Morgan all had two RBIs while Trevor Veenstra and Connor Van Zee both drove in one run.
Grant Kelderman pitched to the win after going four innings and allowing two runs on one hit with seven walks and eight strikeouts.
Pella Christian (3-2, 0-1 LHC) returns home to host Des Moines Christian (2-2) on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
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