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MARION – It could not have been scripted any better.
After missing the entire 2024 season with injuries, Linn-Mar seniors Emily Koranda and Emma Barnes made their final home field swings count.
With the Lions holding a 3-2 lead over Iowa City Liberty in a Class 5A regional final, Koranda and Barnes each belted home runs in a three-run fifth inning. The homers propelled the No. 2 Linn-Mar to an 8-2 victory Tuesday night at Oak Ridge Middle School, and its first state tournament appearance since 2022.
Coach Maddie Colbert’s team (33-6), making its first state tournament appearance since 2022, will meet Pleasant Valley in a state quarterfinal Monday at Harlan Rogers Park in Fort Dodge. The Spartans advanced with a 6-1 win over Muscatine.
Liberty closes its season at 18-20.
“We believed from the beginning,” Colbert said as Lion players and fans celebrated around her. “We have a little picture from the beginning of the year that says Fort Dodge. This is everything that we have been working for and they deserve every ounce of this. They have worked so hard for everything from Day 1 and there isn’t a better group of girls to go to state with.”
The unquestioned leaders of that group have been Koranda and Barnes. Koranda has been the anchor on the mound and at the plate with Barnes leading a solid infield from her shortstop position.
That leadership was on full display after the Lions fell behind 2-1 in the top of the fourth on an RBI single from Liberty’s Aubrey Robertson and a throwing error that allowed Robertson to score the go-ahead run.
Koranda led off the bottom of the fourth with a booming double off the center-field fence. Makinley Sweet ran for Koranda and scored on one of six Lightning errors made in the contest. Kaylie Alvey drove in the go-ahead run with a two-out single to right.
Liberty relief pitcher Ellie Tague retired the first two hitters in the fifth, bringing Koranda to the plate. She hit a high shot down the left-field line that just stayed fair to make it 4-2. After a walk to Annie Cassidy, Barnes hit her fifth homer of the year to make it 6-2.
For Koranda, who allowed just three hits and one earned run in the circle, her goal was simple.
“Honestly, I was just trying to put the ball in play,” said Koranda, who will play collegiately at Missouri State. ” I thought I pulled it (foul) but I was sure glad it stayed fair.”
The moment was not lost on Barnes as she circled the bases.
“I was just ecstatic,” Barnes said of her two-run shot that went over the left-center field fence. “I mean, to do it in my last game on this field and my best friend hit a home run before me, it meant a lot and it gave us the insurance runs to win the ballgame.”
For Colbert, seeing her senior leaders shine when it mattered most, was gratifying.
“Those two girls worked (so hard) to get back,” she said. “So many girls would have just been done, rolled over and quit but not them. They were fighters and they had their whole team behind them all the way.”
Freshman Brynna Gander drove in two more with a single in the sixth.
Liberty was in a regional final for the seventh time in eight seasons, including the last four but has never been able to take that final step to Fort Dodge.
“We’ve been on the brink so many times,” said Lightning Coach Hannah Cole. “I think the girls are finally ready to just get there. I think we let the moment get a little bit too big for us tonight, but we have a lot of young girls (coming back).”
IC Liberty 000 200 0 — 2 3 6
Linn-Mar 010 232 x — 8 6 1
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