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Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

FORT DODGE – Newcomer Alta-Aurelia put some early pressure on state tournament regular Regina with a run in the first inning of Monday’s Class 2A quarterfinal.

Defending champion Regina responded with its own style of pressure.

No. 10 Regina (24-15) used aggressive baserunning and some timely hitting to rattle off seven unanswered runs on its way to a 7-2 win over fifth-ranked Alta-Aurelia (22-4) at Rogers Sports Complex in Fort Dodge.

Regina set a 2A state tournament record with eight stolen bases and Katie Bracken and Paisley Gardner each drove in two runs in a four-run sixth inning as Regina returned to the state semifinals for the fourth consecutive season.

The Regals will face No. 4 Des Moines Christian (23-6) in the 2A semifinals on Wednesday at 5 p.m.

“We definitely had pressure on us early in the game,” Bracken said. “They put some pressure on us but I had confidence in everyone on our team.”

Regina managed just five hits and struck out 15 times against Alta-Aurelia ace Abby Kraemer who came to Fort Dodge leading the state striking out 2.2 batters per inning.

In between the strikeouts Regina drew nine walks which it used to steal eight bases and put up seven runs the most allowed by Alta-Aurelia this season.

“The walks today were great, I thought our discipline was excellent,” First-year Regina coach Jake Koolbeck said. “We only had five hits but had three really big ones. We will take it however we can get it this time of the year.”

It was Regina that felt the pressure early after Lily Peterson line an opposite field double off the left field fence in the bottom of the first inning to put Alta-Aurelia up 1-0.

Regina pulled even in the third as it began to put constant pressure on the Warrior defense.

The first Regina run came without the benefit of a hit as Carrigan O’Connor reached on a fielders choice, stole second, went to third on a passed ball and scored on a wild pitch.

Regina stole three bases in the third inning, setting a tone for the rest of the game.

“Our baserunning was very important,” Koolbeck said. “It was one of the things that we worked on all week, its one of the things that we’ve worked on all year, it’s a strength for us.”

Regina took its first lead in the fourth when Taylor O’Connor drew a leadoff walk, stole second and scored on a double by Ellie Gahan.

The Regals broke the game open in the sixth.

Three consecutive walks to Gahan, Emma Nibaur and Jess Hunter loaded the bases and Bracken lined a two-run single to center to push the lead to 4-1.

“I just tried to stay composed and calm and do the best I could,” Bracken said. “It felt good to come through.”

Senior Paisley Gardner followed with a two-run double to left to push the lead to 6-1.

“Those insurance runs were huge,” Koolbeck said. “For me as a coach watching my pitcher I feel great about Bracken any time but when you give her a few extra runs I feel really, really good.”

The lead was more than enough for Bracken who won her fourth straight game to improve to 16-13 on the season.

Bracken allowed two unearned runs on five hits, striking out eight and walking two in the complete game win.

“Just focusing on every pitch really helped,” Bracken said. “Knowing that I had the whole team behind me was a good feeling.”

Kraemer entered with a .90 ERA and 341 strikeouts, second most in the state.

The junior right-hander walked 49 batters all season and never more than five in a game before issuing nine free passes to Regina on Monday.

“We talked a lot all week about rise balls, about staying disciplined in the zone, having a good approach at the plate and identifying that pitch up and laying off of it for as long as we could,” Koolbeck said. “It wasn’t perfect, she put up a good number of strikeouts. I told our kids we are going to strikeout, she’s a good pitcher, it’s going to happen we just have to work on the next at bat and continue to fight and finds ways on base.”

Emma Sueppel, Taylor O'Connor and Carrigan O'Connor each stole two bases while Hunter and Annie Gahan as Regina swiped eight bases to break the 2A state tournmaent record set by Fort Dodge St. Edmond in 2015.

“We definitely use our speed to our advantage,” Bracken said. “We just try to run the bases as aggressive as we can.”

Class 2A State Quarterfinal

Regina            001  104  1  –  7  5  1

Alta-Aurelia      100  000  1  –  2  5  1

W – Katie Bracken     L – Abby Kraemer

2B – ICR: Ellie Gahan, Paisley Gardner; AA: Lily Peterson