Top-ranked teams win in 2-A, 3-A softball

Top-ranked Solon claimed a 2-A first-round showdown with Cardinal at the state softball tournament. Quinn Morelock drove a two-out homer deep into the centerfield seats in the top of the first and it would be the only run in a 1-0 victory. Morelock came into the game with 22 homers and, despite a stiff breeze blowing out, did not expect to be walked. She says she’s struck out before on the change-up, but says she got a pitch she could get ahold of and hit it out. Morelock is now one shy of Iowa’s all-time, single-season-best of 24. Morelock’s homer was the only mistake by Cardinal pitcher Alyssa Fligg, who yielded only three hits and struck out nine.The Comets had two chances to score. They had runners on second and third and nobody out in the third and the bases loaded and one out in the fifth but came away empty both times.The Comets won back-to-back 1A titles before moving up a class. Solon won the 2A title in 2003.Fourth-ranked Mid-Praire jumped out to an early 7-0 lead then held off a rally by number-five Interstate-35 for a 7-4 victory. Mid-Prairie coach Amy Rath who says the early lead helped them relax.Mid-Prairie will play Solon in the 2A semifinal round.In class 3-A, 15th-ranked Carroll pushed across a run in the bottom of the sixth and rode the two-hit pitching of Kora Behrens to beat Cedar Rapids Xavier, 1-0. Behrens says she was relieved when they got the run in the bottom of the sixth as she had a lot of nerves early on. She says her teammates made some awesome plays behind her. Brittani McAninch dropped a bases loaded single in the bottom of the 11th as the third-ranked Warriors edged Central Dewitt 1-0. In other 3-A quarterfinals, Carlisle downed Independence 3-2, and top-ranked and defending champion downed New Hampton 11-3.