The Oskaloosa softball team completed their first goal of the season by qualifying for the state softball tournament in Fort Dodge with their 6-0 victory over Mount Pleasant Tuesday night.
But the journey will not end there for the Indians. Osky is going to have a legitimate chance to bring home the Class 4A state championship, as they are the second-highest ranked team to make it into the bracket.
The #6 Indians (27-7) draw #15 Perry (24-12), who ended Dallas Center-Grimes’ season Tuesday night, ending their three-year run as Class 4A state champs. In the other quarterfinal on that half of the Class 4A bracket, #9 Fairfield (27-11), the only other area team to qualify for state, will face #14 Creston (24-11).
In the top half of the bracket, top-ranked Carlisle (36-6) will face unranked Charles City (24-10), while #12 Boone (26-9) will face #13 Bishop Heelan (26-10).
The top half gets the bracket started on Tuesday, July 19th at 1:30 PM on Mittera Field at Harlan Rogers Park in Fort Dodge. Osky will be playing around 7:30 PM on that same field in the last game of the day.
Here is the full Class 4A bracket:
All the state action begins Monday, July 18th, however, as Class 1A, 2A, and 5A will begin play with Class 3A and 4A playing Tuesday. The lower three classes were not nearly as chaotic with upsets as Class 4A and 5A, as they all have four of their top five ranked teams all in the state bracket.
In Class 1A, top-ranked Akron-Westfield should be considered a heavy favorite. The perennial powerhouse will have plenty of top competition to play, but get their start against unranked West Harrison. Belle Plaine will be a sizeable underdog after dispatching Montezuma in the regional final, as they face #2 Kee. #5 New London, who beat Sigourney to get to state, faces #9 Newell-Fonda.
Here is the full Class 1A bracket:
In Class 2A, #1 Durant is the headliner in the only bracket of the five classes that has all eight spots occupied by ranked teams. #13 BCLUW is their first opponent. #6 Van Meter, who defeated Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont in the regional final, will face #5 Interstate-35 in a good matchup in the quarterfinals. #7 Iowa City Regina, who walked off with a 2-1 win over Pella Christian in the regional final round, will play #4 North Union in the quarters.
The entire Class 2A bracket looks like this:
In Class 3A, the bracket is loaded with four of the top contenders in the state still alive. #1 Benton Community will face unranked Estherville-LC in a favorable first round matchup. #2 Davenport Assumption, who took out Albia in the regional final, will face #15 Atlantic in the quarterfinals. #3 Solon and #5 Mount Vernon also will be tough outs in a load bracket.
Here is what Class 3A looks like as a whole:
Finally, Class 5A saw some unexpected upsets, as #1 Cedar Rapids Kennedy was upset by unranked Cedar Rapids Prairie, 2-1, at home Tuesday night. CR Prairie now draws the top team left, #2 West Des Moines Valley, who should be a big favorite to advance. #14 Fort Dodge could be a dark horse to make a deep run, as they upset Waukee in the regional semifinals to eliminate the defending champs. Fort Dodge would then get a 10-run victory over Sioux City East to punch their ticket to state. Future Little Hawkeye Conference team Indianola, who is ranked #12 coming into the state tournament, will face #7 Urbandale in the quarterfinals.
Here is what the Class 5A bracket looks like:
We will have full coverage from Fort Dodge with the Oskaloosa Indians, and you can hear their games live on 99.5 FM/740 AM KMZN, the KMZN mobile app, and radiokmzn.com, with the pregame show starting around 7:15 PM for their quarterfinal matchup against Perry.
