The Clarion-Goldfield-Dows softball team recently completed its season winning just one game, as they tried to navigate a competitive North Central Conference. This was the Cowgirls lowest win total since 2021. The Cowgirls lone win was against Hampton-Dumont-CAL on June 27. Head Coach Jill Stanton says it wasn’t the season they expected.
“It was a little tougher this year because we went through last year and only won two games with pretty much the same girls. We only lost two seniors. We were hoping. We put so much effort in the offseason into our hitting and we did hit the ball better. We just didn’t hit it as often or put the hits together like we wanted to. Then it came down to pitching and catching, that is huge in this game,” says Stanton. “Tess was injured most of the season, that really put a strain on our team. We felt like we had to play perfect when she could pitch. That was a little extra stress. I think we created a few more errors than we possibly should have had. Again, we fell short of what we wanted to do this year and it was kind of a disappointing season.”
Junior starting pitcher Tess Wibholm, working through injury, supported her team with 56 strikeouts but was limited on the innings she was available per game. Blaire Askelsen, Kayla Hasty and Adelynn Howell were called upon to pitch and caused field positions to be switched around.
“The other three girls that pitched saw a lot more pitching than they probably would have. Even though all three are position players, you know, they came in and they did the best they could. I thought Blaire Askelsen, the last couple of games when she came into pitch, really fired some strikes and helped us stay in the game. Addie Howell, did what she could, she’s not a power pitcher. I think Addie was a definite surprise this year because she didn’t play at all last year with a knee injury. Having her at second base, we felt a little more confident in our fielding. She did a great job. Then when we asked her to pitch, even though she wasn’t the fastest pitcher, she came in and did what she could too.”
Three seniors have graduated, including Madison Ingebritson, Jordyce Duncalf and Graclyn Bremmer. The Cowgirls are projected to return 14 players next season.
