Wamac teams try to make their mark

If the cards fall right, the state softball tournament could be a Wamac Conference family reunion.

It's a plausible possibility that half of the Class 3A field could have Wamac affiliation.

'Our league is having a very good year,” said Benton Community Coach Eric Stenberg. 'A lot of teams are having girls play softball in the offseason. There's a lot of dedication to the sport.”

Top-ranked Solon (38-3) and No. 2 Benton (39-3) captured the East and West divisions, respectively, and appear to be very good bets to reach Fort Dodge. The Spartans meet Monroe PCM (22-10) in a 3A regional final at 7:30 Monday night at Grinnell; the Bobcats tangle with Iowa Falls-Alden (17-12) at 7 at Marshalltown.

Solon pitcher Emily Ira didn't know much about Monday's opponent, and was fine with that.

'I don't really look at the the other team much,” she said. 'I believe in my team, that we'll do our thing. We've accomplished so much, going from an OK team at the beginning of the season to an amazing team right now.”

Regional finals are Monday in 3A, 2A and 1A, Tuesday in the larger two classes. Joining Solon and Benton in the Wamac fray are No. 8 Center Point-Urbana and No. 13 Mount Vernon, and both of them face coinflip encounters.

CPU (28-13) meets No. 6 Waterloo Columbus (29-5) at Independence, and Mount Vernon (28-9) goes to Wilton to face No. 10 Northeast (33-5). Both of those games start at 7.

'It's very possible that all four of us could make it,” Stenberg said. 'Mount Vernon has had a strong year and finished really strong. CPU is well-coached and has been there before.”

Two additional Wamac squads - Marion and West Delaware - have reached the 4A regional finals.

Stenberg said some 'minor adjustments” defensively have made a major difference for his team this year.

'We moved (Alyssa) Wiebel to third base, and that's been huge for us,” Stenberg said. '(Grace) Martensen has been playing second base and has done a fantastic job. Our infield is so much stronger.”

Like the Wamac, the River Valley Conference has four teams in action Monday. Northeast is the overall league champion; its encounter with Mount Vernon is the lone RVC-vs.-Wamac game.

The other three RVC survivors are competing in 2A. No. 10 Iowa City Regina (22-14) meets No. 13 Baxter CMB (20-14) at 5:30 at Grinnell, No. 14 Cascade (21-10) faces Denver (14-11) at 7 at Manchester, and No. 8 Durant (26-8) plays Sumner-Fredericksburg (19-13) at 7 at Mount Vernon.

In Class 1A, 12th-ranked Lansing Kee (29-10) plays No. 8 Bellevue Marquette (29-5) at Farley while Sigourney (26-11) faces No. 2 New London (29-2) at Ottumwa.

Last year's state runner-up, Kee High has won 17 straight games.

PREP SOFTBALL: MONDAY'S REGIONAL FINALS

No. 8 CENTER POINT-URBANA (28-13) vs. No. 6 WATERLOO COLUMBUS (29-5), Class 3A Region 3

* Time and site: 7 p.m., at Independence

* Overview: For Center Point-Urbana to advance to state for the second straight year (the Stormin' Pointers were sixth in 3A last year), it must douse an extremely hot ball club. Columbus enters with a 17-game win streak, scoring six runs or more in the last nine. This might be the tip of the iceberg for a budding powerhouse; four of the top five hitters are eighth-graders. Senior Brooke Craig is one of the state's top hitters at .530 with 15 home runs and 67 RBIs. CPU has a super slugger of its own in freshman Maddie Karr (.446, 51 runs, 54 RBIs, 16 HRs). The Stormin' Pointers have an advantage in strength of schedule.

No. 13 MOUNT VERNON (28-9) vs. No. 10 NORTHEAST (33-5), Class 3A Region 4

* Time and site: 7 p.m., at Wilton

* Overview: There are four Wamac Conference teams and four River Valley Conference teams in regional-final action Monday, and this is the only Wamac-vs.-RVC head-to-head matchup. Mount Vernon opened 0-5 against elite competition, but sprang off the mat and continues to gain steam. The Mustangs have won 28 of their past 32 games, including a pair of decisive shutouts in the postseason. They possess a balanced lineup, with nobody driving in more than 25 runs but five players with at least 20. Sophomore Alyssa Maddocks has the top average at .436. Northeast speedster Aleenah Marcucci is hitting .543 with 52 runs, and has stolen 49 bases without getting caught.

No. 1 SOLON (38-3) vs. MONROE PCM (22-10), Class 3A Region 5

* Time and site: 7:30 p.m., at Grinnell

* Overview: Solon is heavily favored to advance to Fort Dodge for the fifth consecutive year; the Spartans were 4A runners-up last year. Coach Jim White won six state titles at Clear Creek Amana, went over the 900-win plateau for his career, and is 108-10 in three years at his new home. The Spartans are deadly at the top of the order, with Emily Ira, Sydney Lawson, Taylor Nearad and Ali Herdliska all batting over .500. Lawson's 75 runs are best in the state, and Nearad ranks third in RBIs, with 66. Ira is hitting a team-high .621 and is 24-2 in the pitching circle with 324 strikeouts (more than 2 per inning). PCM advanced with an extra-inning win over Bondurant-Farrar.

No. 2 BENTON COMMUNITY (39-3) vs. IOWA FALLS-ALDEN (17-12), Class 3A Region 7

* Time and site: 7 p.m., at Marshalltown

* Overview: Benton outscored its first two postseason opponents by a combined 20-0 margin, and is heavily favored Monday to advance to the state tournament for the first time since it won a championship in 1998. There's not a senior on the roster. Junior Alyssa Wiebel (.588) is the state's top home-run hitter with 18, and has scored 59 runs while driving in 63. Amber Fiser, another junior, has posted a 23-1 pitching record with 276 strikeouts, allowing just six runs (one earned, for a 0.05 ERA) in 145 2/3 innings. Iowa Falls-Alden is a win away from its first state berth, but it will take a big effort to upset the Bobcats. Lauren Keane is hitting .405 with 22 RBIs.

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No. 14 CASCADE (21-10) vs. DENVER (14-11), Class 2A Region 4

* Time and site: 7 p.m., at Manchester

* Overview: This region opened up when Aplington-Parkersburg (6-16 at the time) stunned No. 4 Conrad BCLUW in the quarterfinals. Denver bounced the Falcons in the next round, 3-0. Cascade got to this point with a pair of one-run victories, ousting Maquoketa Valley, 4-3, then Clayton Ridge, 1-0, in extra innings. Lexi Weber swings the big bat for the Cougars; she is hitting .475 with 33 RBIs and 17 doubles. Both teams have advanced to state once - Cascade in 1994, Denver in 2012. Jayden Wolter is batting .400 for the Cyclones.

No. 10 IOWA CITY REGINA (22-14) vs. No. 13 BAXTER CMB (20-14), Class 2A Region 6

* Time and site: 5:30 p.m., at Grinnell

* Overview: There have been numerous upsets in the 2A brackets so far, and CMB pulled one of the biggest - 6-3 over second-rated Eddyville EBF in the regional semifinals on Friday. Regina, meanwhile, outlasted No. 9 Wapello, 4-3, in extra innings. Regina won the 2A championship four years ago, then returned to Fort Dodge in 2013. Junior Kennedy Brown leads the Regals in both runs (42) and RBIs (40) by a wide margin, and is hitting .462 with 12 home runs. For CMB, Payge Jurgens leads the way at .343 with nine home runs and 25 RBIs. Collins-Maxwell had one state appearance, in 1985.

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No. 12 LANSING KEE (29-10) vs. No. 8 BELLEVUE MARQUETTE (29-5), Class 1A Region 3

* Time and site: 7 p.m., at Farley

* Overview: Whatever was ailing Kee High (the 2014 1A state runner-up) in the first half of the season has been remedied. The Hawks carry a 17-game winning streak, including a 7-6 win over Upper Iowa Conference rival Turkey Valley in the regional semifinals. The Cooper girls - Kendra is a freshman, Courtney a sophomore, Ellie a junior - have done much of the heavy lifting, combining for 87 RBIs and 81 runs. The younger two have done nealy all the pitching. Marquette was seventh at state last year. and brought back nine starters including Blake Banowetz (.490, 9 home runs, 40 runs, 45 RBIs) and Gabby Tath (17-2, 0.77 ERA).

SIGOURNEY (26-11) vs. No. 2 NEW LONDON (29-2), Class 1A Region 5

* Time and site: 7 p.m., at Ottumwa

* Overview: Sigourney is 21-2 against 1A competition this season, with both losses coming against No. 4 Lynnville-Sully in SICL play. The Savages are seeking their first state trip since 2001, and possess the state's leader in doubles - Jordan Carter with 30. Carter is batting .576 with 46 runs and 56 RBIs, and also owns a 21-8 record in the pitching circle. New London counters with junior pitcher Morgan Christner (28-2), whose 364 strikeouts lead the state. Christner boasts a 0.87 ERA, and also is hitting .542 with 42 RBIs. The Tigers were state runners-up in 2007 and 2013.

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com