So are these Mustangs.

In a full-circle moment for the ages, the East Marshall softball team satisfied four years of heartbreak and revenge with an 11-1, five-inning drubbing of Ogden in the Class 2A Region 4 finals on Tuesday night.

Nearly four years after having to forfeit their regional final softball game at Ogden due to COVID concerns, the Mustangs finally got their shot at the Bulldogs.

They made up for lost time in a big hurry.

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE - East Marshall freshman Ashtyn Wheater (19) is greeted at home plate by her teammates after hitting a grand slam to cap the Mustangs’ six-run first inning in their eventual 11-1 win over Ogden in Tuesday’s regional softball final in Le Grand.

The sixth-ranked Mustangs amassed six runs in the bottom of the first inning, capped by freshman Ashtyn Wheater’s grand slam, and the rout was on.

“Ogden’s a good team, but we just played a great ballgame,” said East Marshall head coach Jary Hoskey. “Give them credit, they moved the ball off of Morgan (Neuroth), but tonight we were just a little better.”

Ogden (16-19) proved on Friday to be a little better than No. 7 Iowa City Regina, and the Bulldogs carried their momentum into the first at-bat of Tuesday’s game. Aubrey Leonard was hit by a Neuroth pitch, stole second, advanced to third on a groundout and got home on a bloop single off the bat of Harleigh Janssen.

The Mustangs had a response they’d been waiting four years to unfurl.

Neuroth, who was an eighth-grader on the 2020 East Marshall team that was denied its regional final at Ogden, led off the bottom of the first with a triple to right-center field. Vaeda Bryan reached on a bunt single, and Rayne McIlrath’s grounder to third was too good of an opportunity for Neuroth to pass up.

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE - East Marshall senior Makayla Kerber (14) hoists the Class 2A state softball qualifier banner as her teammates join in the celebration of the Mustangs’ 11-1 win over Ogden on Tuesday night in Le Grand.

The throw beat Neuroth home, but the umpire ruled Janssen failed to tag the Mustang senior as she vaulted through the air around her. Neuroth jumped up and touched home plate to the roar of the hometown crowd and the consternation of the Bulldogs’ coaching staff.

Peyton Grabenbauer bounced an RBI single down the third-base line, and Wheater followed with a high fly ball over the scoreboard in center field.

“It meant a lot because we’ve been working hard this whole season just trying to make it (to state), so to know that it went over to give us a big lead felt really good,” said Wheater. “I wasn’t really sure it was going out.

“It feels really good because my sister (Kennedy) was on the team when (COVID) happened so it felt good to win for her and all her teammates.”

Three of East Marshall’s four seniors — Neuroth, McIlrath and Ava Bringmann — were on the 2020 roster, and Neuroth and McIlrath were both starting outfielders. Fellow 2024 senior Makayla Kerber was in the middle of a lot of Tuesday’s action, whether or not the historical impact of playing Ogden landed with her the same.

In the second inning, Ogden got a leadoff double from Breaunna Wenger, and Lauren Mathews hit a fly ball to Kerber in left that she appeared to catch before dropping the ball as she pulled it from her glove. Mathews was ruled safe, and East Marshall had to endure the same sort of adversity the Bulldogs dealt with in the first inning.

Catcher Bailey Grant made a nifty snag near the backstop when Camryn Askelsen popped up her ensuing bunt attempt, and Neuroth struck out Sophia Moorman to flip the batting order back to the top. Leonard lashed a deep fly ball to left that Kerber caught on the run as she neared the outfield fence.

“We have confidence and we play with each other,” Kerber said. “You just let it go. The call was the call, so you let it go and continue playing your hardest.”

The Mustangs managed to do that, amassing five more runs in the bottom of the third to take an 11-1 lead. Bringmann walked, Grant singled, and Wheater reached on an error to load the bases. Libby Atcher followed with a double to the gap in right-center, and Kerber slapped a double over the drawn-in outfield. Both hits brought home a pair, chasing Ogden starting pitcher Katie Wilcoxson from the circle.

Clara Kruse surrendered another run on Grabenbauer’s fielder’s choice grounder, and East Marshall was suddenly two runs or six outs away from state.

“This is what we’ve been working for ever since,” McIlrath said of the 2020 regional. “Morgan and I have done everything in our power to make it and we finally did and it’s an amazing feeling.

“It’s our turn.”

Ogden got two runners on base in the top of the fourth but couldn’t break through again, and Neuroth and her defense finished off the Bulldogs in order in the fifth to finish off East Marshall’s first regional final victory since 2019.

The Mustangs (32-4) will face Lisbon in the 2A state quarterfinals on Tuesday, July 23, in Fort Dodge. First-round pairings had not been posted as of press time.

“We’ve been waiting for this our whole high school career,” said Neuroth, who struck out seven in a three-hit pitching performance. “We’ve had two different chances playing in the regional finals and we haven’t accomplished either of them and tonight was the night.

“(2020) was honestly one of the worst things ever, getting on the bus and going and having to turn right back around. This was total revenge on them for that. They got a free ticket back in my eighth-grade year and we did not give them a free ticket tonight.”

The bottom four batters in East Marshall’s lineup accounted for seven of the team’s 10 hits. Grant, Wheater and Atcher all went 2-for-3, and Kerber was 1-for-3. The quartet — including courtesy runner Cora Talbert and shortstop Makayla Hala — combined to score six runs and drive in eight.

“They’re just great kids and I’m blessed to have them,” said Hoskey. “One through 18, they’re just good kids and that’s what it takes to be a winning, successful team. No drama, we don’t have any of that, and I’m happy and I think the girls are happy now.

“It’s a fun time. I about cried. We had payback in our mind and we felt we could beat them over there (in 2020) as good as we were playing, but that wasn’t meant to be. Now it’s our chance to go to the state tournament and see what kind of damage we can get done.”