Fairfield flies to state

FAIRFIELD - Tuesday night was prom night at Fairfield High School, but members of their third-ranked softball team were busy making another date; one with the Class 4A state tournament next week in Fort Dodge.

The Trojans took an early lead on the Grayhounds and never trailed, fighting off a late Burlington rush and pouring on four runs in their final at-bat to punch their ticket with a 7-2 victory.

'It's a little surreal,” said senior pitcher Allison Rebling, who dominated a tough Grayhound lineup for most of the night. 'We're still a little shocked, trying to process it, but it's something we've wanted for a really long time.”

After stranding a Grayhound runner at second in the top of the first, Rebling's offense gave her two runs in the first inning. THE Trojans loaded the bases with one out and plated a run when Payton McCabe brought in a run with a walk. Hannah Simpson added another run by scoring on a wild pitch.

Though a patient Fairfield offense kept the pressure on all night, Burlington seemed to wiggle away from most situations. The Trojans left the bases loaded in the first inning, the third inning and the fourth inning. In the fourth, Jenna Norris drew a bases-loaded walk to stretch the lead to 3-0, but it was still a little too close for comfort, something that became much more evident in the top of the sixth.

For the first time all night, Rebling found herself in a bit of trouble. Burlington had runners at the corner and cleanup hitter Kayla Norton at the plate. Norton crushed a ball to left field and hit the top of the fence, narrowly missing a game-tying home run. Still, she plated two runs on a double, and Rebling needed to force a pop out to get out with the lead.

'As a pitcher, you hate giving up runs, especially in a close game like this,” Rebling said. 'All of my teammates told me, ‘We're going in the dugout, we're going to get hits, and we're going to help you out, and that's exactly what they did.'”

Fairfield loaded the bases in the sixth off Burlington's Adessa Brandenberg, the third Grayhound pitcher of the game behind Norton and Carly McGinity. This time, the Trojan offense came through with a couple of big hits to give Rebling plenty of insurance.

Norris sent a two-run single to the outfield to push the score to 5-2 and electrify Fairfield's home crowd. After Danielle Breen drew a walk to load the bases back up, twin sister Delaney delivered a two-run single of her own.

Burlington couldn't find a run in the seventh and the celebration was on, as the Trojans clinched their first state tournament berth since 2017.

'It feels extremely good,” said Shaylin Drish. 'It's a dream to make it to Fort Dodge, and to end my senior year with that is just incredible.”

Rebling, Drish and Gridley will all be ending their senior season at the state tournament. Rebling and Drish both have previous state tournament experience, but the rest of the crew will be cutting their teeth at Rogers Sports Complex.

The Trojans will go into the Class 4A bracket as the No. 3 seed. Fairfield will take on sixth-seeded Dallas Center-Grimes on Monday at 5 p.m.

'Without seeing other teams, it's sort of hard to say, but I would say if we play well, we can play with anybody in our class,” said head coach Bob Bradfield. 'We just need to play well in all three phases, and if we do, I think we'll be competitive with anybody that is up there.”