Saturday’s best: 5 area Iowa high school softball regional games to watch

Depending on your point of view, it was exhilarating. Or excruciating.

Either way, it was the 2021 Iowa regional softball game of the year.

Marion scored five runs in the top of the 11th inning of its Class 4A regional final at Clear Creek Amana.

Game over, right? CCA said no.

The Clippers rallied for six in the bottom of the 11th to earn a trip to state, 11-10. It was the school’s 35th appearance.

Saturday, the Wolves and the Clippers meet again in a 4A regional semifinal. Marion advanced with a nine-inning win over Solon on Thursday.

Here are five of the area’s best 5A, 4A and 3A matchups Saturday:

Cedar Rapids Kennedy (24-15) at Ankeny (26-12)

Class 5A Region 5

Has the Mississippi Valley Conference been slighted in this season’s 5A rankings? We’re about to find out. This game — as well as Cedar Rapids Jefferson at Southeast Polk — will provide a barometer of how the conference stacks up against the CIML. Also, there are three MVC-vs.-MAC matchups Saturday. Kennedy advanced with a 7-6 victory over Cedar Falls on Thursday, thanks to Topanga Beauregard’s third-inning grand slam. Now, the Cougars will try to solve 11th-ranked Ankeny’s slap-and-steal offensive rush; the Hawks have swiped 164 bases, 44 by senior Eva Fulk. Kennedy collected 11 hits against a quality pitcher in Cedar Falls’ Cyrah Rasmussen on Thursday. Keaton Gerber leads the team at .405 and 30 RBIs.

Cedar Rapids Prairie (22-17) at Dubuque Hempstead (28-6)

Class 5A Region 7 (5 p.m.)

No. 15 Hempstead swept Prairie, 6-2 and 4-1, on June 22 as part of its run to the MVC Valley Division championship. The Mustangs have one of the state’s top players in senior catcher Jadyn Glab, a University of Washington signee who is hitting .543 with 11 home runs. Freshman Mady Pint has longball capabilities of her own, with 10 homers. Prairie counters with the senior duo of Alexis Barden (.489, 9 HR, 29 RBIs) and Jensyn Jones (.384, 10 HR, 42 RBIs). The Hawks advanced with a steady 4-1 regional-quarterfinal win over Dubuque Senior. Before arriving at Prairie in 2020, Coach Alisha Frese coached 16 seasons at Hempstead, winning 431 games.

Marion (21-17) at Clear Creek Amana (28-9)

Class 4A Region 7

Marion created this rematch by outlasting No. 15 Solon in a back-and-forth, stop-and-start contest, 7-6 in nine innings. The Wolves snapped a 4-4 tie with three runs in the top of the ninth inning, then escaped Solon’s late charge. Jazlyn Grosskreutz and Michaela Goad both homered for the Wolves. A sophomore, Goad is hitting .458 with 23 extra-base hits (10 HRs) and 43 RBIs, and junior Peyton Johnson is at .435, 11 homers and 36 runs. CCA earned a sweep of the Wolves on May 23 by counts of 9-7 and 8-4, and shared the Wamac Conference West Division title with Williamsburg. Senior Bailey Olerich is a University of Iowa commit and the No. 7 Clippers’ table-setter; she is hitting .448 with 46 runs, and has stolen 37 bases without getting caught once. CCA has a pitching advantage with junior lefty Ashley Webb (13-4, 1.45 ERA) and sophomore righty Bliss Beck (15-4, 0.52).

Chariton (20-5) at Williamsburg (30-10)

Class 3A Region 4

Of the 17 games Saturday featuring area teams, this is the only one that pits a pair of ranked squads. No. 3 Williamsburg has the area’s (and maybe the state’s) most impressive July resume, with victories over three 5A top-10 teams (Muscatine, West Des Moines Valley and Pleasant Valley). The Wamac West co-champions took care of business in the first round of the postseason, blanking Clarke, 10-0, behind three hits and four RBIs from Shannon Finn. Senior Rylee Vercande can beat you with her power (.454, 10 home runs) and her speed (41 runs, 23 steals). Junior pitcher Peyton Driscoll (15-4, 2.18 ERA) has been a focal point of the Raiders’ ascent the last few years. No. 12 Chariton beat Mid-Prairie in the first round with surprising ease, 13-1. Junior Hadden Anderson is hitting .368 with 25 runs.

Monticello (9-18) at West Delaware (7-26)

Class 3A Region 7 (5 p.m.)

West Delaware pulled the upset of the postseason series (so far), blasting eighth-ranked Northeast, 18-5, in a 3A first-rounder at Goose Lake. That left this region without a ranked team, and now, anything is possible, though Dubuque Wahlert moves into the role of regional favorite. Six different players collected two hits apiece in the Hawks’ shocker Wednesday. West Delaware does not have a senior on its roster; juniors Alivia Schulte (.435, 23 runs) and Hayley Vaske (.404, 6 HR, 29 RBI) lead the way. Monticello enjoyed an impressive performance of its own in the first round, sidelining North Fayette Valley, 10-0, behind Jaelyn Aitchison’s three hits and three RBIs. Aitchison, a junior, is hitting a team-high .417 this season.

Saturday's complete area regional schedule

CLASS 5A REGIONAL SEMIFINALS

(All games, 7 p.m.)

Region 4

Urbandale (14-24) at West Des Moines Valley (24-12)

Iowa City High (18-20) at Bettendorf (27-10)

Region 5

Cedar Rapids Jefferson (18-19) at Southeast Polk (22-12)

Cedar Rapids Kennedy (24-15) at Ankeny (26-12)

Region 6

Waterloo West (10-25) at Ankeny Centennial (24-12)

Cedar Rapids Washington (2-34) at Linn-Mar (34-4)

Region 7

Iowa City West (8-30) at Pleasant Valley (22-12)

Cedar Rapids Prairie (22-17) at Dubuque Hempstead (28-6), 5 p.m.

Region 8

Davenport North (22-12) at Muscatine (32-3)

Davenport West (19-19) at Iowa City Liberty (27-13)

CLASS 4A REGIONAL SEMIFINALS

(All games, 7 p.m.)

Region 6

Newton/Cedar Rapids Xavier winner at Norwalk (27-7)

Charles City (16-10) at Benton Community (24-15)

Region 7

Marion (21-17) at Clear Creek Amana (28-9)

Keokuk/Fort Madison winner at Burlington (18-13)

Region 8

DeWitt Central (13-23) at North Scott (26-10)

Maquoketa (23-16) at Western Dubuque (22-16)

CLASS 3A REGIONAL SEMIFINALS

(7 p.m. unless noted)

Region 3

Hampton-Dumont/CAL (7-17) at Mount Vernon (31-4)

Garner GHV (8-15) at Algona (10-16)

Region 4

Chariton (20-5) at Williamsburg (30-10)

Clarinda (14-17) at Atlantic (22-14)

Region 5

Grinnell (12-16) at West Liberty (21-7), 5 p.m.

Ballard (14-20) at Roland-Story (20-9)

Region 6

Independence (12-24) at Davenport Assumption (32-8)

Center Point-Urbana (17-18) at Sumner-Fredericksburg (22-5), 5 p.m.

Region 7

Monticello (9-18) at West Delaware (7-26), 5 p.m.

Dubuque Wahlert (21-16) at Crestwood (13-9)

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com