Wildcats stunned at home by No. 10 Beckman

DURANT — Sometimes life isn’t fair. Despite hard work, sometimes things just don’t go as expected. Monday night, that was the case in Durant as the No. 2 team in Class 2A, Durant Wildcats were upset by 2A No. 10 Dyersville-Beckman 4-2 in the Region 6 Final in Durant. The Wildcats were seeking their fourth trip to state in ve seasons, and first since 2017 when they placed third in Class 2A. The Wild- cats end the season 29-7 while Dyersville-Beckman improves to 29-13 and quali es for the state softball tournament for the rst time in school history.

“We win and lose as a team,” Durant head coach Kevin Kaalberg said. “We had been getting timely hits when we needed to. Tonight, we didn’t get them.”

The pitching matchup was between two seniors in the pitching circle. Durant senior All-Stater and University of Nebraska-Omaha signee Ka- mryn Meyer faced o against Sydney Ste en from Beckman. Meyer was locked in early and pitched a great game. Meyer retired the rst ve Blazer batters, four by strikeout. Meyer allowed only one run and struck out eight batters in the rst four innings. Meyer nished with 15 strikeouts in the game.

Steffen was also good. Holding the Durant o ense in check in the rst four innings. The Wildcats entered the game with a team batting average of .331. Only once did Durant get a runner to second base in the

First four innings. Ste en was the winning pitcher after working seven innings. She struck out six, walked two and gave up two earned runs on seven hits. Meyer took the loss after also working all seven innings. Meyer gave up four runs, three earned on ve hits. She struck out 15 and walked three batters.

Meyer recorded career strikeout No. 700 in the game. It’s a remarkable accomplishment considering she had a combined total of 54 in her eighth grade and freshman seasons. This season she nished with 215 strikeouts this season.

Dyersville-Beckman took control of the game in the top of the fifth inning. There, the Blazers pushed three runs across the plate to extend their 1-0 lead to 4-0. Durant rallied in the bottom half of the inning. The Wildcats scored their only two runs of the ball game in the bottom of the fifth, setting the score at 4-2.

Durant had more hits than the Blazers with 7 hits compared to Dyersville-Beckman’s 5 hits. Two Wildcats had multi-hit games. Ally Happ and Al-

lie Poston each had two hits. Ruby Kappeler, Kylie Schult, and Kira Schult each had hits. Ally Happ and Allie Poston each had RBI’s in the game. Hannah Happ did not have an o cial at-bat in the game but reached base three times via a walk.

Dyersville-Beckman was led by All-State shortstop Heather Boeckenstedt who was 2-for-3 with two runs scored, 1-RBI, and a walk. Jaydn Welling, Shea Steffen, and Emily Wulfekuhle had the other Blazer hits.

Beckman improves to 29-13 and will be the No. 5 seed at the state tournament. Beckman will play Mount Ayr (25-2) who advanced to state after upsetting 2A No. 4 West Monona 9-0 to win Region 3. Beckman and Mount Ayr will play Monday, July 22 at 3:30 p.m.