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State Softball

Schnell blasts Bulldogs into finals

Hollywood script writers couldn’t have penned a better finish to the first Class 2A semifinal at the state softball tournament than what transpired on the Iowa Central Field on Wednesday. Top-ranked Van Meter, winner of 37 games in a row, found itself in a dog-fight with No. 4 seed East Marshall, but the Bulldogs rallied from 2-0 and 3-1 deficits to force extra innings. Enter eighth-grader Mady Schnell, who has yet to take a high school class but will already be part of Van Meter lore after she belted a one-out home run over the center field fence for a 4-3 walk-off victory. Van ...

Geisler delivers for Southeast Warren, 3-2

An RBI-double by Natalie Geisler broke a tie and sent Southeast Warren into the Class 1A state softball semifinals with a thrilling 3-2 victory in eight innings over Wayne here Tuesday night. The Warhawks (24-2 overall) will now play Sigourney Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. on Iowa Central ...

Blue Devils stay in the chase

Top-seeded Martensdale-St. Marys began its quest to return to the Class 1A state softball championship game with an old-school tilt in the quarterfinals on the Channel Seeds Field Tuesday. The Blue Devils, who fell in last year’s championship game to North Linn, opened this year’s tournament with a 2-1 win over Edgewood-Colesburg. “We don’t try to dwell on last year too much, but we do want them to remember how it felt,” said head coach Emily Wood, who is in her third year. “We didn’t like how it felt coming home with that second-place trophy. We keep it in the back of ...

Walk-off victory for Wheelers vs. WM

Riley Miller provided the late heroics as Aububon moved into the state semifinal round on Tuesday afternoon at Rogers Park. Miller doubled home Mattie Nielsen with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, pushing the third-seeded Wheelers past No. 6 West Monona in a tense 4-3 Class 2A opener. Miller, just a freshman, was also the winning pitcher for Audubon (28-4 overall). She didn’t walk a batter and struck out six in firing a four-hitter. “I knew how fast Matte is an she had the ability to score (on the double),” Miller said. “I knew they weren’t going to get the ...

Savages advance to 1A semifinals

Carly Goodwin doesn’t need much run support. On Tuesday night with a spot in the Class 1A state softball semifinals on the line, the future University of Northern Iowa Panther helped her own cause at the plate. Goodwin, the reigning Iowa Gatorade Player of the Year, drove in the first run of the game as Sigourney knocked off previously unbeaten Remsen St. Mary’s at Rogers Park, 3-1. With the win, the Savages (24-7 overall) advance to play Southeast Warren on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. on Iowa Central Field. Making their third appearance at state in four years, Sigourney ...

GAME OF INCHES

Andi Adams compared Monday’s quarterfinal to a heavyweight prize fight. The fifth-seeded Fort Dodge softball squad and fourth-seeded Adel-ADM went five-plus scoreless innings before the first run of the game crossed the plate. In the end, the Tigers rode their ace, Lauren Hagedorn, to a ...