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When two former state champions hit the field, excitement is a guarantee.
Fourth-seed Western Dubuque (33-8 overall), which won the state title in 2021, met up with 2023 state title holder Winterset (24-14) on Monday in a Class 4A quarterfinal.
Western Dubuque jumped out early and held on for an 11-5 victory to advance to the semifinal round.
The Bobcats will now face top-rated ADM (34-4) on Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. on Channel Seeds Field.
Heading into this state tournament, these two teams had a combined 33 home runs. They combined for five more on Monday -- with three from winner Western Dubuque.
Winterset plated one in the first inning, but a four-run explosion in the bottom of the first helped the Bobcats get an early lead.
Lauren Ervolino had the first big blow, blasting a three-run homer to give the Bobcats an early 4-1 lead. Ervolino finished the contest 2-for-4 with the three RBI.
After Western Dubuque added two more in the second, Nora Lowden cut into the deficit with a solo homer. Lowden was 2-for-4 with two RBI.
The Bobcats added two in the fifth and three in the sixth. Racquel Fern and Kyla Ramler both added homers in the final two frames.
Maci Olson hit a two-run shot in the fifth inning for Winterset.
Melanie Runde was 3-for-4 with three RBI for the Bobcats. Carly Vogel, and Kyla Ramler had two hits each.
Runde drove in three runs and Ramler had two, while Lacey Hoefer had an RBI.
For Winterset, Eva Minnich had three hits. Makenna Olson and Lowden had two hits each. Maci Olson and Lowden had two hits each.
Lauren Vaske (16-3) earned the win with seven strikeouts.
Winterset will face eighth-seed Burlington (26-8) on Tuesday at 10:15 a.m. on Channel Seeds Field in an elimination matchup.
WESTERN DUBUQUE 11, WINTERSET 5
Winterset 102 002 0 -- 5 11 1
WDHS 420 023 x -- 11 12 0
WP-- Lauren Vaske (17-3, 7 IP, 11 H, 5 ER, 5 BB, 7 SO).
2B--W: Eva Minnich, Taylor Van Pelt; WD: Melanie Runde, Carly Vogel; 3B--WD: Kyla Ramler; HR--W: Nora Lowden, Maci Olson; WD: Kyla Ramler, Lauren Ervolino, Racquel Fern; SB--WD: Carly Vogel (2).
RBI--W: Maci Olson (2), Nora Lowden (2), Eva Minnich; WD: Melanie Runde (3), Lauren Ervolino (3), Kyla Ramler (2), Racquel Fern (2), Lacey Hoefer 1.