Oskaloosa is going to the State Softball Tournament.  The Indians defeated Benton 4-3 Tuesday night (7/13) at Jay Harms Field on a walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh by Faith DeRonde.  She talks about that at bat.

“I heard the crowd say shorten up (my swing), but I knew I really had nothing to lose at this point.  It’s our inning.  I kind of felt it and I said ‘I’m just going to swing hard and stay on top of the ball’ and that’s exactly what I did–and it went.”

Oskaloosa outfielder Kaylee Johnson may have a future as a fortune teller because she sensed something would happen when DeRonde came to bat.

“I had a feeling. I had a really good feeling.  I looked up and I saw a parent from the other team in the crowd….and there was some look in her eye that was like  ‘Oh oh, something’s going to happen.’  Sure enough, there it went.  And I just knew it.  It’s Faith. She’s got us.”

Oskaloosa scored once in the first inning and once in the fourth to take a 2-0 lead.  Then Benton rallied for three runs in the fifth to take a 3-2 lead.  A Lucy Roach sacrifice fly in the sixth tied the game at 3 and set the stage for DeRonde’s heroics.  DeRonde was also the winning pitcher for the Indians, who are now 22-15 on the season and advance to the Class 4A State tournament for the fifth time in the last eight years.  The Indians’ first game at State will be next Tuesday, July 20 at 1pm against the number one seed Winterset.  You can hear live coverage of the Oskaloosa Indians at the State Softball tournament on KBOE-FM.

The other State Softball tournament matchups were released Tuesday night (7/13).  In Class 1A, Sigourney will play Southeast Warren Monday, July 19 at 11:30am.  You can hear the Sigourney Savages at State on KMZN AM & FM.  And in Class 2A, Pella Christian will face top seed Wilton Monday, July 19 at 3pm.