Magical Season for Logan-Magnolia SB End in 2A State Semifinals

Lo-Ma's Gracyn Stone (7-22-26)

Lo-Ma's Ella Hack (7-21-26)

Lo-Ma's Campbell Chase (7-21-26)

Magical Season for Logan-Magnolia SB Ends in 2A State Semifinals –

(7-22-26) – “Hold The Rope.”

That was their mantra all season long and Logan-Magnolia softball did so for as long as they could, finishing their season in the 2A State Semifinals at the Rogers Sports Complex in Fort Dodge Wednesday.

Their adventure started on Monday against Waspie Valley in the opening round of the new double elimination format. One tough inning allowed the Warriors to steal a 7-2 win and send the Panthers to the elimination bracket, where each game could be their last.

“I told them after the game, I said, we haven't done anything the easy way all year,” said Lo-Ma Coach Jamie Evans after Game 1. “So, we still got a chance. This new format, we still got a chance, right? So let's come out tomorrow stronger and see what we can do.”

It wouldn’t get any easier as the No. 2-seed, Durant, was their next opponent after being upset by Ridge View on a 2-run homer in the 7th of their opening round game. Getting out to a quick start was imperative and the Panthers did just that, scoring 5 times in the top of the 1st, capped by an Ella Hack 3-run homer… the first of her varsity career… and it couldn’t have come on a bigger stage.

“It feels great. I mean, it's my first varsity home run,” Hack after the game. “I hit one back on my club team earlier, but it just feels great to know that I hit one high school game and it just feels great.”

Despite the big lead, the Wildcats would come battling back and score in the bottom of the inning to make the game 5-4 after an inning. That’s when the teams settled down and battled each other defensively. After allowing the first two batters to reach base in the third, Campbell Chase shut down Durant the rest of the way, retiring the next ten batters and 15 of the final 16 to earn a 6-4 win and send her team to the 2A Quarterfinals. Chase said the team left it all out on the field.

“It's going into it today knowing, you know, if we lose, we're done. So it's just going out there, giving it our all and playing our best and I think that we really all did that.

The win meant Logan-Magnolia would need to win three games on Wednesday to reach the state championship game and their long day started at 10a in 2A Quarterfinals against Ridge View and they got the scoring going early as Gracyn Stone started the game with a solo homer. She would go 2-3, with 3 RBI and Whitney Hawkins was 2-4 with 2 RBI in leading the Panthers to an 8-4 over the Raptors. Stone talked about the importance of getting out to an early lead.

“Being the first leadoff batter, I just know I have to get it started for my team and just knowing that I need to go out there and at least get a base hit is just always running through my mind.”

The win set the stage for a rematch with Waspie Valley in 2A State Semifinals. But the game went similar to their first matchup with the Warriors as Taylor Buhr shutdown Logan-Magnolia’s offense, allowing just one unearned run and 5 base runners as the Panthers fell 5-1. Coach Evans felt his team was prepared for state tournament play.

“We play in a tough conference, the conference, tough conference. We have to show up and play every night, and that's exactly what it showed out here.”

It was a sad way to end a terrific season for the Panthers but Coach Evans had a simple message for fans.

“We'll see you next year… Hopefully we can get back here.”

Logan-Magnolia softball finishes their season in 2A State Semifinals with a record of 22-10.

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