Lisbon clears its state softball semifinal hurdle

FORT DODGE — For the last three years, the state semifinals have been Lisbon’s glass ceiling.

Consider it shattered.

Ryleigh Allgood tied a Class 1A state-tournament record with 15 strikeouts,. and the fourth-ranked Lions held on to edge No. 2 Wayne, 4-3, in a Class 1A semifinal Wednesday afternoon at the Rogers Sports Complex.

“This group really wanted it,” Lisbon Coach Bob Bunting said. “Of all the times we’ve been here, this has been one of the most focused.

“At the tail end, they proved they could do it.”

Lisbon (37-8) meets No. 1 Newell-Fonda (37-4) — a 7-3 winner over Southeast Warren — for the championship at 5 p.m. Thursday.

This was the fourth straight year the Lions reached the semifinal round. They had fallen short in 2018, 2019 and 2020, and finished third, third and fourth.

But this time, they built a 4-0 lead in the first three innings and held on despite a wobbly sixth inning. They’re in the finals for the first time since 1996, the last of three straight 1A championships.

“It’s fantastic,” said Bunting, who piloted that mid-1990s dynasty that featured Paige Stamp. “This group wanted to get to the next step. It’s been a focus the last two days.”

Four players on the Lisbon roster are daughters of members of the 1994-96 teams.

Lisbon seemed to be sailing through five innings, holding a 4-1 advantage. But Wayne (24-5) made it too close for comfort.

The Falcons opened the sixth with a double and a hit batsman, and both scored. Wayne had the tying run at third and the lead run at second before Allgood drenched the rally with a strikeout.

The long inning and the heat took a toll on Allgood (28-4), but she battled through it.

“I was just sweating a lot,” she said. “I had my rosin bag and my teammates.”

She was permitted a brief break and a swig from a water bottle. Catcher Taylor Techau came out for a visit.

“I told her, ‘Stick with it. You’ll be fine. Focus on the next pitch,’” Techau said.

Wayne’s Sterling Berndt, who hit a solo homer in the third, opened the seventh with a double, but advanced no further.

Allgood ended it with a strikeout, a popout and strikeout, and the Falcons’ 21-game win streak came to an end.

Lisbon manufactured a pair of small-ball runs in the second inning. Kali Nelson started it with a one-out infield single, then Paige Roos bunted for a single. After Blair Baltes walked, Techau bunted and Nelson beat the throw home.

“We work on bunting all of the time,” Techau said. "I knew I could get it down, and Kali ... she can run.”

Peyton Robinson’s sacrifice fly made it 2-0, then Lisbon tacked on two runs with the help of three Wayne errors in the third.

But Berndt (20-4) held the Lions there, retiring 14 of the final 15 batters she faced.

“She threw the changeup when we didn’t expect it. She threw the rise up in the zone,” Allgood said.

LISBON 4, WAYNE 3

Class 1A State Semifinal, at Fort Dodge

Lisbon 022 000 0 — 4 3 1

Wayne 001 002 0 — 3 7 3

Ryleigh Allgood and Taylor Techau. Sterling Berndt and Camryn Jacobsen. W — Allgood (28-4). L — Berndt (20-4). HR — Wayne: Berndt (6).

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com