When the Wilton softball team travels to Fort Dodge this week for Class 2A state softball July 19-23, it will be the first time in school history that the Beavers will be the top seed in the tournament. Wilton finished the season 28-3 and ranked No. 1 in the state in Class 2A.
Wilton faced No. 8 seed Pella Christian (17-19) in the opening round July 19, and won 7-2. With the win, Wilton (29-3) has solidified a top four finish for the first time in school history. Watch next week for complete state tournament coverage. The Beavers played in the Class 2A semifinals July 21, and will play for either a state title or third place July 22
This is the fifth time the Beaver softball program has made the state tournament. Wilton’s four previous state tournament teams included the Beavers of 1988, 1994, 2009 and 2018.
1988 Beavers finish 12th
When Wilton defeated Wapello in a Regional final to qualify for its first ever state tournament in 1988, the Beavers, coached by Larry Beebe, competed at a time in which the tournament was not separated into classes.
The Beavers played four games in Fort Dodge that year, going 1-3 and finishing 12th of 16 teams.
Wilton’s final record was 27-15.
At the state tournament, Wilton lost to Harlan in opening round play 2-0. In consolation action, Wilton defeated St. Ansgar 4-0 in a game where starting pitcher Rachel Eckert struck out 15 batters, just one off the then state record of 16 strikeouts in a state tournament game.
Wilton lost its final two state games 3-0 to LDF LeGrand and 3-0 to Orient Macksburg.
The Beavers struggled to hit at state, being shut out three times in four games that were all shutouts. In the three losses, Wilton combined for only four hits.
1994 Beavers finish 6th
The 1993-1994 Wilton girls were arguably the best collection of sports teams to come through Wilton in a given school year. The Beavers were 79-24-3 combined during the basketball, volleyball and softball seasons.
Keri Clevenger finished 12th at state cross country. The volleyball team finished second in the Eastern Iowa Hawkeye Conference and made the state tournament for the first time in school history. Clevenger then led a contingent to state track, where her best finish was fifth in the 1500-meter run.
The basketball team was the most exciting, also making the state tournament and losing a heartbreaker to fellow Eastern Iowa Hawkeye Conference rival Solon in the state finals in a game many still talk about each year when the girls’ tournament begins in Des Moines.
The 1994 state softball tournament at Fort Dodge was the first to be separated into classes. Wilton competed in Class 2A and finished sixth, going 1-2 in three games.
Wilton lost a 2-1 heartbreaker in the opening round to Webster City. After falling behind 2-0 on a 2-run Webster City home run early, Wilton had cut the lead to 2-1 before Rebecca Sass was called out at home plate in the sixth inning on a call many felt could have gone the other way.
In consolation, the Beavers defeated Belmond Klemme 4-3 and later lost to Storm Lake 4-3 in the fifth place game.
Wilton finished sixth in Class 2A and had a final record of 30-17.
2009 Beavers finish 5th
The Wilton Beavers of 2009 was perhaps the best softball team Wilton has produced. Behind the lethal throwing arm of Rachel (Brisker) Bohnsack, the Beavers won the Cedar Valley Conference and finished the regular season 33-5 and ranked No. 13 in the Class 2A polls.
In a late night game at Fort Dodge in opening round action, Wilton lost a heartbreaker to eventual champion BCLUW 2-1. A Carlee Grunder home run had given Wilton a 1-0 lead that the Beavers took all the way to the bottom of the seventh inning. BCLUW capitalized on Wilton errors and controversial calls on the base paths to tie the game and eventually score with the bases loaded and two outs to win 2-1 with two walk-off runs.
Heading into that inning, Brisker had gone 46 innings without giving up a run.
In consolation play, Wilton won another nail-biter against No. 1 ranked Okoboji 1-0. Despite having zero hits, Wilton capitalized on an Okoboji throwing error to score the game’s only run. In the fifth place game, Wilton defeated Belmond Klemme 5-0.
The Beavers hit three home runs during state tournament play, one each from Carlee Grunder, Kara (Proctor) Anderson and Avery Carter.
Anderson now serves as an assistant coach in the Wilton program, as well as Kelly Jo Jannings, who was also a member of the 2009 team.
2018 Beavers gave top seed a scare
Some may say that qualifying for state in 2018 was a pleasant surprise for the Wilton softball team. The first reason was that the Beavers were a modest 22-15 in regular season play. The more important reason was that in their Regional bracket was Durant, which had spent all season ranked No. 1 in the state and only had two losses while going 17-0 in River Valley Conference play.
In the Regional semifinal, Durant was stunned on its home field by Bellevue, losing 2-1. The Wildcats ended 32-3 and had won 22 straight games at the time prior to the loss.
Wilton began its Regional run with a 2-0 win over Cascade, with Mila Johnson pitching the shutout. Chloe Wells, a freshman at the time, accounted for both runs with a RBI hit and solo home run.
In the Regional semis, Wilton had four home runs in a 9-5 win at Jesup. Taylor Garvin had two home runs, while Chloe Wells and Peyton Souhrada each had one.
Wilton then hosted giant killers Bellevue in the Regional final, blanking the Comets 10-0 in five innings, with Johnson pitching another shutout. Wells had seven hits (including two home runs) and eight RBIs in Regional play.
Wilton was the No. 8 seed in Class 2A at state, and faced Louisa-Muscatine in the opening round. The Beavers had lost to L-M 5-3 earlier in the season. At state, the top-seeded Falcons walked Wells all four times she came to the plate. One of the walks was with the bases loaded, which scored a run.
L-M pitcher Isabelle True pitched a complete game as the Falcons held on for a 3-2 win over the Beavers. True struck out a state record 16 batters in the process, and had a 2-run home run.
The Beavers then lost 4-3 to Logan Magnolia (28-7) the next day in consolation. Kali Milder and Lexi Maurer were the graduating seniors from the 2018 Wilton team, which finished with a record of 25-17.