Solon claims 1-vs.-2 showdown in 3A

FORT DODGE - Not even an ice bath could cool Taylor Nearad.

Nearad homered for the third straight game, and top-ranked Solon conquered No. 2 Benton Community, 3-1, in an all-Wamac Conference Class 3A state final at the state softball tournament Friday afternoon at the Rogers Sports Complex.

'We knew we could do this,” said Nearad, who was named the captain of the all-tournament team. 'Emily (Ira) is such a good pitcher. We knew we could make it all the way through.”

The title was Solon's third - the Spartans previously reigned in 2003 and 2007. It was the seventh crown for Jim White, who had won his first six at Clear Creek Amana.

'Right now, it's just a sense of relief,” White said. 'I pushed myself so hard, and I pushed them so hard to get to this point.”

Ira struck out 14 batters as the Spartans (42-3) claimed the rubber match with the Bobcats (42-4). The teams had split a pair of one-run games June 10 at Van Horne.

'I was getting (the strike call) on the low pitch outside, and that helped a lot,” said Ira (28-2), who fanned eight in the first three innings.

'We finally finished what we started, and that makes me so happy.”

The Spartans took the lead in the second inning. Monika Bevans walked with one out, when Jess Heick followed with a sinking liner to left field that dropped for an RBI double.

It remained 1-0 until Nearad struck in the sixth.

Ira doubled down the left-field line, then Nearad sent a 1-0 pitch from Amber Fiser (25-2) over the center-field fence for a 3-0 Solon advantage.

'I thought she might go to the riseball, and I knew I had to get on top of it,” Nearad said.

Nearad has been achy recently, with a tight left quadriceps muscle and a balky righ shoulder.

'We did a team ice bath (Thursday) night,” Nearad said. 'And one of the parents was giving massages.”

She homered in the quarterfinals against Clarke, again in the semifinals against Center Point-Urbana. And again Friday.

Ira handcuffed the Bobcats through five innings, allowing just one hit, before they started to catch some traction offensively, a bit too late.

'We just weren't very disciplined,” said Bobcats Coach Eric Stenberg. 'We'd chase up in the zone and you can't do that. (Ira) will overpower you.”

Benton's Alyssa Wiebel said, 'That riseball, over and over ... that's where most of our strikeouts came from.”

Wiebel homered twice and drove in seven runs in a semifinal victory over Greene County. She was 1-for-3 Friday against Ira, with two strikeouts and a double. She scored the Bobcats' lone run, on Jaicee Lyons' double in the sixth that made it 3-1.

The Bobcats got the tying run aboard in he seventh (singles by Jessie Havlik and Jessica Heilman) before Ira closed it out with a strikeout of Lea Brunssen.

With nary a senior on the roster, 2016 very well might be Benton's year.

'We didn't feel much pressure,” Stenberg said. 'I told them to enjoy the experience, and if we win, we win. If not, we'll come back stronger next year.”

But this year belongs to the Spartans.

'I'm amazed how far the culture has come here,” said White, who has been at Solon three seasons. 'It was their idea to have an extra hitting session. It just shows me how they wanted this so bad.”

Ira, Sydney Lawson and Ali Herdliska joined Nearad on the all-tournament team. So did Benton's Brunssen, Wiebel, Fiser and Shelby Hulsebus, as well as Libby Ryan of Mount Vernon and Olivia Brecht of Center Point-Urbana.

SOLON 3, BENTON COMMUNITY 1

Class 3A State Championship, at Fort Dodge

Solon 010 002 0 - 3 5 1

Benton Community 000 001 0 - 1 5 0

Emily Ira and Monika Bevans. Amber Fiser and Jaicee Lyons. W - Ira (28-2). L - Fiser (25-2). HR - Solon: Taylor Nearad (11).

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com