Another round of the 1A regional tournament, another tight game for the No. 7 Sigourney Savage softball team. Sigourney completed a season sweep of South Iowa Cedar League rival North Mahaska at Schafer Field Friday night by a 1-0 score in 10 innings. This was the second straight 1-0 victory for Sigourney in the playoffs, having beaten English Valleys by the same score the night before to advance. Neither team had many offensive chances on the night, but for most of the evening the opportunities belonged to North Mahaska. The Warhawks stranded runners on base in the first, third, fourth, fifth, seventh, eighth and 10th innings. Of those, the best chances for North Mahaska were the fourth and 10th. The earlier instance saw Colby Sampson get a two out, single with Zoe Duecore at second, only to have the relay from Courtney Hemsley to Madi Richard to Kaylee Weber at the plate cut down the Warhawk scoring chance. In the 10th, North Mahaska started the inning with a single and walk, but Savage starter Carly Goodwin put up her 10th straight zero of the night by inducing three popups to get out of the inning unscathed.

For the Sigourney offense, it was a tough night against Madi McKay. The Warhawk senior threw a no-hitter against the Savages through regulation and into extras, in total, going the first eight and a third frames without allowing a Sigourney hit. The Savages first base runner came in the fifth on a dropped third strike, McKay issued a two out walk in the seventh, and gave up the first hit with one away in the ninth to Ava Fisch before Sigourney won it in the 10th. In the final inning, Weber led things off with a double, Macy Fisch was hit by a pitch and Madi Richard was walked to load the bases with no one out. Next, Courtney Hemsley stepped in and delivered a sacrifice fly to medium depth left center field, with Weber tagging from third to score the game winner. In the postgame show, Sigourney head coach Shelly Streigle talked about the ride that Friday night was and her top performers. “It was very exciting tonight. We put the ball in play but just hit it at them. Both defenses made great plays. It was a great game. Kaylee Weber came up with a great double down the line in the 10th. When Courtney Hemsley came up she did what she had to do to score the run. Carly Goodwin battled in the circle tonight. Madi Richard has been great defensively this year and that showed up tonight, her relay throw to get the runner at the plate is something we practice and she executed. I think the feeling around the team is they believe in themselves and they can execute to make it happen.”

Goodwin went the distance in the circle for Sigourney, shutting out North Mahaska on four hits, walking four and striking out 12. McKay took the loss for the Warhawks, giving up two hits, one run and striking out three in 10 innings. Weber scored the only Sigourney run, Hemsley had the lone Savage RBI and Weber and Ava Fisch the two total Sigourney hits. With the win, the Savages are now 24-8, North Mahaska ends their year at 18-11. Sigourney will match up with Belle Plaine in Monday’s regional final at Schafer Field. The Plainswomen upset No. 10 Lynnville-Sully 2-1 on Friday night to advance. Sigourney beat Belle Plaine twice in the regular season, 4-0 and 10-0. The winner will advance to the 1A State Tournament in Fort Dodge.