Saturday’s best: 5 area Iowa high school softball regional games to watch (July 12, 2025)

The postseason phrase of the last few days has been “weather permitting.”

Delays, postponements, suspensions and time changes were the modus operandi Thursday and Friday. No Class 1A games involving area teams survived the storms, and only one 2A game made it through; Cascade beat Maquoketa Valley, 4-1.

With that, the 2A/1A regional-semifinal slate was kicked back to Saturday, with a variety of starting times (see the list below).

The forecast looks better Saturday, so here are five of the day’s best 5A, 4A and 3A regional-semifinal matchups involving area teams:

Iowa City Liberty (17-19) at No. 14 Des Moines Roosevelt (26-12), 5 p.m.

Class 5A Region 2

Liberty takes aim at the Iowa Alliance Conference South Division champion. The Lightning do have a 7-6 win over Roosevelt (June 14) on their resume, and give the Bolts a big advantage in strength of schedule. Sixteen of their 19 losses have come against ranked opponents. Kennedy Conner and Kelsey Kaut are hitting in the neighborhood of .400, and Ava Tague has driven in a team-high 26 runs. Clara Page (.455, 4 HR, 44 RBIs) leads a Roosevelt attack that averages nearly eight runs per game.

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Cedar Rapids Jefferson (15-24) at No. 13 Cedar Rapids Prairie (23-17)

Class 5A Region 5

The Mississippi Valley Conference season began May 27, and it began with a Prairie sweep of Jefferson (8-5 and 5-4). That triggered the Hawks’ 10-0 start. Senior Riley Redig is hitting .481 for the Hawks, with 32 RBIs. Jefferson is hoping for a second wind after dropping 13 of its last 17 games. The J-Hawks have an interesting blend in their starting lineup, which features five seniors, four freshmen and a junior. The J-Hawks have a veteran core in Morgan Hewitt (.416, 7 HR, 33 RBIs), Sophia Kevitt (.405) and Ava Erger (.369). Hewitt has hit seven home runs.

Dubuque Hempstead (18-19) at No. 12 Iowa City High (22-14)

Class 5A Region 8

City High’s mantra in recent years has been “Elevate and Celebrate,” and this year’s rendition has resulted in 32 home runs, including 12 from freshman Iyana Merino and 10 from junior Molly Carlson (who is hitting .455 with a team-leading 46 RBIs). The Little Hawks swept Dubuque Hempstead (16-6 and 12-5) on June 10 to drop the Mustangs to 0-11, but Hempstead has gotten off the mat to win 18 of 26 since. Junior Mallory Tomkins (.465) has scored 45 runs; sophomore Sophia Gratton (.434) has knocked in 47.

Benton Community (18-14) at No. 2 Williamsburg (31-7)

Class 3A Region 2

Williamsburg has made a habit of peaking in July; the Raiders are in hot pursuit of a sixth consecutive state-tournament appearance (they won the last two 3A titles), and have won eight straight games. That includes successive sweeps of Clear Creek Amana, Grinnell and Cedar Rapids Prairie. They scored six first-inning runs in a 9-1 first-round win over Vinton-Shellsburg. Taylor Pitlick had two hits and two RBIs. Benton rolled past Iowa Falls-Alden, 10-2, with Haiden Moore scoring twice and stealing three bases.

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Solon (17-19) at No. 3 Mount Vernon (26-11)

Class 3A Region 3

Mount Vernon swept a high-scoring doubleheader May 29 by verdicts of 10-6 and 9-8. The Mustangs’ pitching and defense has improved greatly since then. Sophomore Hayden Gookin (20-4, 0.81 ERA, 227 K’s) is one of the best in the area; she also has six home runs and 34 RBIs). Senior Olivia Haverback leads the Mustangs at .411. Both teams won their first-round games in convincing fashion. While the Mustangs were blanking Union Community 10-0, Solon was dusting Anamosa 9-1 behind a seven-run fifth inning.

Saturday’s complete area schedule

CLASS 5A REGIONAL SEMIFINALS

(7 p.m. unless noted)

Region 2

Davenport North (18-22) at No. 2 Linn-Mar (31-6)

Iowa City Liberty (17-19) at No. 14 Des Moines Roosevelt (26-12), 5 p.m.

Region 3

Urbandale (10-27) at No. 4 Ankeny (30-9)

Waterloo West (15-23) at No. 11 Cedar Rapids Kennedy (23-16)

Region 5

West Des Moines Dowling (13-18) at No. 6 Johnston (25-15)

Cedar Rapids Jefferson (15-24) at No. 13 Cedar Rapids Prairie (23-17)

Region 8

Dubuque Senior (14-20) at No. 7 Cedar Falls (28-9)

Dubuque Hempstead (18-19) at No. 12 Iowa City High (22-14)

CLASS 4A REGIONAL SEMIFINALS

(All games 7 p.m.)

Region 1

Webster City (7-17) at No. 1 Cedar Rapids Xavier (35-5)

Independence (14-26) at No. 15 Bondurant-Farrar (23-9)

Region 6

Maquoketa (16-21) at No. 7 Clear Creek Amana (30-8)

Central DeWitt (13-19) at No. 10 North Scott (27-11)

Region 8

Waverly-Shell Rock (17-8) at No. 8 Fort Dodge (26-12)

Charles City (17-14) at No. 9 Western Dubuque (29-11)

CLASS 3A REGIONAL SEMIFINALS

(7 p.m. unless noted)

Region 1

Oelwein (16-11) at No. 1 Dubuque Wahlert (33-7), 5 p.m.

Crestwood (20-7) at No. 8 West Delaware (24-11)

Region 2

Benton Community (18-14) at No. 2 Williamsburg (31-7)

Humboldt (15-13) at Eagle Grove (16-10)

Region 3

Solon (17-19) at No. 3 Mount Vernon (26-11)

Clear Lake (18-10) at No. 13 Center Point-Urbana (23-12)

Region 5

Mediapolis (15-8) at No. 4 Davenport Assumption (23-13)

Central Lee (22-8) at No. 10 Washington (27-9)

Region 7

Roland-Story (12-15) at No. 7 West Liberty (20-7)

West Marshall (22-10) at No. 14 Chariton (17-6)

CLASS 2A REGIONAL SEMIFINALS

Region 5

Alburnett (26-11) at No. 5 Durant (19-12), 2 p.m.

No. 14 Jesup (25-10) at No. 8 Lisbon (25-12), 1 p.m.

Region 7

North Butler (16-11) at No. 10 Dyersville Beckman (20-15), 2 p.m.

No. 11 Cascade 4, Maquoketa Valley 1 (Friday)

CLASS 1A REGIONAL SEMIFINALS

Region 1

Sigourney (18-7) at No. 1 Wayne (23-2), 2 p.m.

Fort Madison Holy Trinity (20-7) at No. 14 Seymour (20-4), 4:30 p.m., at Albia

Region 2

Janesville (15-11) at No. 2 Clarksville (26-4), 5 p.m.

Riceville (19-13) at Lansing Kee (27-11), 4 p.m.

Region 4

Iowa Valley (13-11) at HLV-TC (19-6), 1 p.m.

Highland (15-9) at BGM (18-6), 5 p.m.

Region 5

Calamus-Wheatland (21-15) at No. 3 Wapsie Valley (27-4), 1 p.m.

Don Bosco (20-13) at No. 8 Edgewood-Colesburg (32-7), 3:30 p.m., at Farley

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com