Softball: Marion's aim - Keep building on momentum

When Kim Knapp took the softball job at Marion High School, she took a comment from her boss to heart.

"(Marion Athletics Director) Corby Laube told me it would take five or six years to build a program," Knapp said.

This is Year 5 for Knapp. And it's apparent that the Indians are moving forward.

Marion takes a 24-15 record into Class 4A regional play; the Indians will host Dubuque Wahlert (15-24) in a quarterfinal Thursday at the Les Hipple Athletic Complex.

Regional quarterfinals also are on tap in classes 1A, 2A and 5A.

In one regard, this is a typical Marion team: lots of youth. But there is a smattering of upperclassmen to provide leadership, something that hasn't always been the case.

"It's been a problem keeping the older kids out," said Knapp, a former all-stater at Marion as Kim Hutchins. "This is the first time in a long time that we've had three seniors. Our ASA program has picked up, so we don't have to teach the kids from scratch."

One of the seniors, Mikayla Goemaat, shares pitching duties with eighth-grader Amber Fiser.

Michalyn Mohr, a freshman, leads the team in hitting at .466.

The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union's restructuring of softball to five classes has made the top two classes smaller -- 5A consists of 40 teams, 4A of 48. That means most of the top teams draw first-round byes.

Included are top-ranked Clear Creek-Amana, No. 10 Washington (Iowa) and No. 12 West Delaware in 4A, and fourth-ranked Cedar Rapids Jefferson and No. 8 Iowa City West in 5A. They'll play Saturday.

Marion is one of three Metro teams in action Thursday. Cedar Rapids Kennedy (10-26) hosts Marshalltown (12-16) and Cedar Rapids Washington (3-32) travels to Bettendorf (27-9) in 5A quarterfinals.

Among the top matchups in the smaller classes, Edgewood-Colesburg (29-8) hosts Alburnett (27-13) in a 2A game that matches the second- and third-place finishers in the Tri-Rivers Conference, and co-Upper Iowa Conference runners-up South Winneshiek (22-8) and No. 8 Sumner-Fredericksburg (29-9) collide in a 2A battle at Sumner.

CLASS 5A REGIONAL QUARTERFINALS

(All games, 7 p.m.)

Region 2

Cedar Falls (11-26) at Waterloo West (13-27)

Region 3

Clinton (9-20) at Dubuque Hempstead (22-18)

Region 4

Cedar Rapids Washington (3-32) at Bettendorf (29-7)

Region 5

Marshalltown (12-16) at Cedar Rapids Kennedy (10-26)

CLASS 4A REGIONAL QUARTERFINALS

(All games, 7 p.m.)

Region 2

Western Dubuque (7-18) vs. Waverly-Shell Rock (21-19), at Manchester (West Delaware, bye)

Clear Lake (2-24) vs. Decorah (20-11), at Charles City (Charles City, bye)

Region 3

Dubuque Wahlert (15-24) at Marion (24-15), (Cedar Rapids Xavier, bye)

Anamosa (10-25) at Benton Community (19-21), (Clear Creek Amana, bye)

Region 4

Maquoketa (13-19) at DeWitt Central (15-18), (North Scott, bye)

Davenport North (13-25) at Mount Pleasant (14-23), (Washington, bye)

Region 6

Grinnell (4-21) at Newton (16-9), (Vinton-Shellsburg, bye)

Boone (20-16) at Webster City (20-13), (Dallas Center-Grimes, bye)

CLASS 2A REGIONAL QUARTERFINALS

(All games, 7 p.m.)

Region 2

West Fork (7-18) at North Butler (16-11)

Saint Ansgar (7-19) at Central Springs (24-6)

MFL MarMac (12-22) at North Fayette (27-12)

South Winneshiek (22-8) at Sumner-Fredericksburg (29-9)

Region 3

Waterloo Columbus (18-10) at Ackley AGWSR (25-8)

Wapsie Valley (11-17) at Conrad BCLUW (25-9)

Starmont (19-11) at Denver (23-6)

Aplington-Parkersburg (13-12) at Jesup (30-7)

Region 4

Alburnett (27-13) at Edgewood-Colesburg (29-8)

North Linn (17-21) at Iowa City Regina (15-19)

Highland (19-14) at West Branch (25-12)

North Cedar (11-23) at Durant (27-5)

CLASS 1A REGIONAL QUARTERFINALS

(7 p.m. unless noted otherwise)

Region 3

Clarksville (18-9) at Janesville (21-10)

Central City (7-34) vs. Springville (7-25), at Winthrop

West Central (11-23) at Elkader Central (12-23)

Rockford (6-20) at Mason City Newman (22-11)

Region 4

WACO (10-17) at Sigourney (20-6)

New London (21-16) vs. Winfield-Mount Union (8-19), at Mediapolis

Bellevue Marquette (17-16) at Preston (14-18)

Lone Tree (14-18) at Lisbon (28-11)

Region 5

BGM (10-22) at Lynnville-Sully (23-5), 7:30 p.m.

Montezuma (14-16) at Tri-County (9-19)

Belle Plaine (11-18) vs. Colo-Nesco (16-10), 5:30 p.m., at Sully

North Tama (12-14) at Don Bosco (25-6)