For the fifth time in six years, Remsen St. Mary’s softball advanced to the state tournament with a 10-4 win at Newell-Fonda on Monday night.
The win was extra emotional for a group of girls that have been put through a lot this school year both on and off the field. Remsen St. Mary’s head coach Erika Bates says her team battled adversity this season and came out stronger because of it.
Some of that adversity began in November for the Hawks after a bus accident for the girls basketball team. Grace Galles was significantly injured in that accident and says she was just grateful to be playing in this big of a game.
The Hawks also entered a sharing agreement this year taking in a few girls from Storm Lake St. Mary’s after they found out they were unable to have a program due to low numbers. Neely Bacon was one of those players, and she says joining Remsen St. Mary’s has been everything she could have hoped for and more.
To the game, Remsen St. Mary’s was rolling from the first pitch from an offensive standpoint. They scored three runs in the first inning and ran that total to eight runs over the first four innings. Coach Bates says the Hawks were well prepared for whatever they might see offensively.
Mia Matgen was part of the offensive success for the Hawks going 4-5 with two doubles, four runs scored, and a run batted in. Matgen says her approach was simple knowing she had some great hitters behind her to help pick her up.
While Bacon has focused more of her time pitching, she had a great game hitting against the Mustangs. Prior to the game, Bacon had nine hits all season. She went 4-4 with three RBIs against Newell-Fonda and says she was trying to get ahead of things early, and her approach worked.
On the other side of the ball, Bacon pitched all seven innings allowing her four runs midway through the game but keeping Newell-Fonda from coming back like they did against Gehlen Catholic on Wednesday. Coach Bates says she was worried about some shakiness from Bacon, but she responded well.
Having experience playing with Storm Lake St. Mary’s, Neely Bacon had played Newell-Fonda quite a bit in her softball career. She says she was motivated by all the losses prior to pitch well in this game.
Galles was catching Bacon the whole game and says her off-speed and breaking pitches were fooling hitters.
The Hawks return to state after the disappointment of getting close last year but being unsuccessful. Coach Bates says these girls have had to make adjustments the last two seasons after that stellar run when they graduated a large senior class two years ago.
Remsen St. Mary’s will go to state with a 24-4 record overall as the #6 seed in Class 1A. Some of the girls have experience being on those state tournament teams a couple of years ago. One of those is Grace Galles, and she says her experience there is valuable to relay the feeling to the younger girls.
The Hawks are looking to improve upon some prior performances in which they could only win one game at state in a four-year stretch. Coach Bates says this group is motivated to perform better than they ever have.
Remsen St. Mary’s will open the state tournament at 6:45 PM on Monday evening against St. Edmond out of Fort Dodge. They will play their games on the newly renovated Farm Bureau Field at Rogers Park located in the same area as the old consolation diamonds.
