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Washington Evening Journal
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Gorsh’s two key hits lift Raiders past Benton Community
Raiders advance to eighth-straight regional final
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
WILLIAMSBURG — This one took some grit. Some championship DNA some might say.
Benton Community gave WaMaC West rival and two-time defending Class 3A champion Williamsburg quite a battle in a 3A Region 2 softball semifinal Saturday.
The Raiders came out on top 3-2, advancing to their eighth-straight regional final.
“I know we’ve been here all my years of high school, but it does not change every year,” senior Alley Gorsh said. “It’s just as exciting.”
In a clean game defensively from both sides, and minimal scoring, the Raiders had the 6-3 hits advantage. Two of those six hits proved the difference in the game, and both came from the bat of Gorsh.
In the bottom of the first, Gorsh laid down a bunt that rolled just by the batter’s box as a fair ball. Makenna Hughes scored.
The next 4 1/2 innings of play saw only one hit.
Gorsh was up to bat again with Carly Rich on first following a walk in the bottom of sixth.
In Gorsh’s three at-bats, the Raiders’ senior was on top of many pitches, with several hard hits just a tad foul on the third-base side.
That changed in her final at-bat.
Gorsh blasted a two-run home run over left field to give the Raiders a 3-0 lead.
“I was seeing a lot of movement (on pitches),” said Gorsh. “She was throwing kind of where I like it on the inside. I told myself I needed to wait back, and it ended up working out.“
The Bobcats made things interesting in the seventh. A leadoff single from Ana Glawe set up a two-run home run from Layna DeMoss with no outs.
With just a one-run lead now, Jersey Metz stayed composed on the mound.
“I just put my blinders on,” Metz said. “I knew the girls behind me would be able to take anything that got at them. I threw strikes and we knew we could do it.“
The next three at-bats were a fly out, a ground out and a strike out to end the game.
The Raiders made no errors defensively behind a three-hitter from Metz.
“It shows that we work hard through continuous practice to not make errors,” Metz said.
A sixth straight state tournament berth will be on the line for the Raiders Tuesday as they welcome Eagle Grove.
The Eagles defeated Humboldt 11-10 in the other semifinal.
