LE GRAND — Every time Dike-New Hartford knocked, East Marshall slammed the door in its face.

The 12th-ranked Mustang softball team turned away the upset-minded Wolverines in nearly every inning of Friday’s Class 2A Region 6 semifinal, holding on for a 2-1 victory to advance within one more win of the state tournament.

East Marshall (24-7) will meet No. 4 Iowa City Regina (20-11) in Monday’s regional final in Iowa City.

“I don’t know how good Regina is, but they’ll find out how good we are when we get there,” said East Marshall head coach Jary Hoskey. “All the arrows point to Iowa City — we’re going to try and change that.”

Dike-New Hartford (21-8) stranded nine runners on base, five times leaving a potential run standing at third. Four of those Wolverines were within 60 feet with one out, but the critical connection never came for the D-NH offense.

East Marshall sophomore pitcher Morgan Neuroth and her defense had something to do with that. Neuroth struck out 10 batters — six of them with a runner waiting one base away from scoring to help the Mustangs advance.

The last two strikeouts shut down the potential tying run in the top of the seventh.

“I got up in the count and had to keep it away and make them hit my pitch,” said Neuroth. “That was really important because once you get ahead you can throw your pitch and make them hit your pitch and you don’t have to bring it close to the (strike) zone where they can hit it hard.

“It makes you nervous but you have to keep your confidence and everyone kept their composure well to get the outs that we needed to make and make the plays that were needed.”

Both teams finished with five hits, though none as nerve-racking as Missy Harreld’s one-out triple in the top of the seventh. After East Marshall center fielder Ellie Hull pulled down a routine flyout for the first out, Dike-New Hartford leadoff batter Taylor Kvale reached base with a walk. Harreld followed with a smash to center field, and Hull went tumbling to the ground just as it appeared she was about to make the catch on a dead sprint.

One of East Marshall’s track and field standouts, Hull hopped to her feet and returned the ball to the infield in time to keep Harreld from circling the bases. Kvale scored without a play to cut the Wolverines’ deficit to one, 2-1, but Neuroth nailed the door shut from there. She struck out Ella Costello looking and Payton Nolan swinging, as catcher Kennedy Wheater snagged the foul tip for the final out.

“(Hull) has been great for us in center field and made a lot of good catches,” Neuroth said. “She said she was runing a little bit faster than her body could go, but everybody picked her up and made the plays after that that helped us win.”

Neuroth also helped break the ice for the Mustang offense. Locked in a scoreless tie, Dike-New Hartford pitcher Madisen Theel walked Nos. 8 and 9 hitters Camy Weeks and Hull to put two runners on for Neuroth.

East Marshall’s leading hitter hammered a long foul ball that cleared the fence before calmly driving an RBI single through the left side for the 1-0 lead. After a groundout, Emma Pfantz poked a fly ball deep enough to right field to allow Hull to hesitate but score when the throw pulled D-NH catcher Nolan away from her post.

“The ball’s been kept away from me all year and you have to wait for the best pitch that you can get,” Neuroth said, “and if it’s in there you’ve got to go because that’s the best one that you’re gonna get.

“At that point in the game all we needed was a single to score the run and you just have to do what you have to do to win the game.”

Neuroth’s go-ahead single was one of just five hits for the Mustangs. Wheater was 2-for-3 to lead the way. Catelyn Fisher had a bloop single to right field moments after pinch-hitter Peyton Grabenbauer was thrown out trying to stretch her hit into a double in the bottom of the sixth.

Neuroth scattered five hits and four walks for the win, improving to 19-6 for the summer.

Theel (12-4) walked three and struck out two in the loss. She also had one of her team’s five hits.