Beck's bomb triggers Spartan softball's regional rout

   GRUNDY CENTER – Megan Beck and the Grundy Center softball team are bringing their best ball at the right time.
   The Spartan freshman pitcher slammed a home run that opened the floodgates for a 12-0 rout of Dike-New Hartford in a first-round Class 2A Region 3 game in Grundy Center on Monday night.
   Grundy Center will play 2A No. 5 Waterloo Columbus in Waterloo on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in a regional quarterfinal game.
   Beck sent a booming shot that just cleared the fence in left-center field, the start of two consecutive four-run innings for the Spartans, followed by a trio of runs in the fourth inning that helped bring the postseason opener to an early close.
   “My thought was just get a base hit to get the girl around,” Beck said. “I made sure to wait on the ball and keep my hands in.”
   Beck and Spartan teammate Brooke Flater were each 2 of 3 at the plate on Monday. Frannie Brown plated a team-high three runs and Courtney Cooper, Landry Luhring and Maddie McMartin all brought home one RBI each.
   Beck’s offense helped her cause in the circle as well, as she went all four innings allowing one hit with four strikeouts and one walk.
   “She’s kinda on a roll right now,” Grundy Center coach Jeff Mathews said. “She’s seing the ball well at the plate and spotting the ball well as a pitcher and getting good movement. It’s good to see how she’s come from the beginning of the year.”
   The win comes on the heels of two close calls against state-ranked AGWSR and BCLUW, the latter of which had Beck drive in the tying run in what was a 2-1 final in favor of the Comets. Even in defeat, the Spartans took plenty of positives from playing well against tough opposition.
   “Everyone’s just playing their hearts out,” Beck said. “We’re a lot more loose, and everything’s going smooth.”
GC         144   3  — 12 10  1
D-NH      000   0  —  0   1   6
WP: Megan Beck.
2+ hits: Brooke Flater 2-3, Beck 2-3. HR: Beck. RBI: Frannie Brown 3, Beck 2, Courtney Cooper, Landry Luhring, Maddie McMartin.
GLADBROOK-REINBECK 13, HUDSON 2 (5 INNINGS): The Rebels won their first game of the season with a 10-run-rule-shortened game in Hudson.
G-R advances to Wednesday's regional quarterfinal in Class 1A Region 6 against 1A No. 8 AGWSR at 7 p.m. in Ackley.