FORT DODGE — ADM senior Ashley Tennant crushed a three-run home run on the 10th pitch of her at-bat in the bottom of the sixth inning to help the Tigers defeat Newton, 9-8, in their Class 4A state semifinal Wednesday.
ADM had rallied to take a 6-5 lead in the bottom of fifth before Newton scored once in the top of the sixth to knot the score.
With runners on second and third, and first base open, the Cardinals opted to pitch to Tenant, who fouled off several offerings before rocketing the 10th pitch she saw over the fence in left-center for a 9-6 lead.
The bomb was the 15th of the season for Tennant and lifted her BRI total to 50. She had driven in a run with a base hit earlier in the game.
Newton refused to fold and scored twice in the seventh to close to within a run. The Cardinals, who stranded 12 runners on base and had three runners retired on force outs at the plate, had the tieing run on second base with two outs.
Tennant had delivered the big blow in the sixth, and her arm provided the final blow in the seventh as the Newton runner — believing a low pitch had skipped away — broke for third base, only to be tagged out by Brooke Hickey on the throw from catcher Tennant.
ADM will play either Des Moines Hoover or Sergeant Bluff- Luton for the 4A championship at 5:30 p.m. Friday.
ThePerryNews.com will update this story as additional information and statistics become available.
