After a nail-biting win against Coe College to advance the Simpson softball team to the American Rivers Conference Tournament Championship and then a prevailing performance over Loras College, Storm softball has officially been crowned A-R-C Tournament Champions for the first time in program history. 

The team is led by Brent Matthias, who has served as head coach since 2017. Matthias refers to this year’s team as the “Cardiac Kids” because of the energy they bring to the sport. 

“This team is so much fun to be around,” Matthias said. “They are great people who happen to play softball at a very high level.” 

The 2026 A-R-C Tournament was hosted by Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa, the conference’s No. 1 overall seed. 

Going into the tournament, Simpson was ranked No. 2 in the conference, receiving a first-round bye, and had just earned top-10 national rankings in both the NCAA NPI rankings and the NFCA/GoRout Top 25 Coaches Poll. 

On Saturday, May 9, Simpson played their first tournament game, a semifinal matchup, against No. 6 Coe College. 

After multiple errors on Coe’s left side infield in the bottom of the fourth, granting two runners aboard, Brielyn Ginnaty delivered the game’s first hit with a three-run home run. 

The Storm maintained the lead until the top of the seventh inning, when Coe answered back, scoring four. 

However, Simpson rallied in the bottom of the seventh, starting with a single from Brynn Ortlund and then RBI hits from both Ashlyn Steen and Megan Heidelbauer. Heidelbauer’s hit, which scored Steen, gave the Storm the 5-4 lead, sending them to the title game. 

“They play an exciting brand of softball, and they are never out of the game,” said Matthias. 

In the championship game against No. 4 Loras, the bats came alive early for the Storm. A hit from Caelynn Obleton put the Storm on the board in the bottom of the second. With two outs in the same half inning, Heidelbauer entered the box with the bases loaded. She hit a bases-clearing triple, extending the Storm’s lead to 4-0. 

Pitcher Marina Cronin held Loras to only one run throughout seven innings and earned five strikeouts. 

The Storm won the game 6-1, crowning themselves A-R-C Tournament Champions for the first time in program history, and punching their ticket with an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Softball Tournament.

“We are blessed that we get to play a game we love with people we love, and that’s Simpson softball,” Matthias said. 

The newly selected director of athletics, Jason Mulligan, may not officially begin his duties until June 1, but he, too, is celebrating Simpson athletics’ victories and the history being made.

“It’s been so exciting to watch and celebrate the Simpson College softball team as they make a historic run to the NCAA National Tournament,” Mulligan said. “Coach Matthias and the team are to be congratulated on all the hard work they have invested into this championship season.”

Now the Storm waits to hear their name announced by the NCAA selection committee on Monday, May 11, which will determine where they will play in the NCAA Regionals. 

Regionals will start Thursday, May 14. 

UPDATE

Simpson College softball will host an NCAA Regional for the first time since 2010.

NCAA selection show host Angela Moryan gave a nod to both Steen and Heidelbauer after announcing Simpson as a Regional host. She mentioned that Steen has the 10th-best batting average in the country, while Heidelbauer ranks eighth in RBIs per game. 

Steen, who just completed her senior year at Simpson, feels like all the hard work from the past four years is finally paying off.

”It feels like us seniors specifically, we’ve built so much since freshman year when we didn’t make the tournament,” Steen said. “All the hard work everyone has put in is finally manifesting and now we just get to have fun with it. We all know that this team can do really big things the rest of this year and I’m excited to see what we can accomplish.”

Moryan also noted that Matthias has over 200 career wins, but that nearly half of them have come in the last three seasons.

The Storm will face off against the Greenville University Panthers from Illinois on May 14 at 11 a.m. on their own field.

The Saint Benedict Bennies from Minnesota, and a team that Simpson is very familiar with, Central College, are also in Simpson’s regional.

Regionals are a double-elimination tournament, which means the two A-R-C teams have a high probability of meeting again.

Regional winners will head to Super Regionals, a best-of-three playstyle that begins Thursday, May 21.