FORT DODGE — Grand View Christian made history on July 22, becoming the first team to battle back from an opening-round loss in the Iowa high school state softball tournament to reach the championship game.
The Thunder did it with two comeback wins over Iowa City Regina on July 22.
GVC rallied from two deficits to take down the Regals to open the day by an 11-8 score and then came back from a 2-0 deficit in a winner-take-all game to claim a 4-2 victory. The two wins pushed GVC (30-4) to a spot in Thursday’s state title game in its first-ever trip to the state tournament.
The top-seeded Thunder took full advantage of the first year of the double-elimination format.
A 4-3 upset loss to No. 8 seed Cardinal in the opening round of the tournament would have ended their season in every previous year of the tournament. But thanks to the new format, they were able to rally their way back to the championship game after defeating Hinton (7-4) and winning a rematch with Cardinal (11-3) before sweeping Regina.
The Thunder won its second game with Regina on July 22 despite not getting a base hit over the first five innings of play. But in the sixth, they broke through in a big way.
Jada Rogers hit a leadoff single for GVC’s first hit of the game to start the bottom of the sixth. Star shortstop Livy VanDerSluis followed with an infield hit, and then Maiah Murphy came through with a huge two-run single up the middle to tie the score.
With two outs and a runner on first, Harper Rosado stepped to the plate and hit a clutch double to left field to push across the go-ahead run. Grace Kruse then tripled to right field, scoring Rosado to complete the rally.
In the bottom of the inning, GVC ace Chloe Cox retired the Regals in order to send the Thunder to the 2A championship game.
Cox got the win after giving up just five hits and one walk and finishing with one strikeout.
The first game between the two teams earlier in the day saw GVC rally from deficits of 4-1 and 8-6 to come out on top.
The Thunder took a 6-4 lead in the first game on a two-run homer from Cox. Regina came back with four runs in the top of the sixth, sparked by an RBI double from Keegan Kleppe and RBI singles from Harper Erwin and Brooklyn Armentrout.
But then GVC exploded for five runs in the bottom of the sixth thanks to a three-run homer from Sophie Bird and a two-run bomb from Rosado. Thunder pitcher Eperlie Weitzel then retired Regina in order in the top of the seventh to keep GVC’s season alive.
Bird and Rosado both knocked in three runs and Cox and Murphy two apiece in the first game. Weitzel allowed two runs on four hits with two strikeouts and Cox gave up six runs on 10 hits with two strikeouts.
Regina’s Lily Nibaur and Erwin both had three hits and they combined for three runs and three RBIs in the first game. Nibaur gave up 11 runs — just five earned — on 12 hits with one strikeout and a walk in six innings as the losing pitcher in the first game.
Regina finished 2-2 at the state tournament and the Regals ended the season with a 23-11 record.
Joe Randleman covers high school sports for the Ames Tribune. Contact him at jrandleman@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JoeRandleman
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: GVC rallies past Regina twice to earn spot in Iowa softball title game
Reporting by Joe Randleman, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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By Joe Randleman, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
