Author: Nathan Bloechl

By: Nathan Bloechl — sports@kilj.com 

Prep Baseball: New London Stays Perfect, Other Finals:

New London 10, Notre Dame 5

Hecniel Rodriguez worked around six free passes as he struck out eight over five innings as the New London Tiger baseball team stayed perfect with a 10-5 win over Notre Dame last night at Winegard Field.

Kooper Schulte had two hits and scored three runs for New London while junior catcher Tucker Gibbar drove in three runs.

Ryan and Brendan Richey each had two hits as the Tigers improved to 5-0.

The night also featured a scary injury after Gibbar’s line drive comeback struck Notre Dame pitcher Jackson Brent in the face.

Brent immediately exited the game and was taken to Iowa City for oral surgery.

The loss moved Notre Dame to 4-2.

Fairfield 14, Mount Pleasant 7

Fairfield 16, Mount Pleasant 0 

Mount Pleasant’s baseball team suffered two tough losses in a conference doubleheader yesterday at Mapleleaf Athletic Complex.

In game one Fairfield slugged out 14 hits en route to a 14-7 win. Will Edeker was the starter for the Panthers allowing 13 runs, yet only three were earned. He walked four and struck out five.

Trevor Wellington had three hits and a run batted in to pace the Panther offense.

Chase Williamson also had a two hit night, while driving in two runs.

In game two, Fairfield got hot early, cruising to a 16-0 win.

Wellington took the loss throwing 2.2 innings allowing three earned runs and five hits punching out two.

Lincoln Henriksen came on for 2.1 innings of relief and struck out two.

Mount Pleasant’s offense mustered three hits in the night cap against the Trojans.

The losses moved Mount Pleasant to 1-6. Fairfield improved to 4-5.

Highland 14, Winfield-Mount Union 0 

Nick Crow doubled for Winfield-Mount Union in a 14-0 loss to Highland last night.

Luke Pfeiffer took the loss, allowing ten runs over 3.1 innings.

Demetrius Woodsmall pitched 1.2 innings of relief allowing four runs on three hits.

Luke Miller had three hits and two runs batted in for Highland, who improved to 6-2.

Winfield-Mount Union slipped to 1-7.

Mediapolis 3, Louisa-Muscatine 2

Mediapolis walked it off scoring the last tally in the bottom of the 7th, as they rallied for a 3-2 win over Louisa-Muscatine last night.

The Falcons took an early lead in the 2nd inning, but the Bulldogs countered with single markers in the 4th and 5th innings to grab hold of a 2-1 advantage.

Louisa-Muscatine knotted the game up at two apiece in the 6th inning before Mediapolis won it in the 7th.

The win evened Mediapolis’ ledger at 4-4.

Louisa-Muscatine fell to 2-3.

West Burlington 9, Danville 8 

Cam Edle, Klayton Kleinkopf and Sawyer Nelson each homered but it was not enough for Danville as they fell 9-8 in a slugfest to West Burlington last night.

Hayden Vandenberg and Kody Allen each had two hits for the Falcons — Vandenberg’s two hits were both round-trippers.

Gabe Zurita earned the win out of the Falcon bullpen.

West Burlington moved to 5-3.

Danville dropped to 1-4.

Prep Softball: Winfield Earns Home Win, Other Finals:

Winfield-Mount Union 3, Highland 1

Madie Anderson struck out nine hitters over seven innings allowing just two hits and a run as Winfield-Mount Union shut down Highland for a 3-1 win.

Molly Miller rounded the pillows with her first homer of the season while Anderson and her sister Anna each doubled.

The win moved Winfield-Mount Union to 7-1, while Highland slipped to 7-2.

No. 3 (4A) Fairfield 17, Mount Pleasant 1 

No. 3 (4A) Fairfield 14, Mount Pleasant 0 

The Mount Pleasant softball team was defeated by No. 3 (4A) Fairfield in both ends of a conference doubleheader last night at Mapleleaf Athletic Complex.

In game one, Grace Kelley clubbed her second home run of the year in a 17-1 Fairfield win.

Madison Helling allowed 12 runs in 3.1 innings while striking out one.

In the nightcap, Ella McNamee scattered three hits over 2.2 innings as Fairfield won 14-0.

Savana Walls, Emma Starr, Grace Kelley, Jersey Beachey, McNamee and Courtney Raub all had hits.

Mount Pleasant dropped to 0-10 after the sweep.

No. 3 (2A) Louisa-Muscatine 19, Mediapolis 0 

UNI Panther recruit Kylee Sanders had two hits as Louisa-Muscatine rolled to a 19-0 win over Mediapolis last night.

Hallie Mohr had a double for the Bullettes.

Louisa-Muscatine moved to 4-2.

Mediapolis fell to 1-7.

No. 4 (3A) West Burlington 9, Danville 2

Lauren Summers struck out 16 hitters as fourth-ranked West Burlington rolled to a 9-2 win over Danville last night.

Logan Kelley had four hits in four trips and drove in six runs for the Falcons offense.

Summers aided the attack with three hits of her own.

Haiden Molter took the loss for Danville working five innings allowing seven runs, all earned.

Carlea Beckman had a hit and run scored for Danville.

Prep Cross Country: Mount Pleasant Starting Summer Runs:

The Mount Pleasant cross country team is starting their optional summer run times.

The team will meet Monday and Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. at Saunders Park and Tuesday and Thursday at Old Thresher’s Museum Theater.

The runs will begin June 14th and will continue through the middle of August when the Panthers begin cross country camp.

Fry Named AD at Fort Madison:

New London alum and current activities director Ben Fry has been named to the same role at Fort Madison Community School District.

Fry had spent the last four years at the New London where he had been the activities director.

A graduate of Central College in Pella, Fry will officially begin his duties in Fort Madison on July 1st.

The Fort Madison School District will be hosting a welcome party for Fry on June 14th at the Fort Madison Central Administration Office.

The public is invited to attend.

Prep Track: IATC Finishes All-Star Qualifiers:

Iowa’s top senior track & field athletes competed for North and South Teams, as they duel for bragging rights, at Iowa City West High School this weekend.

The senior all-star championship was be held on Saturday, June 5th, 2021.

Two area athletes qualified for the meet.

Mount Pleasant’s Karsyn Lamm, running next year for Central College, competed for the South All-Stars in the 100m hurdles.

Lamm was a medalist in the Class 3A hurdles at last month’s state meet.

Her personal best this year is 15.8.

Also competing was Danville’s Addison Parrott.

Parrott participated in the 800m run as well as the 1500m run.

The Danville senior was runner-up in both the 1500m and 3000m run at the state track meet last month.

She too competed for the South All-Stars.

Prep Baseball: Super Conference Slate Includes Featured Matchup:

The Southeast Iowa Super Conference has a robust schedule tonight, including our featured matchup of the night.

New London travels to Notre Dame tonight for a 7:00 p.m. first pitch, their first meeting since last year’s substate final where Notre Dame ousted the Tigers and moved to the 1A State Baseball Tournament.

New London has been a machine this year, blasting double digit runs in three of their first four games — including a 37 spot against Columbus last week.

Carter Allen, a two-time medalist at this year’s state track meet, leads the club with a .615 batting average and nine runs batted in.

Hecniel Rodriguez is hitting .556 with 12 runs batted in, three triples, one home run and three stolen bases.

Meanwhile, Notre Dame enters proceedings tonight with a 4-1 ledger, their lone loss back on May 29th to Fort Madison.

Sophomore Carsen Jones leads the club with a.500 average and 10 runs batted in.

Jackson Brent has thrown 7.1 innings to the tune of a 2.86 ERA for the Nikes, filling in the shoes in the shoes of older brother and former ace Mitchell.

The Nikes have won the last four tilts between the clubs, with New London’s last win coming back on June 25th of 2018.

Tonight’s game, being played at Burlington Notre Dame will have first pitch at 7:00 p.m.

You can listen on FM 105.5 and online at kilj.com.

Other baseball games tonight in the Super Conference:

• Highland at Winfield-Mount Union
• Columbus at Cardinal
• Louisa-Muscatine at Mediapolis
• Hillcrest Academy at Wapello
• Danville at West Burlington

Also back in action is the Mount Pleasant baseball team. The

Panthers will host Fairfield for a conference doubleheader tonight after dropping two games Saturday against Muscatine 15-0 and 12-4.

Fairfield comes in 2-5, the Trojans were most recently beaten by Burlington in a conference doubleheader last Thursday.

Mount Pleasant is led by senior Will Edeker who is hitting a sterling .714 through the teams first five games.

Wyatt Baker leads Fairfield with a .278 average.

Tonight’s doubleheader will begin at 5:30 p.m. at Mapleleaf Athletic Complex.

Other games in the Southeast Conference tonight:

• Keokuk vs. Fort Madison
• Washington at Burlington

Prep Softball: Several High End Matchups in SEISC, SEC Tonight:

The Monday softball schedule in the area has several high-profile games, including Winfield-Mount Union playing host to the a game Highland bunch.

Highland enters play tonight with a record of 7-1, Winfield-Mount Union, who’s lone blip came against No. 1 (2A) Louisa-Muscatine is 6-1.

Freshman Sarah Burton is Highland’s team leader at the plate, she’s hitting .591 through eight games with five doubles and nine stolen bags.

She will draw the challenge of squaring off with Winfield ace Madie Anderson, who has thrown 42 innings so far this year, striking out 87, while walking just seven.

Her ERA is a microscopic 0.50.

Jobey Malone has been on a tear at the dish for Winfield with a .571 average along with three runs batted in and two doubles.

Tonight’s game will begin at 7:00 p.m. at Winfield-Mount Union High School.

Other tilts in the Super Conference tonight include:

• Columbus at Cardinal
• Holy Trinity at Van Buren County
• Louisa-Muscatine at Mediapolis
• Hillcrest Academy at Wapello
• Danville at West Burlington Notre Dame

And in the Southeast Conference, Mount Pleasant will host Fairfield for a conference double dip.

The Panthers enter tonight with a record of 0-8, Fairfield is 3-4.

Savana Walls has started her season hot, the junior is hitting .500 through eight games.

Fairfield is paced by Hannah Simpson who his hitting .393 with nine runs batted in for Fairfield.

That doubleheader will get underway at 5:30 p.m. at Mount Pleasant High School.

NBA Scoreboard: Game Two in Brooklyn, Game One in Phoenix:

The NBA Playoffs continue on tonight with a pair of matchups.

In the East, the Milwaukee Bucks and Brooklyn Nets will meet for game two. The Nets took game one 115-107.

In the Western Conference Semifinals, the Phoenix Suns will host Denver for game one.

Milwaukee vs. Brooklyn will get underway at 6:30 p.m. with Denver and Phoenix tipping at 9:00 p.m.