AHSTW tops SW Valley in regional opener

 AVOCA -- The AHSTW softball team earned its first regional win since 2012 last Tuesday night, scoring six unanswered runs in the fourth and fifth innings to beat Southwest Valley, 9-5, in Class 2-A first-round action. The Lady Vikes were ousted by Earlham the following night, 17-4 (see separate story).
 Facing early deficits of 1-0, 4-2 and 5-3, AHSTW began to get its timing down at the plate against Timberwolves’ pitcher Kiara Roberts during the middle innings and strung together some offense.
 Eighth-grader Sydney Zimmerman singled home one run in the fourth, then senior Jayna Olesen beat out an infield hit that allowed Zimmerman to score when the ball got away from the first baseman.
 With the score tied 5-5, a walk and an error ignited the Lady Vikes’ four-run fifth, which also included RBI singles by Sami Kloewer and Emma Jorgensen and a sacrifice fly by Zimmerman.