Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: The St. Edmond softball team celebrates after beating Wapsie Valley 11-1 in a Class 1A quarterfinal at Rogers Park on Tuesday. For more photos, please visit CU.messengernews.net

Statement made.

If there was any lingering doubt about the St. Edmond softball team being a top contender for the Class 1A state championship, that hesitation was erased here Tuesday night.

Mariah Myers hit a crushing three-run homer in the seventh inning to cap off an 11-2 victory for the Gaels over Wapsie Valley in the quarterfinals at Rogers Park.

Up next for St. Edmond (25-10 overall) will be Clarksville (29-4) on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. back here on Iowa Central Field. This is the second consecutive season the homestanding Gaels have advanced to the final four, as they are in pursuit of the first girls’ state title in program history.

Myers had a double and the homer in her two official at-bats, as the Warriors (29-5) walked her three other times. She drove in three while Faith Shirbroun, Lauren Gibb and Toryn Helle all had three hits each.

“I was just excited,” Myers said. “(Head coach) Bill (Shirbroun) said if it’s anything close, swing at it, so that’s what I did.”

Gibb has spent the better part of the past two seasons batting directly behind Myers, as teams have walked her over and over again. The future Iowa Central player has embraced the challenge.

“Personally, I love it,” Gibb said. “It is fuel to my fire. When they walk (Myers) I just say let’s see what happens and go out there.”

The Gaels are at state for the third consecutive season, a first for the program.

“I feel like the pressure has been on us for so long that now we are just used to it,” Faith Shirbroun said. “I was kind of nervous seeing everything pregame, but it’s just softball so we had to just go out and play like we know we can.”

That would be more than enough run support for Helle, as the freshman delivered an eight-hitter with six strikeouts and no walks. She was able to recover after taking a pitch directly off the helmet in her first at-bat.

Helle sat down seven in a row after allowing three hits to the first four batters, and had a stretch of retiring 15 of 17.

“My head still hurts a little, but winning definitely helps,” Helle said. “When they scored that ealry run I got nervous, but I had my team and all the fans to cheer me on and tell me to just keep throwing strikes.”

St. Edmond’s defense was as sound as ever behind Helle, as Mariah Myers turned several slick plays with her powerful arm from shortstop while Rihanna Myers was perfect at second.

“That was an incredible performance from every single player,” Coach Shirbroun said. “Our defense was incredible all night. Faith made great plays, Mariah made great plays, Rihanna made great plays. Toryn pitched a great game and our lineup came through when we needed it.

“I’m just so proud and happy for these girls that they were able to showcase this on a big stage like state in front of a tremendous crowd of supporters.”

For Wapsie Valley, they will now play Mason City Newman in a consolation contest Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. on Yankee Field. The Warriors are at state for the first time in nearly 50 years.

Peyton Curley, Sawyer Buhr and Espyn Decker all had two hits for Wapsie Valley.

ST. EDMOND 11, WAPSIE VALLEY 2

St. Edmond 002 212 4 – 11 13 0

Wapsie Valley 100 000 1 – 2 8 2

WP–Toryn Helle (7 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 6 K, 0 BB). LP–Taylor Buhr (6 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 2 K, 5 BB).

HR–SE: Mariah Myers. 2B–SE: Toryn Helle, Mariah Myers, Faith Shirbroun; WV: Taylor Buhr, Sawyer Buhr. RBI–SE: Faith Shirbroun, Mariah Myers (3), Lauren Gibb (2), Toryn Helle (2), Hadley Oswald; WV: Peyton Curley, Taylor Buhr. SB–SE: Lauren Gibb, Faith Shirbroun, Jade Rock, Rihanna Myers (2); WV: Espyn Decker, Peyton Curley, Jaylin May.