OSAGE — It began as a game of who was going to score next, but ended as a tale of who was going to score last.

With a single run in the second inning, the East Marshall softball team had the tiebreaker it needed to defeat fourth-ranked Osage with a 3-2 triumph in Monday’s Class 2A Region 4 championship game at Osage High School.

The Mustangs (27-9) advance to the state tournament for the eighth time in program history and the second consecutive summer, stunning an Osage squad that had lost only once prior to Monday’s matchup. The Green Devils (28-2) have only been to state once, and they appeared primed to party like it was 1999 once again.

“We beat an awful good team,” said Mustangs head coach Jary Hoskey. “It’s a great win for our program, for the town. Look at all the people here from East Marshall. It’s tremendous.

“It’s a good day to be a Mustang.”

Emmery Dodd’s two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning gave Osage a mountain of momentum after East Marshall had struck first with two runs of its own in the game’s first at-bat. Eighth-graders Gianna Boswell walked and Miyah Grabenbauer singled through the right side to set the table for the Mustangs, and both advanced on Ashtyn Wheater’s flyout to right field.

With two outs, Bailey Grant hit a swinging bunt that turned into an infield single, driving in Boswell, and Grabenbauer came around when the first baseman dropped Osage’s throw from across the diamond.

The 2-0 lead and all the excitement didn’t last long, but the Mustangs eventually did all the celebrating at the end.

East Marshall junior pitcher Peyton Grabenbauer walked Osage leadoff batter Erica Gast, and one out later, Dodd turned a hitter’s count into a long home run down the right-field line.

Unknowingly, that was the last hit the fifth-highest scoring team in 2A would get in the game.

Peyton and her defense played near-flawlessly, escaping another jam in the bottom of the third and one last one in Osage’s last gasp in the seventh. Peyton walked a pair in the third but slipped by when Wheater snared a hard-line drive at third base for the final out.

The last one, however, was a bit more dramatic. Osage’s Emma Evens hit a one-out grounder to senior shortstop Makayla Hala, but her throw shorthopped Miyah at first base, allowing Evens to reach as the potential tying run.

After Peyton struck out Abygail Evens for the third time in the game, Anna Peterson slapped a long fly ball to left field. Boswell retreated to her right and made the game-ending catch on a hit that appeared destined to keep the home team’s dream alive.

Boswell said she had it all the way.

“I just knew I had to catch it and do it for my team, that I have to make the play no matter what,” she said. “I just had to finish it.”

Hala knew her errant throw wasn’t going to be the end for East Marshall.

“It happens, you know, but I’ve got the rest of my team behind me and they made up for it,” said Hala, one of four seniors. “This was definitely a game filled with emotions, but Peyton kept herself together and everyone kept saying encouraging words to each other and that really helped.”

It capped a one-hitter for Peyton, who struck out seven and walked three, and sent the Mustangs into celebration mode for the second year in a row.

“After that home run they hit, I did get a little riled, but then I settled in and I just knew I had to trust my defense and I knew they had my back,” Peyton said. “This means the world. It’s what we’ve worked for, what we worked for all winter long, and this is the dream.

“It’s an indescribable feeling. I’m just so proud of my teammates — coming back to do it again just means everything. There’s no words to describe it.”

East Marshall, the third-highest scoring team in 2A, had just enough to get it done. The Mustangs outhit the Green Devils 7-1, but it was productive outs that manufactured the runs.

Tied at 2-all after a topsy-turvy first inning, Hala led off the top of the second with a line drive to left field that scooted through the defender’s legs. Hala took second on the play, and two outs later advanced to third on Boswell’s squibber back to Osage pitcher Olivia Chapman.

Chapman uncorked a wild pitch that hit the backstop, allowing Hala to race across home plate for the go-ahead run, 3-2.

Unpredictably, that was the last time either team would score. Osage had just three baserunners the rest of the game, as Peyton and the Mustang defense recorded four 1-2-3 innings.

East Marshall ended up stranding seven runners on base and failed to score when they loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the fifth, but it all worked out in the end.

“I think knowing that we’ve gotten this far and just remembering all the hard work we put into it and just keeping our nerves low is what helped us a lot,” said Grant, a senior catcher.

The Mustangs’ state tournament draw for next week in Fort Dodge was not available as of press time.