Iowa high school softball: 5 storylines entering the week

Action begins from Rogers Park in Fort Dodge on July 21

Williamsburg softball team celebrates after winning over Davenport Assumption in the 3A Iowa high school state softball tournament championship at Rogers Sports complex on Friday, July 26, 2024, in Fort Dodge, Iowa. / Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK

Along with the Iowa high school state baseball tournament taking place, the Iowa high school state softball tournament will run right beside it.

But in a different town.

While baseball is conducted in Carroll and Sioux City, Rogers Park in Fort Dodge has been home to the event for the past several decades. 

Iowa high school baseball: 5 storylines entering the week https://t.co/CIp7mOALlc

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Here are five storylines to follow as the Iowa high school state softball tournament begins and ends:

1. Will anybody dethrone two-time champion Williamsburg?

The Raiders have been the queen of 3A for the past two seasons, claiming back-to-back state championships. This year, they enter as the No. 2 seed behind top-ranked Dubuque Wahlert.

But with several returning starters, would you consider them the favorite?

Williamsburg scored 23 runs in three games a year ago at state, including a 12-9 victory in the finals. The closest contest they had? A 3-2 win in the semifinals over Dubuque Wahlert.

Head coach Adam C. Berte, a former college baseball player, has a group that is batting .390 as a team with 23 homers, 65 doubles and 15 triples. They have scored 342 runs on the year and have now won 30-plus games each of the past five seasons.

2. Can either Van Meter or Pleasant Valley repeat?

Along with Williamsburg being back in the fold, the 2A and 5A fields feature defending state champions. Van Meter is the No. 1 seed in 2A after topping Audubon for the title last summer. They have two state titles now all-time, along with a runner-up finish in 2023.

With a 31-2 record, the Bulldogs are the obvious team to beat. They are led by Cali Richards, Mady Schnell and Ashtyn Wheater. They went 43-1 last year and have won at least 30 in each of the past five seasons.

Pleasant Valley, meanwhile, won the 5A crown with a thrilling 14-11 victory over top-seed West Des Moines Valley. The Tigers also return to the quarterfinals, as a rematch would only happen in the championship round.

Like Van Meter, the Spartans were also 2023 runners-up at state. 

3. Will anybody in 1A pitch to Iowa Hawkeye recruit Mariah Myers?

It isn’t hard to see why teams intentionally walk Mariah Myers, as the St. Edmond senior and future University of Iowa Hawkeye is hitting .620 with a state-leading 53 walks. That is 15 more than the next closest batter in the state.

Myers, who was part of Fort Dodge’s state championship and runner-up teams before spending a year playing travel softball, returned to the prep diamond as a junior, helping the Gaels reach state. They lost in the semifinals a season ago, but return eight of nine starters.

The reigning Iowa Gatorade Softball Player of the Year, Myers has over 200 career hits and more than 100 career walks in her career. She has a batting average of over .500 and 41 home runs with just seven career strikeouts. 

4. Can the Raccoon River Conference make it four 4A titles in a row?

While defending 4A champion Carlisle and 2023 and ‘22 champ Winterset did not qualify from the Raccoon River Conference, the league does have North Polk and ADM in the field.

The league has controlled the classification for the past three years, sending multiple teams to state. North Polk won the regular season conference title and ADM was runner-up, as they just so happen to be on opposite sides of the bracket.

But the conference faces some serious challenges in keeping the streak alive. Top-ranked Cedar Rapids Xavier is loaded with Braylen Conlon, a recent Iowa commit, and power-hitting Katie Pilcher, while 2021 champion Western Dubuque also qualified.

Norwalk has gone 33-7 and is a contender while Dallas Center-Grimes and North Scott have plenty of state tournament success on the resumes.

5. After 48 years, will Wapsie Valley complete an improbable dream?

The last time Wapsie Valley advanced to the state tournament, not a single player currently in uniform was born. In fact, not many of the parents of those players were likely born either.

That is because the Warriors ended a 48-year drought between state appearances when they topped Don Bosco in the regional final, 14-2. They come in the tournament having won nine in a row and are 29-4 overall with a first place finish in the North Iowa Cedar East Division on the resume.

Wapsie Valley’s league title was also the first in 24 seasons for the program.

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