IGHSAU releases softball pairings

The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union released its 2022 postseason brackets on Friday, and there are some standout area matchups as local teams now know their road to the state tournament.

The Union area’s only Class 4A teams will be facing off in the first round of Region 5. No. 13 Fairfield will host Mt. Pleasant on July 7, with the winner playing at No. 12 Knoxville.

The Mt. Pleasant softball team has a team meeting late in the game against Burlington on June 9. The Panthers will travel to Fairfield in the Class 4A regional tournament. (Hunter Moeller/The Union)

Whoever comes out of that side of the bracket will likely travel to No. 2 Winterset. Winterset would have to get by either Oskaloosa or Pella first. The Class 4A semifinals take place on July 9, when the finals taking place July 12.

Two of the area’s Class 3A teams have to play ranked opponents in the first round. Mid-Prairie was placed in Region 4, where they will play against No. 11 Chariton. Washington will be in Region 8 where they will take on No. 8 West Burlington, the top seed in that region.

Also in Region 8 is Columbus. The Wildcats will be at Central Lee for the opening round, and would face either Washington or West Burlington with a win.

Those Class 3A games will take place on July 6, with semifinals being played on July 9, and finals being played July 12.

All of the area’s Class 2A teams were placed in Region 7. 14th-ranked Cardinal, Pekin and Van Buren County will all be in that region, which also holds No. 8 Louisa-Muscatine.

Van Buren County and Pekin will play on July 6 with the winner taking on the eighth-ranked Falcons in the semifinals. Cardinal will host either Mediapolis or Danville on the sixth. Those teams will play this Friday to earn that spot.

The local Class 1A bracket, Region 8, features five of the area’s squads, all playing in the opening round on July 1. Keota heads to Tri-County. Highland will host Hillcrest Academy. Winfield-Mount Union will travel to Holy Trinity, and New London will travel to Lone Tree.

The top seed in Region 8 is No. 7 Twin Cedars. They will host either Keota or Tri-County on July 6. No. 11 Sigourney is also in the mix, as the Savages will play host to Holy Trinity or WMU.

In Class 2A and Class 1A, semifinal games are July 8 and the finals are on July 11. In all classes, the highest-seeded remaining team hosts the championship.