State softball title games locked in

The 2023 Iowa high school state softball tournament has nearly reached its conclusion.

Five classes of Iowa softball now know who will be playing for state titles, as well as third-place finals.

  Buy Photo

In Class 1A, the top two seeds in No. 1 Martensdale-St. Marys and No. 2 North Linn will battle it out for the title.

Martensdale-St. Marys took down No. 4 Wayne in the semifinals 9-0, while North Linn edged No. 6 Clarksville 2-1.

Wayne and Clarksville will play for third.

The title game will take place on Friday at 7:30 and the third-place bout will be at 6 p.m.

Much like 1A, 2A will be No. 1 vs. No. 2.

No. 1 Regina Catholic will take on No. 2 Van Meter for the championship.

Regina Catholic was a 13-1 winner over No. 5 Interstate 35, while Van Meter went the distance with No. 3 Central Springs and was victorious 10-9.

Interstate 35 and Central Springs will play at 3:30 on Friday for third, while Regina Catholic and Van Meter will play for the title at 5 p.m.

Class 3A will be another one-two matchup. No. 1 Williamsburg will take on No. 2 Davenport Assumption, the same Assumption squad that knocked Washington out in the regional semifinals.

After thrashing Albia 11-1 in the quarterfinals, Williamsburg ran past Estherville-Lincoln Central 8-0 in the semifinals.

Assumption shut down Saydel 5-0 in the quarterfinals, but then had some trouble with Wahlert Catholic in the semis. The Knights had to hold off a fierce seventh-inning rush from Wahlert for a 7-5 victory.

Class 4A continued to be the wildest bracket in recent memory, as the bottom two seeds in the tournament have now advanced to the final.

No. 8 North Scott, fresh off a 7-4 upset over top-ranked North Polk in the quarterfinals defeated fourth-ranked Norwalk 6-4 in one semifinal game. In the other, the same seventh-seeded Winterset team that upset No. 2 Carlisle 11-5 in the quarterfinals pulled off a 6-4 extra inning win over No. 3 Fort Dodge to reach the state final.

Class 5A saw No. 6 Pleasant Valley and No. 7 Muscatine show down in a semifinal after Pleasant Valley upset No. 3 Waukee Northwest 5-4 and Muscatine shut out No. 2 Ankeny 3-0 in the quarterfinals. It was Pleasant Valley that prevailed, winning -1.

On the other side of the Class 5A bracket, No. 1 Ankeny Centennial continued to roll. The Jaguars followed their 7-1 win over No. 8 Bettendorf in the quarterfinals by 10-run ruling No. 4 Southeast Polk 11-1 in five innings.