Simpson College softball took on the Saint Mary’s Cardinals in a battle to punch their ticket to the DIII Women’s College World Series, where Simpson came out victorious and will head to the WCWS for the first time since 1999.
The Storm appeared in the program’s first-ever Super Regional in Winona, Minn., on Thursday, May 21, and Friday, May 22.
The Storm struck early in the first game, scoring three by the bottom of the second inning.
They would go on to score every single inning, hit three home runs and answer back to all three of the Cardinals’ runs.
The final score was 8-3, placing the Storm one win away from a WCWS berth.
On Friday, the Storm struck early again, scoring two in the top of the first inning and five in the second.
However, the Cardinals would not go down easily and had a four-run rally in the fourth. But it would not be enough to send the Storm home.
The Storm went into the bottom of the seventh inning with a four-run lead and were able to hold on and win 8-5. The final out was a groundball to first, but it was more than that to Head Coach Brent Matthias.
“The final out was amazing, it was a hard groundball to Megan Heidelbauer at first base, and she touched first base and looked at me and smiled,” Matthias said.
Heidelbauer had an amazing two games, going 4-for-6 at the plate with one homerun, two doubles, five runs scored and one RBI.
Ashlyn Steen was named the Super Regional Most Outstanding Player. Over the two games, Steen was a problem for Saint Mary’s, going 5-for-8 at the plate with four runs scored, one RBI and one stolen base.
Emma LaFave was named the Most Outstanding Pitcher in the Super Regional with just over eight innings pitched, seven earned runs and two strikeouts.
“Pitcher of the Super Regional was Emma LaFave, and the MVP of the Super Regional was Ashlyn Steen,” Matthias said.
There was no doubt in Matthias’s mind that LaFave and Steen were the MVPs of the Super Regional.
Per usual, Matthias was full of great energy after the win and was proud to see his team’s hard work pay off.
“The team has worked so hard to get to this point, and they were all so excited and full of energy after the win,” Matthias said.
Simpson will now head to the WCWS in Salem, Va., where they will play on Thursday, May 28.
The Storm claimed the No. 3 seed and were placed in a bracket with No. 2 Trine, No. 6 Mount Union, and No. 7 Belhaven.
They will face off first against the Mount Union Purple Raiders at 5:30 p.m.
Editor’s Note: The Simpsonian staff is off for the summer but is committed to writing about important campus updates when possible.
