Wiebel’s power surge keys Benton

FORT DODGE - A little surprised Greene County kept pitching to Alyssa Wiebel?

So was she.

'Yeah, a little,” she said. 'I was just happy I could help the team out.”

Wiebel helped a lot.

The junior slugger hit two home runs and knocked in seven runs as second-rated Benton Community walloped the No. 4 Rams, 8-1, in a Class 3A semifinal at the state softball tournament Thursday afternoon at the Rogers Sports Complex.

So, the dream 1-vs.-2 matchup is on for the state championship. The Bobcats (42-3) face No. 1 Solon (41-3) for 3A (and Wamac Conference) supremacy at 12:15 p.m. Friday in a game televised by IPTV.

Benton will be seeking its third state title; the Bobcats won it all in 1966 and 1998.

'The team that plays the best softball will be the team that will win,” said leadoff hitter Lea Brunssen. 'We'll be ready for it.”

The trio of Brunssen, Shelby Hulsebus and Wiebel tormented the Rams (31-7) throughout. They were a combined 9-for-9, accounting for seven runs and eight RBIs.

Brunssen and Hulsebus were table-setters. And Wiebel was the bases-clearer, upping her season home-run total to 21 and her RBI ledger to 70.

'I was just ready for every pitch,” she said.

Benton struck immediately. Brunssen led off the bottom of the first with a single and moved to second on Hulsebus' sacrifice bunt. Wiebel followed with a long drive that caromed off the glove of center fielder Tressa Rasmussen, then landed over the fence for a 2-0 Bobcats lead.

The Bobcats added three more in the second. Hulsebus singled home a run, then Wiebel plated two more with an opposite-field double.

That was plenty for Amber Fiser (25-1), who was perfect through the first three innings. Fiser struck out 10, pushing her career total to 1,007.

For the record, No. 1,000 came in the second inning, and Rasmussen was the victim.

'That's been a goal my whole life,” Fiser said. 'Accomplishing that is awesome. It helps when you have the lead. You can keep it going and know they aren't going to score enough to win.”

The Benton batting order rolled over again in the fourth, and that meant more runs.

With two outs, Brunssen and Hulsebus singled, then Wiebel went deep again for an 8-1 advantage.

'Shelby and me, our job is to get on base for Alyssa,” Brunssen said. 'I was surprised they kept pitching to her. Everybody in the stands was. But she was ready.”

When Benton met Solon on June 10, the teams split - Benton won 1-0, then Solon earned the split, 6-5, in extra innings.

'It's going to be fun,” Fiser said. 'A lot of us play travel-ball together. It will be friends against friends. We're underdogs and have nothing to lose.”

BENTON COMMUNITY 8, GREENE COUNTY 1

Class 3A State Semifinal, at Fort Dodge

Greene County 000 001 0 - 1 6 0

Benton Community 230 300 x - 8 10 1

Marissa Promes and Bailey Godwin. Amber Fiser and Jaicee Lyons. W - Fiser (25-1). L - Promes (30-4). HR - BC: Alyssa Wiebel 2 (21).

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