Sports Calendar: July 9
Before we go into the regional softball match-ups, we do have a couple of baseball games scheduled for Wednesday.
The marathon continues for the Red Oak baseball team as they play another two games today. Red Oak first plays at noon at Legion Park when they host Kuemper Catholic, making up a game that was postponed June 19.
Later in the afternoon, Red Oak travels to Clarinda and will play Clarinda Academy in a game that was originally scheduled for June 21. The action starts at 5 p.m.
In Pride of Iowa action, Southwest Valley plays a JV/varsity doubleheader versus Southeast Warren. The first game starts at 6 p.m. in Corning. The games are being made-up from a June 27 rainout.
Finally, the Griswold baseball team will be home and will face Tri-Center, instead of Essex. The games will be starting at 6 p.m.
Regional Softball Preview
The quarterfinals kick off Wednesday night for both Class 1A and 2A.
Class 2A
Southwest Valley will be competing in the Class 2A region 7 tournament. They will travel to Irwin Wednesday evening to take on IKM-Manning.
The Timberwolves defeated Nodaway Valley Tuesday night by an 8-3 score to start the regional tournament. With the win, they're now 11-13 for the season.
IKM-Manning is one of the top teams around the state, fielding a 23-4 record for the season and champions of the Western Iowa Conference. They had a bye in the first round.
This will be the first meeting between the two teams this season.
The other quarterfinal games scheduled for Wednesday night in Region 7 of Class 2A includes Panorama at St. Edmond, Ogden versus Prairie Valley and Van Meter at Earlham.
The semifinals will take place Friday night. Should Southwest Valley win, they would play in the semifinals against the winner of Earlham/Van Meter Friday at 7 p.m. in Earlham.
Class 1A
In Class 1A, the season continues for three area teams in Region 7.
Griswold will serve as the host site for a doubleheader of quarterfinals games.
It all starts at 5:30 p.m. when Stanton faces Exira-EHK. The Viqueens defeated Nishnabotna 12-0 in three innings Monday night to advance to the quarterfinals.
With the win Monday night, Stanton has won five straight games. It's been a turnaround for Stanton in the second half of the season after starting the year with a 1-4 record.
The Viqueens rallied through the conference and now stand a chance at finishing second in the Corner Conference. (Depending on the East Mills/Essex game next week).
Stanton's top two batters in the line-up, Macy Elwood and Carmen Subbert, have been the key for this season. The two lead the team in all batting statistics.
Subbert has a .519 batting average with a .559 OBP and .611 slugging for the season. Elwood has a .471 batting average with a .550 on-base percentage this season.
Stanton has also had top pitcher Kylee Johnson step up this season. Johnson has an 8-6 record for the season, having a 3.96 ERA with 50 strikeouts in 74 1/3 innings pitched.
It's a rematch from last season as Exira-EHK defeated Stanton in last year's regional quarterfinals 3-2.
Exira-EHK enters the regional tournament as one of the top teams in state. Their lone loss on their 22-1 mark came June 25, 2-1, versus Charter Oak-Ute. Since the loss, they've won six straight games, five of them via shutout.
Rachel Smith is the common denominator for Exira-EHK for those last two seasons. Smith has been dominant in the circle this season, recording a 20-1 record and giving up eight runs, only one earned, in 133 innings. Her 281 strikeouts leads Class 1A.
Griswold will be playing the second game of the doubleheader when they face CAM. The game is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. start.
The Tigers have won three straight games entering the postseason. They had a first round bye.
CAM meanwhile defeated Orient-Macksburg 16-4 in three innings Monday night to advance to the quarterfinals.
This will be the second meeting this season between the two teams. Griswold won the first meeting 13-3 on June 10.
Jackie Rush has been the key player for Griswold this season. Rush leads the team in all the offensive categories, with the exception of runs batted in (Brooke Hansen leads with 21).
One of CAM's player to watch is Tehya Hansen. Hansen has a .440 batting average with one home run, 23 runs and 15 RBIs this season. CAM also has Allyson Beaty and Felicity Jackson as key players.
The other quarterfinal games will take place at two different sites. Martensdale St. Marys is one of the quarterfinalists as they host Guthrie Center in Martensdale.
The winner of Griswold/CAM plays the winner of MSM/Guthrie Center Friday at 7 p.m. in Martensdale.
Tabor is the other site as Fremont-Mills hosts Essex.
The Trojanettes defeated Sidney Tuesday night 10-4 to reach the quarterfinals. Fremont-Mills meanwhile defeated East Mills 7-1 to advance to the quarterfinals.
This will be the third meeting of the season for the teams. Fremont-Mills won both meetings May 27 (10-4) and June 13 (14-10).
The winner of Fremont-Mills/Essex will play the winner of Stanton/Exira-EHK Friday at 7 p.m. in Red Oak.