Riley Miller provided the late heroics as Aububon moved into the state semifinal round on Tuesday afternoon at Rogers Park.

Miller doubled home Mattie Nielsen with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, pushing the third-seeded Wheelers past No. 6 West Monona in a tense 4-3 Class 2A opener.

Miller, just a freshman, was also the winning pitcher for Audubon (28-4 overall). She didn’t walk a batter and struck out six in firing a four-hitter.

“I knew how fast Matte is an she had the ability to score (on the double),” Miller said. “I knew they weren’t going to get the ball in time and she was going to make it (to home).

“It was an amazing celebration. I’m just so happy to do it with this team. I’m just happy both our offense and our defense were able to pull through.”

Head coach Andy Schwery added her Wheelers went through “a lot of emotions” in the victory.

“We have a lot of pride in what we (accomplished),” Schwery said. “Everyone was contributing, especially defensively. Riley’s rise ball is always effective. When you get to state, you see a lot of good hitters so you have to mix it up and keep them on their toes. She did that.”

Jordan Porsch doubled in a pair during Audubon’s three-run third inning. The Spartans (33-8) managed to rally from that 3-0 deficit and eventually knot the score in the top of the seventh against Miller (15-2), but she got her revenge.

Abby Hiatt allowed only one earned run and struck out eight for West Monona.

The Wheelers now square off with seventh-seeded Eddyville-Blakesburg/Fremont (23-13) — a 6-1 upset winner over No. 2 seed Northeast — in a 2A semifinal on Wednesday at 5:15 p.m. on Iowa Central Field.

“We just have to mentally prepare,” Miller said. “We know we can beat anyone here as long as we have faith in ourselves.”

The Spartans now meet Northeast in a 2A consolation contest at 12:15 p.m. on Yankee Field Wednesday.

AUDUBON 4, WEST MONONA 3

West Monona 000 200 1 — 3 4 2

Aububon 003 000 1 — 4 6 0

WP–Riley Miller (15-2; 7 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 6 K); LP–Abby Hiatt (15-5; 6.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 K). 2B–A: Riley Miller, Jordan Porsch. SB–A: Mattie Nielsen; WM: Savannah Lucas.