FM girls get first conference title in 12 years

Lady Hounds sweep Keokuk to earn at least a share of Southeast Conference crown

BY JOHN BOHNENKAMP
PCC SPORTS

FORT MADISON - Logan Johnson got her conference championship.
Johnson, the only senior on Fort Madison’s roster, got to celebrate two wins and the Southeast Conference title on Monday night, when the Bloodhounds swept Keokuk 4-3 and 13-1 on Senior Night at Hoskins Field.
It’s the first conference championship for Fort Madison (19-11, 16-2) since 2010.
“That’s crazy,” Johnson said. “I always thought we would (win a conference championship) while I was in high school. So it’s achieving a goal.”
“Oh, it’s huge. Go look at that thing up there,” Fort Madison coach Jared Rehm said, pointing to the sign hanging from the press box commemorating all of the conference championships for the program.”
Rehm pointed out that most of the players were four or five years old when the Bloodhounds last won the championship.
“So … huge,” he said.
Clinching wasn’t easy, though. The first game went extra innings as the Chiefs (7-20, 4-13) tied the game at 2 with a run in the seventh inning, and took the lead with a run in the eighth.
Johnson started Fort Madison’s rally in the bottom of the inning with a double. She scored the tying run on Erika Kruse’s double. Lauryn Helmick’s two-out single with the bases loaded scored Jaycee Fullenkamp with the winning run.
The Bloodhounds needed nine innings to defeat the Chiefs, 8-7, in the first game of a June 9 doubleheader, then won 16-1 in the second game.
“This was a lot like that — we beat them in extra innings in the first game and run-ruled them in the second,” Johnson said. “I knew we could pull it off. We just had to get the bats going.”
They kept going in the second game.
Fort Madison scored two runs in the first inning. Lexi Whaley’s single scored Fullenkamp with the first run, then Whaley scored on Helmick’s single.
Taylor Johnson hit a solo home run in the second inning for a 3-1 lead. Helmick had an RBI double and scored on McKenna Cashman’s single in the third inning for a 5-1 lead.
The Bloodhounds put the game away with an eight-run fourth inning. Emily Steffensmeier had an RBI double, Kruse hit a two-run home run, and Elle Ruble drove in a run with a double as the Bloodhounds kept the traffic going on the bases.
Logan Johnson’s single scored Ruble with the clinching run.
Johnson admitted it was an emotional night.
“It’s really sad,” she said after helping take in some of the equipment from the game. 
Then Johnson smiled.
“I just got to take third base out for the last time,” she said with a laugh. “It means a lot to be able to win on Senior Night. It’s great I got to leave on a (win).”
Johnson, who will be attending Princeton in the fall, is appreciating her final games with the Bloodhounds.
“I’m just trying to have fun, enjoy my time with the girls,” she said. “I’m going to miss them a lot next year.”
There’s another sign on the press box Johnson would like to see updated — the one with the list of Fort Madison’s state tournament appearances.
“And I want to get to state,” she said. “I want to at least make it to the state tournament.”