Top seeds prevail in local regionals

The Class 3A, 2A and 1A regional finals were played on Monday night, and the local small school regionals ended pretty chalky. The top seed in every local regional held home field to advance to the state tournament in Fort Dodge next week.

The Union coverage area's only Class 3A teams were both bounced by No. 2 Davenport Assumption. The top-seeded Knights took out Columbus 12-0(3) in the opening round, and beat Mid-Prairie 12-0(3) in the semifinals.

Assumption continued to dominate Class 3A Region 8 on Monday night with a 10-0(5) win over West Liberty. The Knights scored six runs in the first inning to jump on top, and then added one in the second and three in the third. The Knights will get the No. 2 seed at the Class 3A state tournament.

Class 2A Region 8 featured three of the Union coverage area's teams. Van Buren County knocked out Cardinal 4-3 in a thrilling regional opener, and both VBC and Pekin met their ends in the quarterfinals. VBC was outlasted by No. 2 Louisa-Muscatine, 7-4, and Pekin was edged 2-1 by West Branch.

After nipping West Branch 6-5 in the semifinals, Louisa-Muscatine scored a comeback victory on Monday night against No. 13 Wilton. The Falcons trailed 2-0 going into the bottom of the second inning, but put up five runs in their half of the fifth and held on for a 5-2 victory. L & M will be the No. 2 seed in the Class 2A state tournament.

The Class 1A Region 6 tournament was one of the wildest brackets in Southeast Iowa. The bracket featured three Union coverage area teams; Keota, New London and Winfield-Mt. Union.

Keota was beaten 10-0(5) in the opening round. Winfield-Mt. Union was upset 5-1 by New London, and the Tigers took their Cinderella run all the way to the regional championship game. No. 4 Lynnville-Sully, who had to battle to the bitter end to beat Sigourney 15-14 (12) in the regional semifinals was able to shut down New London 5-0 on Monday night.

Lynnville-Sully was given the No. 4 seed in the class 1A state softball tournament.

Class 1A Region 8 featured two Union coverage area teams; Highland and Hillcrest Academy. The Huskies used a 10-run third inning to bounce the Ravens 13-1(3) in the first round. Highland was upset by Lone Tree in the regional quarterfinals, falling 2-1.

No. 8 Lisbon, who took the top seed in the regional, had a surprisingly tough test in their quarterfinal, nipping Hartwick-Ladora-Victor 5-3, but the Lions cruised from that point forward. Lisbon knocked out Lone Tree 8-2 in the semifinals and eliminated No. 13 Central City in Monday night's regional final.

Lisbon was able to jump one spot on the seeding line after No. 5 Bishop Garrigan was blasted 10-0 by Newman Catholic in their regional final. Lisbon will take the No. 7 seed into the Class 1A state tournament.