NEOLA, Iowa - With one long sprint from Baily Janssen, Missouri Valley raced back into the thick of the Western Iowa Conference softball race.

What made the moment even sweeter is that the win came against the league's tournament champion - crowned just last week.

Janssen tripled and scored on a throwing error in the top of the eighth inning, and the Lady Reds outlasted Iowa Class 2-A No. 8 Tri-Center 3-2 for a road triumph on a sweltering Wednesday evening. The outcome keeps Missouri Valley in contention for a regular-season WIC title when it faces 2-A No. 9 Treynor on Friday.

"They came ready," Missouri Valley coach Rick McHugh said. "They wanted to prove we are with the others; we just have to keep playing. We want to show we're one of the top teams in our conference."

The Missouri Valley players were frustrated last week when, as the No. 3 seed, A-H-S-T bounced them from the tourney in the first round.