—Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Charles City’s Rachel Chambers celebrates after the Comets defeat Dallas Center-Grimes during a Class 4A quarterfinal contest on Tuesday. For more photos, visit CU at messengernews.net

Charles City head coach Brian Bohlen doesn’t like to see his team playing tense.

That’s exactly what Bohlen saw early on here Tuesday in a Class 4A quarterfinal vs. No. 7 Dallas Center-Grimes.

But once the fourth-ranked Comets relaxed, things started to come together, ending with a 4-3 walk-off victory and spot in Wednesday’s semifinals vs. No. 3 North Scott at 5:30 p.m.

Sophomore Kiki Connell worked a bases loaded walk for the game-winning run, plating ninth-grader Lydia Staudt. Charles City (36-3 overall) also scored a run in the sixth to tie it at 3-all.

“We tell them all the time to put on a show for the fans and attack,” Bohlen said. “We had nothing to lose. Once we finally realized that and started to put on a show and stop thinking, that’s when we found success.”

Rachel Chambers was 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI, Connell finished with two RBI, as Lisabeth Fiser, Ashlyn Hoeft and Allie Cross had two hits each. Samantha Heyer picked up the win, striking out six with just four hits allowed.

“This team is so much fun and they bring such a great excitement to the game,” Bohlen said. “We need to do that. We can’t be too serious, because when we are, we don’t play well and play tense. When we are having fun, that’s when we are playing at our best.”

The Fillies (25-15) took a 3-1 lead after scoring twice in the second and once more in the fourth. But command issues from the pitching staff led to two changes in the seventh inside the circle. Elle Nelsen had two hits and scored twice.

CHARLES CITY 4,

DALLAS CENTER-GRIMES 3

DC-Grimes 020 100 0 — 3 4 1

Charles City 100 001 1 — 4 11 0

WP–Samantha Heyer (34-3, 7 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 6 K, 2 BB); LP–Erica Manning (8-4, 6 IP, 11 H, 4 ER, 2 K, 1 BB); 2B–DCG: Elle Nelsen; CC: Allie Cross, Rachel Chambers. RBI–DCG: Elle Nelsen, Haylee Hidlebaugh, Maria Hendricks; CC: Allie Cross, Kiki Connell, Rachel Chambers.