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FAIRBANK — Dark and ominous sky towered above Wapsie Valley’s softball field.

Sawyer Buhr made sure everyone left before the rain came.

Wapsie Valley’s sophomore shortstop drilled a one-out pitch against Dike-New Hartford up the middle to plate pinch-runner Jaylin May and Espyn Decker in the bottom of the fifth and walk off the Wolverines with an 8-0 victory Wednesday.

“We planned it,� older sister Taylor Buhr smirked. “The rain, we saw it coming. We were like, ‘We’ve got to get some runs, we’ve got to get to eight. So, we did — we cleared them out at the end.’�

Sawyer Buhr’s base knock also helped Taylor, who struck out eight in five innings and allowed just three hits to Class 2A No. 15 ranked DNH 24 hours after the 1A No. 9 ranked Warriors fell, 5-3, at Vinton-Shellsburg.

“This was very important,� Taylor said. “We definitely cleared our heads and bounced back, just erased that entire game. That wasn’t us. We cleaned up our defense and hitting tonight.�

Added Lola Destival: “We all just came back with a great attitude and had fun.�

Wapsie (18-3) broke it open with a six-run second, batting around in the process.

Decker and Maddie Ladeburg walked to open the inning, then Sawyer Buhr’s drive to centerfield was misplayed for a run.

Gracie Sebetka reached on a fielder’s choice that saw Decker score (2-0) as the forceout throw home was late and Peyton Curley’s groundout to the circle scored another run (3-0).

Destival and Taylor Buhr each drove in one with singles, then Natalie Gray’s single plated two for the 6-0 lead.

“It was a good game,� Destival said. It definitely took everyone.�

Destival went 3 for 3 with two singles and had half the team’s hits. Both Buhr’s and Gray each added a hit as Wapsie worked around a Wolverine pitching staff that fed the host a steady diet of off-speed pitches.

The Warriors batted .273 (6 for 22) but saw four players walk and two others reach via error to aid the effort. Wapsie’s season batting average is .376, but it has hit .240 in its last two games.

“It takes a while,� Taylor said of adjusting. “You start off swinging for — whatever, just as hard as you can. It takes discipline to knock the changeup down, get the timing.�

The junior also served the Wolverines a steady diet of offspeed pitches. DNH, who came in batting .292, was caught stealing once for the third out in the first inning and lined out into a double play in the fourth.

“Lots of changeups outside threw them off, really helped me,� Taylor said. “They’re a great-hitting team, so I knew I had to do something pretty different tonight.�

“She got it done,� Destival said. “She pitched really good.�

The Warrior-Wolverine baseball game was cancelled. Sumner-Fredericksburg-Tripoli’s baseball game at Gladbrook-Reinbeck was cancelled.

Oelwein’s baseball game at Denver was postponed until Friday. Starmont-West Central’s baseball game at Cascade was postponed.

The Oelwein-Denver score was not reported as of press time.

West Central splits Upper Iowa doubleheader at Clayton Ridge

The Blue Devils scored two in the top of the seventh for a 9-8 Game 1 victory Wednesday in Guttenberg before the Eagles came back to win Game 2, 10-6.

Faith Steinbronn went 1-1, pitching all 13 innings during the Upper Iowa Conference doubleheader. She allowed just four hits and three earned runs in the win, working around six walks and a hit batter.

Hannah Scott went 4 for 8 with seven RBI and three doubles. Sydney Teague (3 for 8) doubled twice and drove in two while Avery Puls (double, RBI0 and Brooklyn Rose (two RBI, two steals) both went 3 for 8 as well.

Tuesday

Cascade softball 5, Oelwein 3

Pass the bat.

The instruction from assistant coach Kennedy Lape to Oelwein as it walked out for the bottom of the seventh against Cascade was simple.

“We can’t win the game with one swing of the bat,� she added. “Pass the bat. Get on base, give others a chance to continue the inning.�

The Huskies trailed 5-2 at the time, and head coach Bob Lape’s team put across one more run before the final out. Macy Westendorf singled with one out and moved over when Emma Gearhart reached on error.

Aspen Weir doubled Westendorf home for the final score, but both she and Gearhart were stranded after a pop-up to second and groundout to short.

Oelwein (9-7) pushed Class 2A’s No. 13 ranked team as four of the first five Huskies to bat in the first reached via error or walk. Westendorf and Gearhart scored when Jaylynn Craun’s batted ball was misplayed for a 2-0 lead.

Cascade (10-2) scored with a two-out single in the second for a 2-all game, then added a third-inning run on a two-out error. The Cougars went up 5-2 with two runs in the sixth.

Weir scattered six hits and two walks in a complete game. She struck out nine and broke the 350-strikeout mark for her four-year career. Weir also doubled and drove in one.

Craun doubled as well and Westendorf scored twice. Oelwein spread its eight hits among eight batters.

Cascade baseball 16, Oelwein 2, four innings

The Cougars scored four in the bottom of the fourth to walk off the mercy-rule win in Cascade.

Dayton Logan drove in a run for the Huskies, which spread five hits across five different batters. Aidan Pattison went 1 for 1 with a walk and hit-by-pitch.

Bryce Kunkle was hit by a pitch while Landen Whitaker walked and score a run. Brady Burkhart, Logan and Maddox Pattison all went 1 for 2.

Vinton-Shellsburg softball 5, Wapsie Valley 3

The Vikettes turned the game around with a four-run sixth for the win in Vinton. Sawyer Buhr struck out three and allowed six hits in the complete-game loss.

Gray drove in two and Wehling (2 for 3) drove in one. Espyn Decker doubled. Curley scored a run and stole a base, and Destival went 2 for 3 with two runs scored and a steal.

Clarksville softball 7, SFT 2

The Class 1A No. 1 ranked team knocked off the 3A No. 11 ranked Cougars on Tuesday in Sumner. A three-run third broke the game open for the Indians, who scored six runs from the third through sixth inning.

Addison Murray returned to the circle and scattered nine hits across seven innings for the Cougars. Jamie Jones went 3 for 4 with a double, triple and RBI while Olivia Schoonover doubled and drove in a run. Isabel Bernard went 2 for 4 with a steal and run scored while Sidney Zupke scored as well.

Starmont-West Central’s baseball doubleheader Monday against Alburnett was postponed.