The Wapsie Valley Warriors’ state tournament odyssey continues as they defeated the Logan-Magnolia Panthers 5-1 Wednesday evening in the semifinal game at Fort Dodge’s Rogers Sports Complex. The third-seeded Warriors took on the top-seeded Grand View Christian Thunder in the Class 2A championship game Thursday afternoon, July 23. More to come on that game.

Wapsie starting pitcher Taylor Buhr threw a complete game, allowing only three hits and two walks, notching her 12th win of the 2026 season.

The Warriors got right to work in the first inning. After Panthers’ leadoff hitter Gracyn Stone drew a walk, she was picked off at first. Wapsie ended the inning on a ground out and a strikeout. Lola Destival got the ball rolling offensively for the Warriors in the bottom of the first, leading off with a single up the middle and immediately stealing second. Espyn Decker nailed a one-out line drive to right to score Destival and Decker took third after a throwing error. Shortstop Sawyer Buhr drove in Decker on a sacrifice fly to center to give Wapsie an early 2-0 lead after one.

Logan-Magnolia again put their leadoff hitter on first in the top of the second inning but two ground outs to pitcher Buhr and a line drive caught by first baseman Maddie Ladeburg retired the side. The Panthers answered with a three-up, three-down inning in the bottom half of the second.

The Warriors retired the side in order in the top of the third on a strikeout and two ground outs hit to shortstop Sawyer Buhr. Lola Destival led off the home half of the inning with a walk and scored her second run of the game on a single liner to center field by Taylor Buhr. Sawyer Buhr knocked in Taylor Buhr with a line drive to left to expand Wapsie’s lead to 4-0 going into the fourth inning.

Logan-Magnolia continued to struggle offensively in the top of the fourth and were retired in order for the second consecutive inning. Wapsie Valley threatened in the home half of the fourth after catcher Maya Barnes led off with a hit to left field that put her on third after a throwing error. Layla Armstrong followed with a hard-hit ground out to first, and Barnes was thrown out at the plate for a double play.

The Panthers led off the fifth with a walk drawn by Whitney Hawkins, who moved into scoring position on a passed ball. Hawkins advanced to third on a grounder and put the Panthers on the board after a throw to first base got away from Ladeburg. The Warriors answered in the bottom of the inning when Decker got on with a single to short and stole her way to third, scoring on swinging-bunt RBI single by Ladeburg to give Wapsie a 5-1 lead going into the top of the sixth inning.

Looking for a late rally to save their season, the Panthers led off the sixth with a pair of singles and advanced the runners to second and third on a sacrifice bunt but were shut down on a pair of ground outs to Buhr at shortstop. The Warriors were retired in order on a pop fly and two strikeouts to end their half of the inning.

With the smell of a semifinal win in the air, Wapsie Valley ended the game in the top of the seventh with a fly out, a ground out to short, and a K.

Sawyer Buhr led the Warriors two RBIs while Taylor Buhr and Ladeburg each drove in one run with singles. Decker had another good game at the plate, going two for three with a pair of singles.

The Warriors have advanced through the state tournament without a loss, the only team in Class 2A to do so. Their final opponent, Grand View Christian, lost in their first-round game against eighth seed Cardinal but battled back in the double elimination tournament with wins over Hinton, Cardinal in the third round, and Regina Catholic twice. The Thunder (31-4) were ranked #2 in the final Class 2A rankings and have two hitters in the top five in 2A in RBI production; Harper Rosado (45) and Chloe Cox (42). Senior Maiah Murphy is batting .543 (3rd in 2A) with an on-base percentage of .577 and shortstop Livy VanDerSluis is a danger on the base pads with 32 steals this season.

Wapsie Valley will be playing for their first softball title since 1969 Thursday at 5:00PM in Fort Dodge’s Rogers Park on the Channel Seeds Field.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 T

Logan-Magnolia 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1

Wapsie Valley 2 0 2 0 1 0 0 5

Pitching: Taylor Buhr (WP, 12-4) – IP: 7.0, PC: 105, BF: 26, H: 3, R: 1, ER: 0, BB: 2, SO: 4

Hitting: Lola Destival (1/2, 2-R, 1-1B, 1-BB), Taylor Buhr (1/3, 1-R, 1-1B, 1-RBI), Espyn Decker (2/3, 2-R, 2-1B), Maddie Ladeburg (1/2, 1-1B, 1-RBI), Sawyer Buhr (1/2, 2-1B, 1-RBIs), Gracie Sebetka (0/3), Maya Barnes (1/3, 1-1B, 1-SO), Layla Armstrong (0/3, 1-SO), Emry Shannon (1/3, 1-1B, 1-SO).