The North Mahaska Softball team advanced to the Class 1A Region 5 semifinals with a 4-0 win over Moravia last night. It was a pitchers duel early on, but a big Moravia error in the third inning led to three Warhawk runs and was the game changer. Moravia pitcher Autumn McDannel had struck out eight straight Warhawk batters through 2 1/3 innings, when Tessa Fuller and Haley Pinkerton reached on back to back singles, then on a Carly Ehret bunt attempt , the Moravia catcher overthrew the ball deep into right field and the Warhawks capitalized scoring three runs.

The Warhawks added another run on three more hits in the fifth inning, a double by Fuller, an RBI single by Pinkeron and a single by Emma DuCore to seal the win. DuCore, the eighth grade Warhawk pitcher allowed just four hits while striking out 10 and walking three for the win while despite striking out 13 McDannel suffered the loss for Moravia. At the plate Fuller was 2-3 with two runs scored, Pinkerton went 2-4 with an RBI, Mallory Klinker was 1-3 with a double and DuCore was 1-3 with a single.

North Mahaska improves to 14-18 overall and will travel to Sigourney to face Sigourney Friday night in the Class 1A Region 5 Semifinal after Sigourney hammered Moulton Udell last night 13-0 in three innings to advance. You can hear Fridays game live on 104.9 FM KBOE and kboeradio.com with Jamie Brockman starting around 6:45 pm.

Story Provided By Jamie Brockman

In postseason softball from last night, the area teams came up big in their games to advance to the next round in their make-up games.

In Class 1A Region 5, Keota dominated Harmony, 11-1, to earn a shot to face #2 New London in Eldon tonight. That game will be at 5 PM as the front end of a doubleheader. Following that contest will be Cardinal playing Van Buren, who took out Winfield-Mount Union by a 16-3 margin last night. In the bottom half of that bracket, Moravia beat Seymour comfortably, 10-0, and they will now face off against North Mahaska in New Sharon tonight. You can hear that game on the Mahaska Zone Network, on 104.9 FM KBOE and kboeradio.com. Jamie Brockman will be on the call, with the pregame starting around 6:45 for the 7 PM first pitch.

In Class 2A Region 6 last night, Pekin eased by Danville, 12-0 in four innings. Pekin now gets a shot at Class 2A’s #2 team, Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont. We will have that game for you from Eddyville tonight, as the Rockets start their trek back to the state tournament. Katelyn Buckalew and I will be on the call, with our pregame starting around 6:45 for the 7 PM first pitch. You can hear that game on the Mahaska Zone Network, 99.5 FM and AM 740 KMZN and on kboeradio.com.

The Class 3A and 4A brackets have been released in baseball, and the Oskaloosa Indians know they will dodge Pella until the substate final.

In Class 3A, the substate groupings were split in two districts. In District 11, Pella will face Fort Madison, and then would face either Fairfield or Keokuk in the District Final. Fairfield is the site for all three games, which could bode well for the Trojans, who were ranked for a large chunk of the season.

In District 12, Oskaloosa will play Centerville in the first round, and then would play Mount Pleasant or Chariton in the District Final. All games will be played in Oskaloosa, which is a break for the Indians. Should Osky win those two games, they would play in the Substate 6 Final for a trip to the state tournament. The site is yet to be determined.

The postseason begins for these teams on Friday, July 17^th.

Also starting on the 17^th is Substate 7, which is headlined by Knoxville. The Panthers will be the favorite to make it to state, but in District 13, they’ll have to beat Norwalk to get to Bondurant-Farrar or Winterset. They do get to host those games. Their potential substate final will be at Saydel on the 22^nd for a trip to the state tournament.

In Class 4A, the Ottumwa Bulldogs are in Substate 6, and will have to go on the road in the first round despite an 18-12 record. That game will be against City High out of Iowa City, who are 18-13-1 on the year. That six-team bracket will be reseeded when the three winners are determined, allowing one of the remaining teams to get the bye and only need one more win to go to state. That first round game will be on July 17^th.

For a complete list of all of the brackets in all four classes, check out this link: https://www.iahsaa.org/secure/brackets.php?sport=bs&year=2015