(Ft. Dodge, IA) — Audubon hopes there is a little more magic in their wheel on Friday night at 5:00 pm as they take on the top seeded Van Meter Bulldogs in the 2A State Softball Championship game, coverage on 96.5 FM KSOM.
Audubon has been a better act than Harry Houdini or David Blaine with dramatic, magical walk off victories in their last 3 games — a 1-0 win over Maple Valley in Regional Finals, a 4-3 victory over West Monona, and Wednesday’s come from behind 3-2 win over Eddyville in the Semifinals. It was Senior Michelle Brooks who delivered the game winning hit against the Rockets, with a rocket of her own down the right field line and the Audubon County Fair Queen was Queen of the Diamond and moved the Wheelers to the title game.
Freshman starting pitcher Riley Miller allowed 3 runs on 4 hits with 6 strikeouts versus West Monona and then came back in the semis and allowed just 2 runs on 3 hits; she retired 10 of the first 11 batters she faced then got the last 10 in a row to end the game. Audubon Head Coach Andrea Schwery says Miller has responded really well to being in the spotlight
The Wheelers have 6 Seniors in their starting line up and all are major contributors. CF Mattie Nielsen, C Jordan Porsch, 1B Alexis Obermeier, 2B Addie Hocker, 3B Michelle Brooks and RF Gemini Goodwin are all getting the chance to end their high school careers as a state champion. Schwery says they have been the glue to hold it all together
Van Meter will present a tough test, the #1 seeded Bulldogs have just one loss, a 2-1 defeat to Winterset back in late May. Grand View signee Maddie Waldorf leads Van Meter in the circle with a 27-1 record and 0.76 ERA and 288 strikeouts in 176 innings. She is also hitting .513 with 9 HR and 57 RBI. The Bulldogs have 101 extra base hits on the season and have stolen 185 bases. Their gawdy stats though did not impress East Marshall who took them to 8 innings before falling on a walk off HR from Mady Schnell in the 8th inning to win 4-3. Schwery says her team gained confidence from watching the game
Audubon (29-4) battles Van Meter (42-1), game time Friday night is at 5 pm, coverage on 96.5 FM KSOM.
