Prep Softball- The 2024 softball season is a little over a week away from being done after Classes 3A, 4A, 5A and a couple of postponed games from Monday night in Classes 1A and 2A had their regional championships last night. Here’s a look at the first-round matchups.

The state tournament for all classes will be at Harlan Rogers Sports Complex in Fort Dodge.

Class 1A

Class 1A is set to start on Tuesday, July 23^rd.

Martensdale-St Marys grabbed the #1 seed with a 28-6 record and the Blue Devils will face off against #8 Edgewood-Colesburg at 4:45 pm. Both teams have dominated their way through postseason play with the Blue Devils having not allowed a run in three games.

The Vikings have their own claim to fame after knocking the defending Class 1A state champions North Linn out in the region 7 championship game, 7-2.

Key Players to Watch: Claire Aulwes with 33 RBIs and a batting average of 0.447 (Edgewood-Colesburg) and Campbell German with a 1.33 ERA, 202 strikeouts, and a record of 16-5 in the circle (Martensdale-St Marys).

St. Edmond grabbed the #4 seed and will be the home team against #5 Collins-Maxwell with first pitch scheduled for 5:15 pm. The Gaels skated past Saint Ansgar 4-2, while the Spartans limited Earlham to one run in a 4-1 final.

Key Players to Watch: Erica Houge with a 27-3 record, sporting an ERA of 0.19 with 364 strikeouts (Collins-Maxwell) and Mariah Myers with 14 home runs with a batting average of 0.627 (St. Edmond).

On the bottom half of the bracket, #2 Wayne is set to take on #7 Southeast Warren at 7 pm. The Warhawks have only lost two games this year, but one of those losses was to Wayne, 4-1 in early June. Add in a 3-2 walk off win to get into the tournament and most see Southeast Warren being a major underdog.

The Falcons have outscored their postseason opponents 30 to 1 and hold an overall record of 27-8 against the Warhawks since 2007, but 5-5 in their last 10 contests.

Players to Watch: Jaycee Neer with 9 home runs and 39 RBIs (Southeast Warren) and Izzie Moore with 18 home runs and an ERA of 1.09 with 253 strikeouts, nabbing a record of 22-4.

Lastly, #3 Remsen St. Mary’s will square off against #6 Sigourney at 7:30 pm to round out Tuesday’s action. The Hawks have yet to lose, while Sigourney needed 11 innings to win against Wapello in the region 8 championship.

Both pitching staffs are elite, but the Hawks hold the advantage on offense averaging three more runs of offensive production.

Players to Watch: Marina Cronin (Remsen St. Mary’s) with a 15-0 record, 127 strikeouts, and an ERA of 0.90 and Carly Goodwin with an average of 0.495 including 39 RBIs, while notching 331 strikeouts and an ERA of 0.33.

Class 2A

It’s not much of a surprise that 40-1 Van Meter—a 37 game winning streak with 20 shutouts—grabbed the #1 seed with #8 West Fork facing the tough challenge on Tuesday at 12:15 pm. The Warhawks had to battle to get to this spot with a 6-5 win over Grundy Center, leading to a 3-0 shutout of Hudson.

The Bulldogs lost to Regina Catholic in the championship game last year, so with that lingering memory this team is dangerous.

Players to Watch: Libby Trewin: a 1.36 ERA with 252 strikeouts as the one and only pitcher on West Fork and Maddie Waldorf for batting 0.527 with 9 home runs and 56 RBIs while going 26-1 in the circle with a 0.73 ERA with 269 strikeouts for the Bulldogs.

In what should be the closest matchup of the opening round, #4 East Marshall will take on #5 Lisbon at 12:45 pm. It’s been a decade since these two have faced off against one another with East Marshall claiming that game 8-3.

Lisbon had a close matchup against Osage, winning 4-2, while the Mustangs dominated Ogden 11-1 for their regional champion games.

Players to Watch: Addi Petersen, the senior for Lisbon, is batting 0.361 with 7 home runs and 27 RBIs, while Morgan Neuroth for East Marshall is the ace with 271 strikeouts and an ERA of 1.44, helping her get to 26 wins on the season.

#2 Northeast will face off against #7 Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont at 2:30 pm. The Rockets are, arguably, the most interesting team to make the tournament. After going winless against Cardinal throughout the season, they knocked them out in the semis 4-0.

Then they pulled off the comeback against Pleasantville 3-2 in the regional championship. This team is hot, going 10-1 in their last 11 games, this could be an upset. Northeast is no slouch though with 12 wins by double digits.

Players to Watch: Megan Lobberecht with 7 home runs and 42 RBIs for Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont and Madison Kluever with a 0.398 batting average and 11 homers for Northeast along with a team ERA of 1.74.

At 3 pm #3 Audubon will take on #6 West Monona to end out the first round of Class 2A play. The Wheelers fought tooth and nail to get here, beating MVAOCOU 1-0, while the Spartans cruised to a 13-0 victory against MMCRU.

Players to Watch: Kacy Miller for West Monona with a 0.527 average going along with 7 home runs and 41 RBIs, while Riley Miller and Alexis Obermeier tout sub-1.25 ERAs for Audubon as Miller has thrown 237 strikeouts to go along with a 0.72 WHIP.

Class 3A

The bracket will be split in half with the top half of the bracket playing Monday night and the bottom half competing Tuesday morning.

#2 Williamsburg, the defending champions, will go against #7 PCM at 7 pm with the Raiders trying to right a wrong from 2013 as PCM won their last matchup 13-3. Williamsburg has been playing everyone close in their last four games with their largest win having a run differential of just four runs.

The Mustangs have only four losses on the season and dominating postseason play, outscoring their opponents 24 to 3.

Players to Watch: Libby Winters has been impressive for an 8^th grader, batting 0.384 with 32 RBIs for PCM, while Jersey Metz has 21 wins on the season with a 2.62 ERA for Williamsburg.

For the final game of Monday night, #3 Wahlert Catholic will square off against #6 Sumner-Fredericksburg at 7:30 pm.

The Golden Eagles have turned it up a notch for the postseason with wins of 11-0, 10-0, and 15-5 over Independence to earn a ticket to the tournament. The Cougars had a four-game streak of winning games by at least 10 runs before beating West Marshall 3-1 to get here.

Players to Watch: Jamie Jones for Sumner-Fredericksburg with a 0.475 average, 17 doubles and 68 RBIs, while Julia Roth for Wahlert Catholic has 12 home runs and 43 RBIs with a 0.786 slugging percentage.

On Tuesday morning, #1 Benton will compete against #8 Solon. The Spartans are unique as the only team in any class with a losing record of 18-24. However, they have defeated Benton this season 8-1.

Solon snuck past Center Point-Urbana 4-3, while Benton crushed Eagle Grove 10-0 to win their regional championships.

Players to Watch: Addie Miller with Solon has 6 home runs and 34 RBIs with a 0.402 batting average, while Ana Glawe has smashed 13 home runs on the season for the Bobcats with 62 RBIs and a 0.469 batting average.

Lastly, #4 Assumption will take on #5 Estherville Lincoln Central. The Knights defeated two Southeast Iowa Super Conference teams that saw time in the top 15 this season by the same score of 6-3. Estherville Lincoln Central has allowed one run in their postseason run.

Players to Watch: The entire offense of Estherville Lincoln Central as Cara Schiltz, Jasey Anderson, Tatum Dunlavy, Haylee Stokes, and Rylee Yager are all batting over 0.400 and combine for 18 home runs and 140 RBIs, while Molly roe has an ERA of 1.72 with 193 strikeouts for Assumption.

Class 4A

Class 4A will be the Monday matinees with #2 Dallas Center-Grimes going against #7 Carlisle at 2:30 pm. Despite the difference of seeding, Carlisle has won the past five matchups of this series, including a 3-2 win over the Mustangs in early July 3-2.

Players to Watch: Addesyn Abel has a 1.67 ERA with 144 strikeouts for the Wildcats and Addie Abens is hitting 0.448 with 7 home runs and 26 RBIs for the Mustangs.

At 3 pm, #3 Norwalk will take on #6 North Scott. Both teams shut out their opponents in the regional championship, with Norwalk defeating Pella 4-0 and North Scott beating Burlington 5-0.

These two met in the semifinals last season with the Lady Lancers winning 6-4.

Players to Watch: Adalynn Johnson of North Scott has some power with 11 home runs and 34 RBIs with a 0.375 average, and Lauren Black of Norwalk matches it with 11 home runs, 43 RBIs, and a batting average of 0.380.

#1 North Polk will take on #8 Western Dubuque at 4:45 pm. The two have met at the state tournament twice before with the two splitting the contests.

Players to Watch: Kiya Steger is the main pitcher for Western Dubuque with a 1.47 ERA and 121 strikeouts in her 15 wins, while Ava Husak touts a 0.94 ERA and 342 strikeouts for North Polk.

To round out the first-round matchups, #4 ADM will compete against #5 Fort Dodge at 5:15 pm. Fort Dodge is 5-0 over ADM, including an 8-3 win in last year’s state matchup.

ADM gets the claim of defeating last year’s champion, Winterset, 6-0 in the regional championship, while Fort Dodge suffered a three-game losing streak before outscoring their two postseason opponents 22 to 4.

Players to Watch: Meah McCaleb of Fort Dodge has 5 triples, 2 home runs, 21 RBIs, and a batting average of 0.412, while Lauren Hagedorn sports a 1.00 ERA with 232 strikeouts in her 175.1 innings of work.

Class 5A

Kicking off all the action will be Class 5A and more specifically #1 Valley versus #8 Prairie at 10 am. Valley sprinted through the postseason with wins of 14-2 and 12-0, while Prairie played their opponents close: 8-4 against Roosevelt and 3-2 versus Kennedy.

Players to Watch: Tatum Goerdt’s 15-12 record does not reflect her stats with an ERA of 2.09 and 157 strikeouts for Prairie, while Marin Heller smacked 12 home runs and 17 doubles for Valley with 61 RBIs and a batting average of 0.455.

#4 Waukee Northwest will take on #5 Ankeny at 10:30 am. The two, aptly, split their doubleheader earlier in the season but the Wolves have bragging rights after defeating the Hawks in the state tournament last season.

Players to Wach: Abby Rusher touts a 1.73 ERA with 164 strikeouts for Ankeny, while Sophia Schlader has thrown 222 strikeouts for an ERA of 0.81 all in her 8^th grade season for Waukee Northwest.

At 12:15 pm, #2 Pleasant Valley will face off against #7 Waukee. Both teams had narrow victories in their regional championship games, with the Spartans winning 1-0 against Cedar Rapids Jefferson and Waukee beating last year’s champion, Ankeny Centennial, 3-0.

Players to Watch: Ella McGee is batting 0.413 for Waukee with 22 RBIs, while Mary Paige Withers and Kasey Kane combine for 25 home runs and 109 RBIs for Pleasant Valley.

Lastly, #3 Muscatine will square off against #6 Urbandale at 12:45 pm. Muscatine defeated Iowa City Liberty 5-2 to make the tournament and Urbandale handled Johnston 5-1 in their regional championship.

Players to Watch: Tatum Johnson is batting 0.477 with 10 home runs and 45 RBIs for Urbandale, while Skylar Peterson has thrown 180 strikeouts to the tune of 20 wins and an ERA of 2.56.

KILJ will be providing updates throughout the week!

Fairfield, IA- The baseball history between Burlington Notre Dame and Sigourney varied dramatically as these two programs entered last night’s Class 1A Substate 6 championship. Yet, history did not favor the experienced as Sigourney took the game, 4-2.

(Photo Credit to “The News-Review” on Facebook)

Notre Dame was searching for their 9^th appearance in the Class 1A state tournament with a state championship in 1982 under their belts. Sigourney had just won their first district championship last Saturday and was looking to further their history making ways.

The similarities between the two teams were also drastic. Both had high caliber offenses with a pitching staff that could also win a game. Both teams brought in experience with Notre Dame boasting eight seniors and Sigourney returning eight from the year before.

The stage was set for an epic and the two teams delivered on the defensive side of things.

Caden Clarahan started on the mound for Sigourney and with the help of his brother, Chase, behind the plate throwing out Spencer Brent trying to take second base, tabbed an unconventional 1-2-3 inning.

The bottom half of the inning saw Sigourney’s offense start with a thunderous Jake Moore leadoff double. Caden Clarahan also gave the ball a ride to deep center, but Landry Haberichter stole an extra base hit before Jaxon Sadler calmed down to end the first.

The Nikes then had their turn to get runners in scoring position after Eli Oleson was hit by a pitch, Isiah Crow singled, and Maddox Diewold bunted them up a base. Nevertheless, Clarahan induced a pop out and no runs crossed home.

Sadler notched four strikeouts over the next two innings with back-to-back 1-2-3 innings.

The struggling offense of Notre Dame did not stop them from getting runners on base in the 3^rd inning as their patience led to Lucas Johnson, Haberichter, and Oleson all working walks and loading the bases. A well hit ball to left field by Dylan Kipp was caught, ending the potential scoring threat.

The 4^th inning was quiet for the Nike offense, not so much for Sigourney. Back-to-back singles for Reid Molyneux and Isaac Bruns and a two-out single by Lincoln Power loaded the bases in their own attempt to score. Sadler shut it down with his 7^th and final “K” of the day.

After four innings of scoreless ball, Notre Dame finally broke the seal. Haberichter was plucked on an 0-2 pitch. Spencer Brent worked a walk and Caden Schwenker moved them over with a sacrifice bunt, leading to a sacrifice fly for Oleson. Nikes led 1 to 0.

Caden Schwenker took over duties on the mound in the bottom of the 5th and much like how Sadler started, Brady Clark slapped a leadoff single. The top of the order proved no issue with a fielder’s choice and a strikeout leaving two outs with a runner on second base for Sigourney.

That’s when Caden Clarahan, who led the team with a 0.552 batting average, hit the ball hard off the glove of Diewold for an RBI single. Trouble continued when Carson O’Rourke, running for Clarahan, crashed into Diewold’s glove on a Molyneux grounder causing the ball to skip away for a single.

The ruling on the field was all runners were safe due to the simultaneous nature of the play, but the umpires gathered to talk about the play. Despite the plea for an interference call that would have ended the inning, the conference yielded that all runners were safe.

A call that Notre Dame head coach Chris Chiprez agreed with during his postgame interview.

However, the dismay at the time did not help Schwenker as he left a pitch for Bruns to belt over the right field fence for a three-run home run. Sigourney now led 4 to 1.

In an incredible short burst of offense, Sigourney had gotten to one of the best pitchers in Class 1A. A decision that appeared to be the right move at the time.

“We just wanted to go with Schwenker” said coach Chiprez. “You know, he’s been our guy all year long, you know. And you know, we believe in him, we still do believe in him and just, you know, they timed him up and hit him hard.”

The Nikes still had two innings to strike back, and a Crow walk led to him making the trip around the bases on a couple of passed balls, leading to him eventually scoring and cutting the lead down to 4 to 2.

An important play from the inning was the final out. Haberichter cracked a deep fly ball to left-center field where the senior, Reid Molyneux, who had lost a chance to play football and wrestle due to rehab for a torn ACL, made a miraculous leaping catch to save an extra base hit.

Schwenker would put the Sigourney offense down in order in the bottom of the 6^th inning to keep the deficit at two. Notre Dame was now down to their final three outs of the 2024 season and Chase Clarahan entered the game in relief.

The Nikes had been in a similar situation a year ago with a 3 to 1 deficit in the 8^th inning against Moravia for the district championship. They found some magic and went on to win 4-3.

A Spencer Brent groundout started the inning. Schwenker walked. Oleson tallied the second hit of the game for Notre Dame with a single. Unfortunately, they would not travel any further on the base path as a strikeout and groundout resulted in the 4-2 final.

The Nikes left 10 runners on base as coach Chiprez gave credit to Sigourney but acknowledged that plays were missed,

“You know Sigourney’s a good team. You know, they battled us. I felt like we beat ourselves, to be honest with you. You know, I felt like Sigourney gave us opportunities and we didn’t capitalize on those. You know, generally we’re a good team as far as capitalizing on mistakes. We didn’t do that tonight. We had runners at second and third with less than two outs. We couldn’t get the job done and we didn’t make any plays in the field. So, I mean that’s what it boils down to in games like this you got to take advantage of every opportunity and if you don’t, you’re going to get beat.”

Sadler was the Coach Bennett Player of the Game for his four innings of scoreless work, allowing only four hits, one walk, while striking out seven.

He was one of eight seniors on the squad, a group that won 95 games in their five years and were a part of two trips to Carroll’s Merchant Field. A group that will be greatly missed.

“They’re great baseball players” reported coach Chiprez. “They have a great work ethic. They’re great in the classroom, but above all else, I think they’re great men, you know, and they’re great role models and great leaders for the underclassmen. And I think these guys set the tone for the underclassmen and for in for the even the junior high program. You know, I know a lot of those guys look up to the seniors, so I couldn’t be prouder of each and every one of them, you know for what they’ve done for the program over the years.”

Despite the sudden end to the season, coach Chiprez was able to name a couple of fun moments from the year, including wins over Burlington and North Scott, but, overall, struggled to find a specific moment,

“Just hanging out with the guys and being around the guys, that’s, that’s what gave me joy and gave the coaching staff joy, you know, just to watch the seniors lead and basically run the program themselves. I mean they were that good as leaders so, you know, it’s this one’s going to sting for a while, but you know, at the end of the day, you know, they should be proud of what they’ve accomplished this year.”

Notre Dame finished an incredible season with a 28-4 record, SEISC-South champs, and district 11 champs. It’s hard not to be proud of those accomplishments.

KILJ would like to thank all of our postseason sponsors for allowing us to cover all of our local teams!