The Pleasant Valley softball program knows how to win.

Especially at Rogers Park.

The Spartans, who finished as runners-up in Class 5A last summer, rallied for a stunning come-from-behind victory over upset-minded Waukee here Monday afternoon, 8-7 in eight innings.

With the win, Pleasant Valley (38-3 overall) advances to the semifinals where they will face Urbandale back here on Wednesday at 12:15 p.m. on Channel Seeds Field.

A three-run homer by future Iowa State Cyclone Jessie Clemons sparked the rally, as the Spartans tied it with two in the seventh. That momentum carried over, as they erased a two-run deficit in the eighth to win.

“I feel like I’ve aged 20 years,” Pleasant Valley first-year head coach Amanda Ray said. “But we just had faith. All of the girls had faith in what they could do. We’ve had comeback wins all year and this one was no different.”

This is the fifth consecutive year the Spartans have qualified for the elite eight and 13th appearance overall. They went back-to-back in 2017 and ’18. Clemons finished 3-for-5 with three RBI and two runs while Addison Ohda drove in two.

“We never gave up,” Clemons said. “I was excited with my home run but I knew we still needed to score more. We just kept our confidence up.”

For Waukee (20-18), they will now face Muscatine in the consolations on Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. on Dodger Field. The Warriors had upset defending state champion Ankeny Centennial in the regional final to qualify for the second time in three years.

Mara Yokiel had four RBI and Ella McGee collected three hits with two runs and a stolen base for Waukee.

PLEASANT VALLEY 8,

WAUKEE 7 (8 inn.)

Waukee 102 200 02 — 7 13 3

Pl. Valley 000 003 23 — 8 10 2

WP–Kaitlyn Merkel (14-0, 5 IP, 12 H, 5 ER, 1 K, 0 BB). LP–Lillie Struck (14-7, 7.1 IP, 10 H, 8 ER, 0 K, 5 BB).

HR–PV: Jessie Clemons. RBI–W: Zana Zeleke, Mara Yokiek (4), Marin Jacobsen; PV: Jessie Clemons (3), Sarah Rigdon, Addison Ohda (2), Jayla Bischoff. SB–W: Ella McGee, Zana Zeleke; PV: Macyn Bischoff, Ashley Hansen.