Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

The month of July means one thing for softball teams in Iowa, the postseason is here.

Win or go home games begin on Monday with the opening of regional play in Class 1A and 2A with postseason play beginning for all classes later in the week.

Every team enters the postseason with the same objective, securing a trip to the state tournament that runs July 17-21 at Rogers Sports Complex in Fort Dodge.

Here are five things to watch as postseason play gets under way for area teams.

Lehman Saves The Best For Last

Regina is seeking a third straight state tournament berth and senior Sarah Lehman is a big reason why the Regals have appeared in the 2A title game each of the past two seasons.

A first team all-state pitcher each of the last two seasons, Lehman has done the best work of her career in the postseason.

Lehman is 11-1 with a .54 ERA in her career in the postseason, striking out 135 while allowing 39 hits in 90 postseason innings.

In 12 career postseason starts over the past two seasons Lehman has averaged 10.5 strikeouts per seven innings, fanning more than 10 in nine of those starts.
The hard-throwing right-hander has allowed one or fewer earned runs in nine of her 12 career postseason starts and has never allowed more than two.

Lehman is 10-6 with a 1.26 ERA and 188 strikeouts in 111 1/3 innings this season helping No.7 Regina to a 24-11 record.

Finding the July 1 Team

The plan for every team is to be playing its best at the end of the season.

Few have been able to do that as well over the past half a decade than Solon.

Solon is seeking its seventh straight state tournament appearance this season after finishing in the top three at the state tournament each of the past three seasons.

The Spartans have made a habit of playing their best in July under head coach Jim White.

Solon has never lost a regional game under White and is 18-4 in the postseason under its fifth-year head coach.

Over the past five seasons Solon is 38-6 in July games and started the month with a 12-3 win over Roland-Story on Saturday in Ottumwa.

Class 3A No. 7 Solon (27-12) enters the postseason with the most losses of any season under White but has 10 straight regional games under White outscoring opponents 89-20.

 “Jim always tells us we are going to be our best by July 1st,” Solon senior Jess Heick said following a 17-1 loss to Western Dubuque last Monday. “We just sat down between games and said let’s find our July 1st team and I think that’s what we did.”

A Third Shot

With 18 wins City High has already shown how much it has improved from past seasons.

The Little Hawks are one win from matching their win total from the previous two seasons combined.

In its postseason opener City High gets a chance to show how far it has come this season.

City High was swept in a season-opening doubleheader by Davenport North (17-22) and will get a third shot against the Wildcats on Thursday in a Class 5A Region 7 quarterfinal.

Davenport North outscored City High 25-2 in a pair of five-inning wins in the season-opening sweep back on May 22.

If City High can avenge its earlier losses to Davenport North it will get another shot at Cedar Rapids Kennedy which also earned a regular season sweep of the Little Hawks.

You Again?

West High have Mississippi Valley Conference rivals City High or Cedar Rapids Kennedy awaiting in the Class 5A Region 7 title game.

In order to get to that point West High will have to get past what is quickly turning into its postseason nemesis.

West High (23-13) will face Davenport West (31-8) in postseason for the third time in the past four seasons when they meet the Falcons in the Region 7 semifinals on Saturday in Davenport.

Each of the last two meetings have ended in disappointment for West High.

Davenport West won a 7-1 regional semifinal matchup in 2014 and scored four runs in the first inning and held on for a 5-4 win in the regional final last year.

West High opened the season 3-11 but has won 20 of 22 since while Davenport West enters the postseason riding a 13-game winning streak.

“We are at the point we know what we can do,” West High coach Justin Lutjen said. “When we put it together we know how good we are.”

Not Your Ordinary Rookies

City High eighth-graders Ella Cook, Ayana Lindsey and Carey Koenig have been leading City High since the season opener.  

The trio has been one of the most successful eighth-grade groups in the state this season.

They won’t be the only eighth-graders making their playoff debuts for area teams this week.

West Branch has its own talented group of newcomers led by leadoff hitter Nicki Henson who leads the Bears with a .523 batting average, 57 hits, 39 runs and 32 stolen bases.

Henson joins classmates Lexie Peak, Chloe Pence and Maddy Hatfield as full-time starters for West Branch which hosts Wapsie Valley in the Class 2A Region 4 quarterfinals on Monday.

Clear Creek Amana eighth-grader Peyton Grafft has established herself as the Clippers number two pitcher, posting a 6-8 record in 87 innings.

West High has a pair of first-year players in its starting lineup.

Cynthia Hull is batting .378 with four homeruns and 27 RBI and Miranda Jones has been the regular first baseman for West High.