Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: Molly Breeding of Winterset pitches on Monday against Carlisle at Rogers Park. For more photos, please visit CU.messengernews.net

After a magical season that ended as Class 4A state champions, many wondered if Winterset would have enough to make it back to Rogers Park.

Well, the Huskies showed why they are one of the premier programs in Iowa, blasting No. 2 Carlisle and advancing to the semifinals here Monday, 11-5.

A first inning home run by Brynn Acton started things off, as Winterset (26-12 overall) followed with a three-run second to quickly make it 5-0. The Huskies will face Fort Dodge (32-9) on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. on Iowa Central Field.

“It feels great,” said Winterset pitcher Molly Breeding, who also had three of the 20 hits her team recorded. “Back in 2021 (when they won it all) we were a seven-seed, so we came here with that kind of mindset that we’ve done this before.”

Jena Young, the 2023 Iowa Gatorade Player of the Year and future University of Iowa Hawkeye, made her season debut. Young suffered a knee injury and did not attempt an at-bat until this week, going 2-for-5 with a run and an RBI.

Acton was 4-for-5 with three RBI and a run scored, while Avary Darlin, Makenna Olson and Ashlyn Devine each had two RBI. Acton, Darling, Young, Olson and Devine were a combined 13-for-23.

Winterset has now won nine of its last 10 games at state, having claimed titles in 2022 and 2020 to go along with a third in 2021.

That was plenty of support for Breeding, as the junior went five-plus, allowing eight hits with four earned runs and six strikeouts. She noted during the season, Carlisle scored two wins over Winterset by scores of 6-1 and 8-6.

“It’s so hard to beat the same team three times,” Breeding said. “We knew that they could hit and we just had to keep scoring runs.”

Carlisle (30-7) gets Adel-ADM (24-13) on Tuesday at 1 p.m. on Dodger Field in a consolation game. Since 2007, the Wildcats have only missed state once in 2015, finishing fourth last season.

WINTERSET 11, CARLISLE 5

Winterset 230 132 0 — 11 20 0

Carlisle 002 012 0 — 5 10 1

WP–Molly Breeding (16-5, 5.2 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 6 K). LP–Addesyn Abel (18-6, 2.2 IP, 10 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 2 K).

HR–W: Bynn Acton. RBI–W: Avary Darlin (2), Makenna Olson (2), Jena Young, Brynn Acton (3), Neela Applegate, Ashlynn Devine (2); C: Laney Schick, Riley Sievers, Caylin Furnal (2). SB–C: Abby Barry.