(Area) On Monday KSOM/KS95.7 Sports kicked off a new web feature which takes a look back in the archives at state tournament qualifications for our immediate coverage area schools. Softball is front and center today. Cross Country is coming up next with football on tap for the end of the week.
In case you missed it
Baseball
Softball State Qualifiers
AGCC: None
(Guthrie Center 2)
This season will be just the fourth summer for the Chargers. Adair-Casey never made a state tourney. Guthrie Center played at state in both the fall and summer seasons of 1971.
AHSTW: None
Atlantic: 2 (2016, 2018)
Coach Terry Hinzmann led the Trojans to Fort Dodge twice in a three year stretch. The 2016 tourney run featured postseason wins over Red Oak (11-0), Shenandoah (3-2), and Kuemper Catholic (2-1). Catherine Leonard and Gabby Jordahl each drove in runs in the regional final victory and Ally Anderson pitched the win. Alexis Handel and Brooke Newell were big bats in the lineup throughout the season. Handel hit .500 as a sophomore with 10 homers and 46 RBI. Newell hit .370 with one home run and 40 RBI. In 2018 their path to state included wins against Shenandoah (4-1), Creston (8-2), and Clarke (2-1). Anderson pitched a three-hitter in the regional final. Handel had another monster year at the plate with a .962 slugging percentage, 11 home runs, and 54 RBI.
Audubon: None
CAM: None
Exira-EHK: None
(Elk Horn-Kimballton: 1)
Exira-EHK has been together for only ten years, but long before the merger with Elk Horn-Kimballton and Exira there was one trip to state between the two. Elk Horn-Kimballton made it in 1978 led by Jana Petersen (Smith) among others.
Griswold: 1 (1985)
The Tigers posted a 29-11 record on their way to the only state appearance in school history in the summer of ’85.
Harlan: 12 (77, 78, 79*, 80, 81, 88, 89, 97, 06, 07, 10)
The Cyclones have a pair of runner-up finishes and three third place showings among their dozen state trips. Pitcher Marcia Jacobsen (1980) went into the Hall of Fame in 2006.
*Fall and Spring
Nodaway Valley: 1 (2011)
The Wolverines and coach Ray Stewart punched their ticket to state with a dramatic 5-4 win over Logan-Magnolia in the regional finals. They also beat Colfax-Mingo and West Central Valley in their run up to the state tourney. At state they placed 7th thanks to a consolation win against Missouri Valley. Their state tourney losses were to Mid-Prairie (Wellman) and Estherville-Lincoln Central. Key players included, but were not limited to: Lindsey Hight, Brittni Johnson, Maddie Eblen, Paige Jones, Sara Kerber, Katey Havens, Bethni Johnson, Jennifer Beitz, Jenna Stalder, and McKinzie Boes.
Riverside: 3 (96, 98, 09)
(Carson-Macedonia: 3)
Riverside’s highest finish at state came in 1996 when they placed 4th. Qualifications for Carson-Macedonia came in 1956, 1985, and 1993. In 2005 Donnell Hotze (Class of ’96) was inducted into the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union Softball Hall of Fame.
