-Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Taylor Pitlick of Williamsburg slide around Estherville Lincoln Central Jordyn Stokes during 3A semi-finals on Wednesday at Rogers Park in Fort Dodge

Perfect bunts, speed on the bases and the dominating arm of Peyton Driscoll are staples in the recent success of Williamsburg softball.

All three of those were on full display here Wednesday afternoon, as the top-ranked Raiders punched their ticket to the Class 3A state finals with a commanding 8-0 victory over Estherville-Lincoln Central.

Williamsburg (35-9 overall) will take on Davenport Assumption (34-6) Friday afternoon at Rogers Park on Kruger Seeds Field at 2:30 p.m.

“This is where we expected to be,” Driscoll said. “We came here with the goal of winning a state title. When we can get a run, I feel confident that will be enough.”

In their fourth consecutive state tournament, the Raiders had been denied a spot in the finals each of the past two seasons after placing second in 2020. Last year, they were bested by Davenport Assumption in the final four.

“We felt like with the way the bracket set up this year, we had the chance to make the finals,” said Adam C. Berte, a Twin River Valley graduate and Williamsburg head coach. “We have one more hurdle left and we know it will be a tough one.”

Williamsburg scored two runs in the first without hitting a ball out of the infield, taking advantage of a walk and two squeeze bunts that were successful. They also swiped four bases that inning before adding two more steals and another run in the second.

In the fourth, Makenna Hughes, the No. 8 hitter, connected on a solo home run and Jenna Thurm really put the game out of reach with a two-RBI single in the same inning.

“It definitely felt good (hitting the home run), but I actually prefer to just put the ball in play and steal bases,” Hughes said. “We have a team of fast girls who can all steal bases so we like to use that.”

Williamsburg broke the 3A single-game state record for steals when eighth-grader Ava Hocker swiped second in the sixth.

Estherville-LC (32-4) will face Dubuque Wahlert (32-9) for third place on Friday at 1 p.m. on Iowa Central Field. For the Midgets, Cara Schiltz reached base twice with a single and a walk.

Williamsburg 8,

Estherville-Lincoln Central 0

Estherville-LC 000 000 0 — 0 2 2

Williamsburg 210 311 x — 8 8 1

WP–Peyton Driscoll (18-3, 7 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 13 K). LP–Tatum Dunlavy (17-1, 4 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 3 K).

HR–W: Makenna Hughes. RBI–W: Jenna Thurm (3), Alley Gorsh, Peyton Driscoll, Makenna Hughes.