Regina rallies, beats Wilton to advance to state

SOLON - Iowa City Regina fell in a substate final last season to Van Buren, failing to make the trip to the state tournament.

That loss stuck with pitcher Ryne Schooley over the last 12 months.

On Wednesday night, the Regals got another chance - and they didn't let it slip again. No. 9 Regina (27-7) beat No. 3 Wilton (26-7) 11-7 in Solon in a Class 2A substate final, earning its first trip to the state tournament since 2014.

'It's something that we've talked about since last year getting beat, and we knew that Wilton was going to be in our substate again,” Regina pitcher Ryne Schooley said. 'We dreamed about it, we worked hard and the moment came. It's exciting, it sure is.”

Regina fell in a hole early Wednesday night. The Beavers jumped to a 4-0 lead after four innings of play, thanks in part to a two-run home run from Collin McCrabb in the fourth inning.

The early deficit, though, didn't get Schooley down, he said. In fact, it did the opposite.

'I think the home run that I gave up really (motivated me),” Schooley said. 'We didn't let it hit us hard. Any team could have gone down, sat down and took it, but we battled. That's something that we've worked in practice on, knowing just not getting down … We kind of used that as motivation.”

Regina rallied in the very next inning, loading up the bases with no outs. Schooley then hit a two-RBI double, finally getting the Regals on the board. Then, Hunter Liebermann hit a single for the Regals, scoring two more runs. Just like that, the game was tied.

The run didn't end there. By the time Wilton ended the inning, Regina had put up seven runs on four hits and five walked batters. They sent 13 batters to the plate.

'That was probably the most complete game 1-through-9 that we've had, as far as just quality at bats,” Regina coach Jeff Pacha said. 'But our bottom of the order has done better and better and better. It actually has kind of been our key to momentum getting that 8, 9 turning over into 1, 2, 3, but overall it was a really good approach by our guys.”

After retaking control of the game, the Regals didn't let it go. They put up four more runs in the sixth inning, extending their lead to 11-4 at its peak.

And while they gave up three more runs in the final two innings, Pacha wasn't concerned. After all, they did rally back after being down early and earned a trip to Principal Park, where they'll face Treynor in a quarterfinal at 11 a.m. Monday.

'We didn't panic,” Pacha said. 'We showed signs of being able to string some hits together and do some good things, so we just needed some timely hitting and put a little lead and put some pressure on them. That was postseason baseball at its finest.”

l Comments: ryan.young@thegazette.com