There was never any doubt Lisbon would advance to the state softball tournament in Fort Dodge for the seventh straight season.

Well … maybe some doubt.

Lisbon used a two-run home run by Kamryn Kahl, which deflected off the glove of the Osage left fielder and over the fence at Bunting Field, to top the Green Devils, 4-2, on Tuesday, July 16.

“All the emotions,” Kahl said after the game. “There were so many people that doubted us from the beginning of the season. We worked so hard as a team and we proved everybody wrong. Every game we proved more people wrong.

“We’re such a unified team and that’s what makes this team so special. We’re all so close and we can all work together and good things can happen.”

For those who need a reminder, longtime coach Bob Bunting stepped down last fall after 54 years and 1,323 victories. Plus 11 state tournament trips and three championships. All at Lisbon.

He told the Gazette when he retired that “If I coached next year, I know with this group coming in, it would be hard to part with them and I’d want to go three or four more years.”

That’s this group.

Enter new coach Abbey Shultz.

“When I first came here, I said the expectation is to go to state,” Shultz said. “And we’re going to win state.

“I wanted these girls to believe they could do it, no matter what the talk was.”

Senior Chloe Clausen said the players knew it was a new era.

“We came into this season knowing we can be here,” Clausen said. “We wanted to prove a lot of people wrong, which we did. Now we’re going to see what we can do at state.”

Where the season ends … to be determined.

No. 8 Lisbon (27-12) was given the fifth seed and opened against fourth seed and No. 6 East Marshall (32-4) at 12:45 p.m. Tuesday, July 23.

Win or lose, the Lions play again Wednesday. The Class 2A championship is at 5 p.m. Friday, July 25.

The other 2A teams, in order of seeding and with final IHSGAU ranking, include No. 1 Van Meter (40-1), No. 3 Northeast (27-7), No. 5 Audubon (27-4), No. 9 West Monona (33-7), No. 13 EBF (22-13) and West Fork (18-7).

“I’m so excited,” Kahl said of the impending trip to Fort Dodge. “That’s what Lisbon is all about. We’re just continuing the legacy that Bob left us. And we’re filling those shoes, and I think we’re going to make it far.

“I think there is a bright future ahead for Lisbon softball.”

Osage (23-10) was trying to play spoiler. The Green Devils had already upset No. 14 Wapsie Valley in the regional semifinals, 4-3. They came to town with a team batting average of .386 and four players hitting .460 or better. Their sophomore pitcher had 138 strikeouts in 114 innings pitched.

“They had a lot of girls that really hit the ball,” Shultz said. “They were young and they wanted it.”

Lisbon struck first. Addie Clark opened the bottom of the third with a double, and came around to score on a single by Kaitlynn Hasselbusch.

The Lions added another run in the fourth inning, when No. 9 hitter Lillian Gaiser reached on an error, stole second (and advanced to third on a throwing error), and scored on a bunt by Clark.

Things were going pretty well at Bunting Field.

Then Osage used an error to get Emmery Dodd on base, and leadoff hitter Mylie Howe slammed a shot over the left field fence to tie the game up, 2-2, in the fifth inning. Bunting Field got quiet after that.

“There were some nerves,” Kahl said. “But I just knew that it’s all in god’s hands. And we were going to pull through.”

Clausen opened the bottom half of the inning with a double to the wall. Kahl then stepped into the box, and hit a towering shot to left field that deflected off the glove of Osage left fielder Emma Evens and into the City Park grass.

Would it have been a home run without the assist?

“That’s what I heard,” Kahl said. “I heard it went over the yellow line. I mean, I’ll take it.”

Clausen, standing at second base, had a good view.

“I don’t think so. I think her touching it bumped it over,” Clausen said. “Which was good for us.”

In the end. It doesn’t matter. In 20 years, at the reunion, it will have cleared the fence by 50 yards.

The entire team welcomed Kahl at home plate. It wasn’t quiet anymore.

Shultz saw and felt the momentum shift with the big hit.

“It’s good that it fell on our side,” Shultz said. “But we still had a lot of work to do at that point. And two runs, I didn’t feel was comfortable enough, so we had to keep the momentum going.”

The Green Devils had a baserunner in each of the final two innings – one via error and one by single — but neither reached second base.

Eighth-grade pitcher Kyla Kahl held Osage to just four hits, striking out four, and got some pretty solid defense from her teammates.

“Stay on our fundamentals. Play as a team. And use each other,” Shultz said. “Our dugout tonight was phenomenal and we played as a team.”

So for posterity, state trip for the Lions – 11 under Bunting, and 1 under Shultz.

“She’s a great first-year coach,” Clausen said. “She filled a big role, and I think she’s filling it really well.”

“It was definitely a change, but we all adapted,” Kahl said. “They are such great coaches. And Abbey filled the role so well.”