Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

DYERSVILLE – Paisley Gardner has been in and out of the Regina lineup all season.

Over the last few weeks Gardner has spent more time out of the lineup than she has in it, making just one start in the Regal’s last five games.

Leading up to Monday night’s Class 2A Region 4 title game against Dyersville Beckman head coach Jon Prottsman had a feeling about Gardner.

“I’ve been going on or off with her,” Prottsman said of Gardner. “If she went one game and she wouldn’t do anything I would sit her down and put someone else in.”

On Monday Prottsman went with Gardner and the junior designated player made it the right decision.

Gardner blasted a three-run home run as eighth-ranked Regina (27-11) returned to the state tournament with a 5-0 win over No. 7 Beckman (30-12) in front of an overflow crowd in Dyersville.

“It was a great feeling,” Gardner said. “I just thought I would hit a pop fly or a ground ball so it felt amazing to contribute to the team. It just got everybody going.”

Gardner entered Monday hitting .2227 and mired in a 1-for-29 slump.

She hadn’t had a hit since June 24 and wasn’t in the lineup for the Regals regional semifinal win over Wilton.

That didn’t stop Prottsman from putting Gardner in the number eight spot in the Regina lineup Monday.

“I thought this was the kind of pitcher she can hit,” Prottsman said. “She has a big sweeping swing and if she makes contact she can hit it a long ways and she did once and that was very important to us.”

Gardner made Prottsman’s call pay off when she lofted a Sydney Steffen pitch over the left field fence in the second inning.

The third home run of the season for Gardner gave Regina a 3-0 cushion that would never be threatened.

“She was pitching me mostly outside and then threw one kind of toward the middle of the plate,” Gardner said. “I wasn’t sure if it was going to get out.  I was just hoping it would get over the fence.”

The second-inning home run by Gardner was an early boost for Regina in the 5-0 win.

Prottsman is hoping it provides a late season lift for Gardner who had 14 hits including two runs in 37 at bats to open the season.

“It was really big for us early in the game to give us a lead and it was good for Paisley,” Prottsman said. “This is a girl who hit well the first part of the year and has struggled the last part of the year.”

The Gardner homer and another strong postseason performance by senior pitcher Sarah Lehman was enough to send Regina back to the state tournament for the third straight season.

Lehman struck out 13 in a two-hit shutout while improving to 14-1 in postseason games in her career.

Regina will face sixth-ranked North Union (30-6) in the Class 2A state quarterfinals on Monday at 1:30 p.m. at Rogers Sports Complex in Fort Dodge.

“I was throwing all my pitches and they were all somewhat working,” Lehman said. “It helped to have a variety.”

Katie Bracken and Taylor O’Conner opened the Regina second inning with back-to-back infield hits.

Following a Maeve Dunne sacrifice Gardner put Regina on top with her home run to left field.

That was enough for Lehman who allowed just two fourth inning singles while lowering her season ERA to 1.06.

“She is not hitting all her spots but when she is missing she isn’t very far and they can’t tune in or her and that’s the big thing,” Prottsman said. “She was spotting her pitches really good the last two innings.”

Beckman put runners on second and third with one out in the fourth but Lehman got a strike out and a ground ball to O’Conner at third to escape the jam.

Lehman retired the final 11 batters she faced, striking out the side in the sixth.

“I was worried about the fourth inning they started hitting the ball a little bit,” Prottsman said. “I was watching her very close in the fifth and sixth and they had their guns up but she was very good.”

Lehman limited a Beckman offense that ranked third in Class 2A in runs that had scored 27 runs in two postseason games to just three baserunners.

“We wanted to keep their fast girls off base and try not to give the good hitters anything to hit,” Lehman said. “For the most part that worked.”

Dyersville Beckman              000  000  0  –  0  2  3

Regina                                    030  002  x  –  5  8  0

W – Sarah Lehman                 L – Sydney Steffen

2B – ICR: Jess Hunter

HR – ICR: Paisley Gardner