IOWA CITY - Cedar Rapids Xavier outfielders were positioned about 10 feet from the outfield fence all night, almost as if they knew the ball was going to be hit out there at some point in time.

In the Class 4A regional semifinal at Iowa City West Monday night, the Xavier outfielders could have stepped in a few feet for every inning besides the fifth.

In a game much closer than the score indicates, No.5 Iowa City West defeated the Saints, 7-1, to advance to the regional championship game on Wednesday.

Xavier pitcher Jaycee Wiebold was excellent through four innings against a potent West lineup, holding the Women of Troy to one run on two hits. In the bottom of the fifth, however, West figured her out and broke the game open with six runs.

“I knew that at some point they were going to score a run or two and I was just hoping they wouldn’t have a big inning,” said Xavier Coach Brian Erbe.

In the fifth, West (32-9) got a two-run single from second baseman Brianna Sturtz, breaking a tie game and putting West up 3-1. The next batter was Alise Miller, and she slammed a ball into the left-center gap for a double, scoring two more runs.

To cap the inning, cleanup hitter Shelley Stumpf hit a line drive two-run homer over the left field wall to give West a 7-1 cushion.

“I think you have to give all of the credit to Iowa City West,” said Erbe. “They were very determined and they have excellent hitters.”

The start of the game looked promising for Xavier, which scored in the first inning when Kristen Winter hit an RBI single up the middle to score leadoff hitter Abby Bedard.

But Iowa City West pitcher Mackenzie Laux had already seen enough. She dominated the rest of the game, not allowing another run and striking out 11 Xavier hitters.

“She did a fantastic job,” said Erbe. “We were off-balance and she is one of the best pitchers in the state.”

Erbe felt that if they could have found a way to put up a few more runs at the start of the game, they possibly could have been the ones playing for a chance to go to state.

“I think one of the keys to the game is when we didn’t score more than one run in the first inning. Had we scored three or four runs it would have changed the outlook of the game,” he said.

Xavier’s three seniors - Winter, Bedard and Tyler Sampson - went out fighting, as they accounted for four of the Saints' five hits. Sampson went 2-for-3.

“We did have a great year, and it's tough to finish up like this, but somebody has to,” said Erbe.

The Saints finished 29-13.

XAVIER (1)
Bedard, 3b, 4 1 1 0, Colston, rf, 4 0 0 0, Sampson, ss, 4 0 2 0, Winter, 2b, 3 0 1 1, Walton, dh, 3 0 0 0, Schulte, 1b, 3 0 0 0, Kuba-Tresnak, cf, 2 0 0 0, Miller, c, 2 0 0 0, Galligan, lf, 2 0 0 0, Richards, 1 0 0 0, Drahozal, p, 1 0 1 0, Deutmeyer, 1 0 0 0. Totals 30 1 5 1.

IOWA CITY WEST (7)
Klein, 1b, 3 1 0 0, Sturtz, 2b, 3 2 2 2, Miller, ss, 3 1 1 2, Stumpff, 3b, 3 1 1 2, Larson, lf, 3 0 1 1, Recker, c, 3 0 0 0, Chelf, dh, 3 1 0 0, Ryan, rf, 3 1 1 0, Morgan, cf, 3 0 0 0. Totals 27 7 6 7.

Xavier     100 000 0 - 1 5 2
West      000 160 x - 7 6 1

Wiebold, Drahozal (5) and Miller, Walton (5). Laux and Recker. W - Laux. L - Wiebold. 2B- Bedard, Miller, Larson. HR- Stumpff. SB - Sampson 2.