Iowa City Regina wasn’t expected to be at Rogers Park this week for the state softball tournament.

But the Regals are here, and they are in the Class 2A finals.

Regina stunned No. 1 Central Springs on Iowa Central Field Wednesday evening, 7-4. They will face Wilton, another surprise finalist, in the championship game Friday night at 5 p.m. on Kruger Seeds Field.

“I had parents who planned family vacation for this week,” Regina head coach Angela Kessler said. “And I’m not joking about that. We graduated six seniors and nobody thought we would be back here.”

But back here the Regals are thanks to a big momentum shift in the middle innings against the Panthers.

After Central Springs went ahead 2-0 with a pair of solo home runs in the first from Kaylea Fessler and Madisyn Kelley, Iowa City Regina went on the attack in the fourth, scoring three runs to take the lead.

Jillian Panther had a two-RBI single to make it 3-2. Panther finished 2-for-3 with three RBI.

“We have a great dugout that keeps us going,” Panther said. “We could definitely feel the momentum shift back to our side. We just had to keep working.”

In the fifth, the Regals put up four runs on four hits, as pitcher Emma Nibaur helped her own cause with a two-RBI single. She also scored twice and struck out three, working around 11 hits and four walked batters.

“These girls just have fun,” Kessler said. “They have fun on the field and are fun to be around. When you are having fun, you play well.”

Central Springs had a couple of chances in the later innings to climb back into it, but Nibaur and the defense ended those hopes. Azaria McDonough had three hits, as did Aurora Stapleton.

The Panthers will face North Union on Friday at 3:30 p.m. in the third place game.

IOWA CITY REGINA 7,

CENTRAL SPRINGS 4

IC Regina 000 340 0 — 7 7 1

C. Springs 200 020 0 — 4 1 3

WP–Emma Nibaur (17-7, 7 IP, 11 H, 4 ER, 3 K, 3 BB). LP–Cooper Klaahsen (23-1, 7 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 3 K, 1 BB).

HR–CS: Kaylea Fessler, Madisyn Kelley. RBI–ICR: Kennedy Connor, Jillian Panther (3), Emma Nibaur (2); CS: Kaylea Fessler, Madisyn Kelley, Kaci Crum. SB–ICR: Laci Chambliss.