Storm Lake tops Cherokee 8-0 behind Avery DeHaan’s shutout

Avery DeHaan’s command in the circle and a clean afternoon behind her gave Storm Lake a convincing 8-0 win over Cherokee at Tornado Field, a result that does more than settle one rivalry game. The Tornadoes kept the pressure on from the first inning through the fifth, and the shutout offered another sign that Storm Lake’s pitching and defense may be rounding into form at the right time.

Storm Lake scored once in the first inning, twice in the second, twice more in the fourth and then broke it open with three runs in the fifth. That steady climb mattered as much as any single swing, because it forced Cherokee to keep answering without ever finding momentum. Storm Lake finished with seven hits, and the attack was spread through the lineup, with Zoe McCoy and Reagan DeHaan collecting two hits apiece.

McCoy supplied the biggest individual moment of the day when she hit her first career home run and drove in three runs. Reagan DeHaan added two RBIs and scored twice, while Nadya Hinojos chipped in an RBI. Olivia Speers also scored two runs, and Grace Kenkel and Avery DeHaan each added a hit as Storm Lake showed balance rather than relying on one bat to carry the offense.

DeHaan handled the rest. She allowed three hits over five innings, walked none and struck out seven, keeping Cherokee off balance throughout the game. Against a Lakes Conference rival, that kind of control is the clearest evidence yet that Storm Lake’s ceiling rises when its pitching staff is throwing strikes and the defense stays sharp behind it.

The win came four days after Storm Lake beat Cherokee 3-0 in Cherokee, when DeHaan took a no-hitter into the seventh inning before finishing with a two-hit, one-walk, six-strikeout complete game. Add in Storm Lake’s 11-2 six-inning win over Cherokee in 2025, and the recent rivalry results have leaned heavily toward the Tornadoes. A score report after Thursday’s game listed Storm Lake at 8-3, and later June updates showed the team at 11-4 overall and 5-0 in the Lakes Conference, a run that suggests this was more than a one-game burst. For Storm Lake, the shutout over Cherokee looked like a team beginning to look like a serious postseason threat.