Wayne coach Heather Fortune said her top-seeded Lady Falcons watched the first day of the state softball tournament and they saw all the upsets that dotted the opening round.

So when her team fell behind to the No. 8 seed in a Class 1A quarterfinal on the Iowa Central Field at Rogers Park, she knew they wouldn’t panic.

The Lady Falcons, now 26-2, rallied from a brief 3-2 deficit in the third inning and took command on the way to a 7-4 victory over Highland that advanced them to the state semifinals tonight at 7 p.m. against No. 4 seed Riverside.

“We watched softball all day (Monday) and saw upsets all over the place. We talked for a long time about just staying in the game. It’s not over until that last pitch is thrown and the last out is made,” said Fortune. “I have some seniors that have been here before so I feel like they just played their game. They just said it’s a game now and we have to score more runs. We just continued to move on with only the things we can control and do what we can do.”

Now that the first game is under their belts, Fortunate still isn’t ready to have anyone relax.

“I hope that we stay with the same intensity. I don’t want us overconfident. We have to come into every game the same way,” said Fortune, now in her 18th season. “At the same time, getting the first one knocked out is huge. They’ve got some pretty big aspirations right now, so we’ll see.”

Wayne got huge contributions from its first three hitters. Ella Whitney scored twice and Ava Whitney scored twice and drove in two runs. Alli Jo Fortune, the coach’s daughter, also drove in two runs from the No. 3 spot.

Alli Fortune also had to battle through taking a foul ball right off the face mask while catching. She gathered herself and stayed in the game after being checked on by the onsite trainer.

“I’m just super excited,” said Allie Jo Fortune. “My team has worked very hard for this. We have overcome some things. The ball just came straight off the bat and hit me right in the forehead. I just needed a minute. There was no thought of coming out. I was staying in there.”

Wayne plated two runs in the first getting an RBI single from Allie Jo Fortune and scoring on an error.

Highland, a state champion in 2007, scored all three of its runs in the top of the third. Adley Sweeting had an RBI single to start things and Adisyn Prottsman smacked a two-run double to make it 3-2.

But Wayne came right back in the bottom of the frame, getting RBI singles from Allie Jo Fortune and Laney Harvey to make it 4-3.

The Lady Falcons added two in the fourth as Ava Whitey had an RBI double and Izzie Moore drove home a run on a sacrifice fly. They added an insurance run in the sixth with another sacrifice fly, this time from Ava Whitney.

Moore went the distance for Wayne. Highland scored a run on an error in the seventh, but Moore struck out the next three batters to end the game. She had 11 strikeouts.

Highland, now 17-10, will play Newell-Fonda in a consolation game today at 12:45. The Huskies should be a regular at state for a few years. This year’s team included just three upperclassmen and one senior. The Huskies started four eighth graders and three freshmen.

WAYNE 7, HIGHLAND 4

Highland 003 000 1 — 4 10 1

Wayne 202 201 — 7 10 1

WP–Izzie Moore (7 IP, 10 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 12 SO); LP–Jillian Stransky (6 IP, 10 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 6 SO); LOB–Highland 6, Wayne 6.

2B–H: Kamryn Fink, Adisyn Prottsman; W: Ava Whitney; SACF–W: Ava Whitney, Izzie Moore. SACB–H: Katelyn Thomann; SB–H: Ella Schlabaugh, Fink; W: Brystal Peck (2), Ella Whitney (3), Jolene Murphy.

Multiple hits–H: Fink (3), Adley Sweeting (2), Prottsman (2); W: Ava Whtiney (2), Allie Jo Fortune (2); RBI–H: Prottsman (2), Sweeting: W: Ava Whitney (2), Fortune (2), Moore, Peck, Laney Harvey.