The state softball tournament began Monday night in Fort Dodge with the opening round in Class 1A. Edgewood-Colesburg was the class 1A runner-up last summer and that experience showed on Monday night. The Vikings scored three runs in the first inning against sixth-rated Akron-Westfield and cruised to a 4-0 win. Ed-Co coach Kevin Schuchmann says Akron-Westfield likes to score the first run, and chose to be visitors so they’d have the first at-bat. But Akron-Westfield ended the bottom of the first without scoring, and Schuchmann told his team they had to get some runs on the board. Schuchmann says tournament experience means a great deal, especially in preparation. Schuchmann says they knew “how the ball was going to bounce on the field” and he says his team was “real relaxed” in their opener. Megan Brue from fourth-ranked Underwood took a no hitter and a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the sixth, but the Comets broke through with three runs in the inning and posted a 3-1 victory. Junior outfielder Katie Kilburg provided the game-winner with a single that drove in Bellevue’s first two runs — after getting some advice from assistant coach Jack Grutz who told her to think “line drive.”Sabrina Swanson broke up a pitching dual for third-ranked Cardinal of Eldon. Swanson’s one out single to left scored the game’s only two runs as the Comets held off the upset bid by West Marshall for a 2-0 victory.Cardinal scored ten or more runs in five of their tournament games but the Comets were kept off balance by West Marshall pitcher Cindy Smith. Swanson just told herself she had to get a hit because her team needed the runs.Top-ranked South Hamilton closed out the 1A quarterfinals with a 4-0 win over Laurens-Marathon. Coach Jolene Voga says her team suffered from nerves in its tournament appearance last year, but that experience helped last night. She says her team is resolved to have a good time this year — but she says they’re on a mission, too. In the class 2A opening round, second-ranked Forest City got by unranked MFL-MAR-MAC 1-0 and Forest City coach Paul Jensen was not surprised it was so close. Jensen says he knew it was going to be a tough game because he believes MFL-MAR-MAC should have been ranked, and had been in the rankings until they lost some games at a tournament while their pitcher was on a college visit.Seventh-ranked Solon rolled to a 10-0 win over third-rated Spirit Lake. Solon coach John Begley. Begley didn’t expect it would be that easy for his team, but he says the girls kept “hitting the ball all over the place and kept it up all night.”
