Jeff Linder

State softball: Sigourney plays errorless defense, Josephine Moore and Erin Dawson deliver key blows, and the Savages blister Southeast Warren, 6-1. They’ll face No. 1 Martensdale-St. Marys for the 1A championship Friday.

A seven-run fifth inning was pivotal in Davenport Assumption’s 10-7 win over Benton Community in a 3A state softball semifinal.

Kalon Spratt’s home run and Ava Hocker’s speed helped send Williamsburg back to the Class 3A state softball championship game by outlasting Dubuque Wahlert, 3-2.

Carly Goodwin spun a 13-strikeout two-hitter, and Sigourney handed Remsen St. Mary’s its first loss of the season, 3-1, in a Class 1A state softball quarterfinal.

Martensdale-St. Marys pitcher Campbell German surrendered three hits, all to Claire Aulwes, and the top-ranked Blue Devils edged Edgewood-Colesburg, 2-1, in a Class 1A state softball quarterfinal.

Peyton Grabenbauer’s grand slam capped a seven-run second inning, and East Marshall beat Lisbon, 8-1, in a Class 2A state softball quarterfinal.

No. 1 Benton Community scored four times in the first inning and handled Solon 5-1 in a Class 3A state softball quarterfinal. Lexie Pippert had the key blow, a three-run double.

Jersey Metz held PCM without a hit in the final five innings, and Williamsburg’s bats came around in an 8-3 win. The Raiders reached the Class 3A state softball semifinals for the fifth straight year.

Ava Husak starred in the circle (two-hitter) and at the plate (three-run homer) in No. 1 North Polk’s 7-2 win over Western Dubuque in a Class 4A state softball quarterfinal.

Mack Mohler smoked a home run and two doubles, and top-ranked West Des Moines Valley looked the part in an 11-1 five-inning victory over Cedar Rapids Prairie in a Class 5A state softball tournament quarterfinal Monday morning.

State softball 2024: When Shannon Finn arrived, the Williamsburg program elevated. Along with Baylie Von Ahsen, Finn will make her fifth straight state appearance for the 3A defending-champion Raiders.

Capsules on the eight Gazette area teams that have qualified for the Iowa high school state softball tournament, plus predictions for each class.

Prep softball: Pairings for the 2024 Iowa high school state tournament.

Riley Redig’s three-run homer with two outs in the seventh inning sent Cedar Rapids Prairie past Cedar Rapids Kennedy, 3-2, and into the state softball tournament.

Iowa women’s basketball freshman Ava Heiden is fascinated by the state of Iowa’s thunderstorms — and fireworks. A 6-foot-4 post, Heiden headlines the Hawkeyes’ freshman class; she was ranked No. 42 nationally by ESPN.