Drop to 2A widens the opening for Beckman

The Beckman Blazers were resigned to the prospects of a challenging Class 3A softball regional bracket, the smallest fish in the pond.

Then, an error was caught and everything changed.

Small fish, no more.

'It's funny, I had in the back of my mind that something like that might happen,' Beckman Coach Tom Tegeler said. 'I wasn't totally shocked.'

Two days after the original regional pairings were released, Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union officials caught an oversight, a whole-grade sharing agreement between Columbus Community and WACO. The merger elevated Columbus to 3A status, bumped Beckman down to 2A and forced massive redrawing of the brackets.

Beckman has never advanced to a state softball tournament, but the seventh-ranked Blazers (28-11) will have home-field advantage throughout regionals.

It starts with a quarterfinal matchup with MFL MarMac (11-18) on Wednesday.

'I don't think (the classification change) will make a big difference in regionals. There are still some strong teams,' Tegeler said. 'But I do think, in 2A, you've got a better chance to win the whole thing.'

Regional quarterfinals are Wednesday in 1A, 2A and 3A, Thursday in 4A and 5A.

Beckman is the lone 2A team in the Wamac Conference, and more than held its own. The Blazers were 9-5 in East Division games, finishing a game behind co-champions Solon and Mount Vernon.

'Our top six hitters have been very efficient. They've done a good job getting each other in,' Tegeler said.

In all, seven Wamac teams were included in the final rankings. Four of them are in the 3A fray — No. 6 Solon (28-12) hosts Mid-Prairie (12-21), No. 7 Center Point-Urbana (26-10) entertains Oelwein (4-25), No. 8 Mount Vernon (25-15) hosts Columbus (2-24) and No. 15 West Delaware (26-14) draws Osage (12-19) at Manchester.

Iowa City Regina (24-11) has advanced to the last two 2A state finals and is ranked No. 8 this season. An isolated storm Monday moved the Regals' opener back to Thursday; they'll face the winner of Wednesday's Wapsie Valley-West Branch matchup.

Defending state champion Lansing Kee (32-2) is rated No. 1 in 1A and opens at New Albin against Elkader Central (7-24).

WEDNESDAY'S CLASS 3A REGIONAL QUARTERFINALS

(All Games, 7 p.m.)

Region 4

Oelwein (4-25) at Center Point-Urbana (26-10)

Waukon (7-24) at New Hampton (24-14)

Osage (12-19) at West Delaware (26-14)

North Fayette Valley (19-16) at Crestwood (22-7)

Region 5

Columbus Community (2-24) at Mount Vernon (25-15)

Monticello (13-14) at Anamosa (19-14)

East Marshall (15-17) at Union (22-10)

South Tama (2-31) at Vinton-Shellsburg (12-27)

Region 6

Williamsburg (19-19) at Davenport Assumption (36-1)

Camanche (17-15) at Northeast (22-15)

Davis County (11-18) at West Liberty (20-13)

Central Lee (17-21) at West Burlington-Notre Dame (21-14)

Region 7

Mid-Prairie (12-21) at Solon (28-12)

Chariton (3-22) at Monroe PCM (16-12)

Central Decatur (15-13) at Albia (25-8)

Centerville (24-9) at Clarke (20-15)

WEDNESDAY'S CLASS 2A REGIONAL QUARTERFINALS

(All Games, 7 p.m.)

Region 4

MFL MarMac (11-18) at Dyersville Beckman (28-11)

Sumner-Fredericksburg (16-14) at South Winneshiek (16-15)

Maquoketa Valley (21-16) at Wilton (19-17)

Region 5

North Cedar (5-21) at Durant (28-7)

Bellevue (10-22) at Cascade (22-13)

Alburnett (19-18) at Lisbon (29-11)

North Linn (24-13) at Jesup (23-9)

Region 6

Van Buren (10-19) at Eddyville EBF (27-8)

Pekin (16-9) at Highland (20-7)

Danville (10-13) at Pella Christian (30-5)

Wapello (20-10) at Louisa-Muscatine (26-5)

WEDNESDAY'S CLASS 2A REGIONAL FIRST ROUND

(All Games, 7 p.m.)

Region 4

Wapsie Valley (6-16) at West Branch (14-23)

WEDNESDAY'S CLASS 1A REGIONAL QUARTERFINALS

(All Games, 7 p.m.)

Region 3

Fort Dodge St. Edmond (10-17) at Newell-Fonda (27-10)

Audubon (4-24) vs. Exira-EHK (14-10), at Glidden

Colo-Nesco (15-16) at Lynnville-Sully (17-11)

Montezuma (16-12) at North Mahaska (13-13)

Region 5

Elkader Central (7-24) at Lansing Kee (32-2)

West Central (12-20) vs. Starmont (12-21), at Colesburg

Springville (11-28) at Calamus-Wheatland (22-9)

Bellevue Marquette (14-22) at Central City (30-8)

Region 6

Gladbrook-Reinbeck (1-22) at Ackley AGWSR (24-12)

Don Bosco (19-14) at BGM (15-13)

Lone Tree (4-16) at Belle Plaine (20-6)

HLV (11-9) at North Tama (13-9)

Region 7

Southeast Warren (11-15) at Martensdale-St. Marys (30-3)

Seymour (16-13) at Wayne (17-12)

Winfield-Mount Union (8-14) at Sigourney (19-11)

New London (14-13) at Moravia (9-17)

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