The Dike-New Hartford softball team will host Aplington-Parkersburg in a 2A Region 6 quarterfinal Wednesday on 99 The Wave. It’ll be the postseason opener for both teams.
The Falcons (10-13) enter the playoffs after the best regular season in the last decade, having won 10 games for the first time since 2013. Throughout a vastly improved season, the Falcons have proven themselves as one of the better offensive teams in the NICL, ranking second in the league with 12 home runs. Head Coach Emily Williamson says the elimination of errors continues to be key.
“We’ve been playing really good consistent ball,” Williamson says. “The BCLUW game really kind of opened the girls’ eyes to what they’re capable of, kind of what we’ve been trying to tell them all season as far as what they could do. And I think they just put it all together in that game and we were able to get a really good win there. We got some more wins after that. But just in general, just the consistency of coming up to the plate with confidence, knowing that it doesn’t matter the pitcher, they have an opportunity to hit. Something that kind of reared its head again the other night against Jesup, we started out playing really well, but then errors kind of killed us again. So just kind of keeping that in check. And if we can do that, I think we’re going to be able to play really good, competitive ball.”
During the regular season, Eva Walker led the Central and was second in the NICL with a .543 batting average. She’s also tied for the fewest strikeouts in the NICL (among those eligible for rank) with two on the season.
Dike-New Hartford (19-9) has won seven of its last eight games, including a 5-2 win over Osage to close the regular season. In that span, they ended five games early due to the runs-ahead rule. Interim Head Coach Rhandi Oelmann says the offensive performance as of late has helped defensively.
“Anytime that you can go into postseason playing your best softball, good things are going to happen,” Oelmann says. “I think that it gives a lot of confidence to some girls who’ve been struggling. I think defensively, it makes you better because if you’re putting runs up on the board, it gives you a little, not say lax, but it gives you some breathing room there, where if they scratch or run across here it’s okay because you’ve already got some runs on the board. It kind of makes you play a little looser.”
Madde Buskohl leads a deep batting lineup at .469. Pitcher Faith Gray has stifled opponents with a Central-leading 2.13 ERA.
DNH has won 12 straight in the series, including three regular season wins this year. It’ll be the first playoff meeting since 2018, an 8-6 Falcon win in Dike.
Pregame coverage will begin at 6:40 p.m., followed by the first pitch at 7:00. The winner will advance to Friday’s regional semifinal against either Hudson or Belmond-Klemme.
Rhandi Oelmann pregame interview:
Emily Williamson pregame interview:
