Storm Lake secures share of final Lakes Conference softball title
DeHaan, Richardson and Speers pushed Storm Lake past Spencer 7-5, putting the Tornadoes in line for a share of the last Lakes Conference softball crown.
Avery DeHaan’s three-run homer, Cole Richardson’s go-ahead RBI single and Olivia Speers’ two-run double carried Storm Lake past Spencer 7-5 at Tornado Field, giving the Tornadoes at least a share of the final Lakes Conference softball title.
The win left Storm Lake 7-0 in conference play and 16-5 overall, with one game still to play and a chance to clinch the championship outright. Against a Spencer team that entered the rematch 14-5, the Tornadoes had to answer pressure with timely swings instead of leaning on reputation or season-long momentum.
DeHaan set the tone early, blasting a three-run home run that helped Storm Lake build a 4-0 lead. She later finished with two earned runs allowed and 10 strikeouts, giving the Tornadoes enough pitching to survive Spencer’s push and keep control of a game that never fully settled down.
Richardson’s RBI single delivered the go-ahead run, and Speers followed with the insurance hit that turned a one-run edge into a little breathing room. In a close game between conference front-runners, that extra cushion mattered. Storm Lake did not simply protect a lead. It forced Spencer to chase the game and held on long enough to secure the result that moved the Tornadoes to the brink of the title.
The stakes reached beyond one night in Buena Vista County. The Lakes Conference was formed in 1925 and will disband at the start of the 2026-27 school year after Cherokee, Spirit Lake, Storm Lake, Spencer and Estherville-Lincoln Central were accepted into the Siouxland Conference. Storm Lake has been part of the league since 1926-27, nearly the entire run of a conference whose original members were Emmetsburg, Spencer, Spirit Lake and Estherville.
That history gave the game a sharper edge. Storm Lake’s 7-5 win over Spencer was not just another conference victory. It placed the Tornadoes inside the last chapter of a century-old league, with one more win standing between them and an outright crown before the Lakes Conference disappears.
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