This year marks the 20th time that Carlisle has qualified for the state softball tournament.

In fact, by reaching the elite eight field for a fourth consecutive time, no player on the current roster for the Wildcats has finished their season anywhere but Rogers Park.

On Monday evening, fifth-ranked Carlisle moved one step closer to state title No. 6 under Webster City native Jim Flaws, besting Norwalk by a final of 8-4 in a Class 4A quarterfinal affair on Iowa Central Field.

The Wildcats (28-10 overall) will face No. 1 Winterset (35-4) on Wednesday back here in the semifinals.

Flaws, who has led the program to all 20 of their state tourney appearances, picked up his 1,196th career win. He is now 1,081-202-1 with Carlisle.

As is usually the case, Carlisle is well-tested, having played the likes of Johnson, Winterset, Adel-ADM, Iowa City Regina and Ballard during the year. They have won six in a row and nine of 10 overall.

“It feels amazing,” Reagan Roling said. “I am so proud of how we stepped up and came through in clutch situations.”

The Wildcats jumped on the board in the second, plating two runs courtesy of Lauren McGriff and Caylin Furnal. They added two more in the fourth when the No. 8 and No. 9 hitters reached and scored, before breaking things open with a three-run sixth.

McGriff had an RBI-double and Furnal added a two-RBI single to make it 7-2. McGriff finished 3-for-5 with an RBI, two runs and a stolen base, while Ally Nolte was 2-for-4 with a walk.

Carlisle’s entire roster is underclassmen, led by seven juniors. Pitcher Logan Brown is just a freshman, who earned the win with five strikeouts in four-plus innings.

“Our goal every year is to make it to state in Fort Dodge,” Roling said. “(Norwalk) played a good game but it feels good to advance.”

Lauren Black blasted her fifth home run of the season in the fourth for No. 4 Norwalk (29-8), who will face Burlington (20-14) in a consolation contest on Tuesday at 1 p.m. on Dodger Field.

Bailey Birmingham had a solo homer in the fifth and Zadle Wadle also had a two-RBI single in the sixth.

At two hours and 35 minutes, the contest broke the five-class record for longest regulation game, surpassing the 2:30 mark set by Des Moines East and Davenport West in 2012.

CARLISLE 8, NORWALK 4

Carlisle 020 204 0 — 8 10 0

Norwalk 000 112 0 — 4 8 1

WP–Logan Brown (16-2, 4.2 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 5 K, 0 BB). LP–Zadle Wadle (17-5, 5.1 IP, 10 H, 7 ER, 6 K, 4 BB).

HR–N: Lauren Black, Bailey Birmingham. 2B–C: Lauren McGriff; N: Lauren Black, Nyah Hulbert. RBI–C: Reagan Roling (2), Laney Schick, Lauren McGriff, Caylin Furnal (2), Amber Dougherty; N: Zadle Wadle (2).

SB–C: Riley Sievers, Lauren McGriff, Logan Brown, Ally Nolte; N: Bailey Birmingham, Nyah Hulbert.