Mt. Pleasant, IA- Baseball and late spring into summer, hard to name a better tandem–possible trio–than those two and Henry County knows that well as a crowd gathered around the Mt. Pleasant REC Youth Baseball Fields on Thursday night for the opening day of the 2025 season.

The warm and breezy evening provided a perfect backdrop to introduce the 60th season of youth baseball in Mt. Pleasant as the organization touts about 200 Mt. Pleasant youth involved in the baseball program. Mt. Pleasant teams will be competing against other Henry County teams from Salem, Winfield, and Wayland.

It was also provided an opportunity for Board President Ryan Duffie to present Willy Amos with a plaque to honor his dedication and service as a longtime board member and president of the Mt. Pleasant Youth Baseball Asscoiation.

Of course, no opening day is complete without a ribbon cutting. The Mt. Pleasant Kiwanis Club presented their dedicated playground that certainly got its use from the off-duty ballplayers and spectators alike.

Overall, it was a terrific night to start playing baseball in Henry County.

Here’s a look at the four divisions, the team names, and the coaches for the 2025 season.

T-Ball Teams:

Durham Bulls
Coached by: Sam Taylor

Fort Wayne TinCaps
Coached by: Matthew Krogmeier

Bradenton Marauders
Coached by: Logan Wall

Greensboro Grasshoppers
Coached by: Shawn Warner

Midland Rockhounds
Coached by: Jake Rohde

 

Coach Pitch teams:

Eugene Emeralds
Coached by: Dan Henderson

Carolina Mudcats
Coached by: Ryan Duffie & Seth Krogmeier

Bowling Green Hot Rods
Coached by: Matt Donnolly

Charleston River Dogs
Coached by: Adam Wade

 

American League teams:

Lansing Lugnuts
Coached by: AJ Rash

Norfolk Tide
Coached by: Marvel Jones

Somerset Patriots
Coached by: Dave Rogers

 

National League teams:

Rochester Red Wings
Coached by: Luis Aranda

Scranton RailRiders
Coached by: Tyler Horn

Prep Track and Field- Teams from all over Iowa traveled to select high schools Thursday night to compete for a chance to punch their ticket to the 2025 State Track and Field meet in Des Moines. Southeast Iowa will be well represented, here’s a look at our local qualifiers and what event they will be participating in.

Girls Class 1A

Danville: Alaina Gourley in the 400-meter dash and the 800-meter run. The Bears will have the team of Violette Sowell, Macie Wagner, Delaney Newberry, and Gourley run in the sprint medley relay. Additionally, Newberry, Wagner, Gourley, and Miya Orbiana clinched a spot in the 4×400 meter relay.

Winfield-Mt. Union: Josie Nelson will sprint in the 100-meter hurdles and Kynlee Buffington will compete in the long jump.

WACO: Carlee Lunsford will be competing in the 800-meter run. Josie Dykstra earned a spot in the 400-meter hurdles. The Warriors will have Natalie Wagler, Taelyn Egli, Dykstra, and Lunsford running in the distance medley. In the field events, Bren Graber will be one of two freshmen participating in the high jump.

Wapello: Kate Lanz will be sprinting in the 200-meter dash and the 400-meter dash.

Columbus: Isabella Forbes will be chucking the shot put as she enters as the 21^st seed.

Van Buren County: Kayley Snowgren will be participating in the 800-meter run. The team of Aida Troutman, Ava Loeffler, Daphny Wells, and Emma Coffin will run in the 4×100 and 4×200 meter relays. Lastly, the 4×800 meter relay team will feature Rory Philips, Gabby Titus, Rylee Philips, and Snowgren.

Boys Class 1A

New London: London Franklin will participate in the 100-meter dash and the long jump. In the 1600-meter run, Riley Raines earned an at-large bid. The squad of Cale Westerbeck, Gavin Strawhacker, Brigham Porter, and Franklin will run in the 4×100 and 4×200 meter relays. Logan Franklin will join the fray in the long jump.

Winfield-Mt. Union: Kohlby Newsom will compete in a trio of events: the 400-meter dash, the 800-meter run, and the 1600-meter run.

Wapello: Kolton Small will throw in both the shot put and discus.

Van Buren County: The sprint medley team of Bryce Moquin, Kayden Simmons, Izaak Loeffler, and Lincoln Bainbridge will participate along with the distance medley team with Bryce Newcomb replacing Moquin in the lineup. The Warriors also had the team of Moquin, Newcomb, Simmons, and Loeffler get a spot in the 4×200 meter relay. Newcomb, Simmons, Loeffler, and Bainbridge will also be running in the 4×400 meter relay. Bainbridge earned an at-large bid for the 200-meter dash.

Columbus: Alexander Rees and Lamar Ceant will perform in the 200-meter dash and the 110-meter hurdles. Riley Kaalberg will sprint in the 100-meter dash. Ty Muniz will join the groups in the 1600 and 3200-meter runs. The Wildcats will have the team of Rees, Lamar Ceant, Jonathan Miranda, and Riley Kaalberg run in the shuttle hurdle relay. Juan Chairez, Rees, Ceant, and Kaalberg will compete in the 4×100 meter relay. Dakota Aney and Tyson Kaalberg will join Riley Kaalberg and Chairez in the 4×200 meter relay. Ryan Villa, Muniz, Cade Storm, and Victor Tovar will participate in the 4×800 meter relay.

WACO: Jude Dykstra will be running in the 800-meter run and the 1600-meter run. The team of Gage Samo, Hayden Shelman, Louden Huisenga, and Dykstra will compete in the distance medley. Huisenga will be in contention for the high jumping crown. Shelman snuck in with an at-large bid for the long jump.

Danville: Nick Powell will be participating in the 800-meter run. Jackson Shacklett found a spot in the 3200-meter run. The squad of Drake Bielser, Jaden Bauer, Landon Seibert, and Kessler Whaley will run in the 4×100 meter relay. Ty Frazier will substitute in for Whaley for the 4×200 meter relay. Noah Horn, Frazier, Powell, and Whaley will compete in the 4×400 meter relay. The distance medley team will consist of Whaley, Seibert, Horn, and Powell. Lastly, the squad of Bielser, Bauer, Whaley, and Horn will participate in the sprint medley relay.

Girls Class 2A

Mediapolis: Kira Messer took an at-large bid for the 100-meter dash.

Boys Class 2A

Mediapolis: Simon Wendel will display his endurance in the 1600-meter run. Lathan Keller will compete in the high jump. The team of Kyler Crow, Noah Schmidgall, Henry and Will Luttenegger will run in the 4×100 and 4×400 meter relay.

Central Lee: Kegan Damico will sprint in the 400-meter dash.

Girls Class 3A

Mt. Pleasant: Alex Scott and Kiyah Sanders qualified for the 100-meter dash, while Scott will also be running in the 200-meter dash. The team of Kynlee White, Taylor Williamson, Sanders, and Scott will run in the 4×100 meter relay. Ellie Freeman will jump in for Williamson in the 4×200 meter relay. Izzy Sloat will join Freeman, Sanders, and White for the sprint medley relay. In the field events, Sloat and Linzy Striegel will compete in the long jump and Ella Ensminger will toss the shot put.

Fairfield: Lilly Bergren will participate in the 100 and 400-meter hurdles. The squad of Isabel McCready, Hayley Reinier, Ireland Cranston, and Bergren will compete in the shuttle hurdle relay. Elyse Setterstrom will join Lorence in throwing the discus.

Fort Madison: Mara Smith qualified for the 800-meter run. Avery Rump and Jordyn Marshall will run in the 1500 and 3000-meter runs. Addison Rump, Smith, McKayla Schinstock, and Avery Rump will participate in the 4×800 meter relay. Brylie Lorence will be throwing the discus and the shot put. Lastly, the team of Lillian Gelsthorpe, Olivia Buckner, Avery Rump, and Smith will compete in the distance medley relay.

Keokuk: Layonna Stewart will join Bergren in the 100-meter hurdles. Stewart will be joined by Baylee Billings, Alaya Carr, and Kylee Hoard in the 4×100 meter relay. The squad of Violet Shead, Preslie Weigert, Camryn Atterberg, and Billings will run in the 4×400 meter relay. Atterberg qualified for the high jump. Atterberg, Shead, Carr, and Ada Wood grabbed an at-large bid for the 4×200 meter relay.

West Burlington/Notre Dame: Ady Lamm, Kaylee Webb, Jilian Nickel, and Kaitlyn Kipp will be running in the distance medley relay.

Washington: Jaedyn Moore will sprint in the 200-meter dash. Iris Dahl will pace herself in the 1500-meter run. Leighton Messinger will participate in the 100 and 400-meter hurdles. The shuttle hurdle relay team will consist of Leighton Salazar, Layla Green, Kendall Hinrichsen, and Messinger. Moore will hop in for Green to run the 4×100 meter relay. The squad of Lauren Drahota, Jaslyn Villa, Lauren Horak, and Hinrichsen will compete in the 4×400 meter relay. Lastly, Hinrichsen, Dahl, Emma and Lauren Horak will run in the 4×800 meter relay.

Boys Class 3A

Fairfield: Gabe Tejada will look for a championship in the 800-meter run. Dylan Adam will be in the 400-meter hurdles. The distance medley team of Blake Burnett, Ousman Saine, Tejada, and Adam will be competing. Eli Zillman and Ryan Giberson will battle for the high jump title as Zillman looks to defend his championship. Zillman also earned a spot in the long jump along with Spencer McCready. The team of Burnett, Adam, Giberson, and McCready will compete in the shuttle hurdle relay. Lastly, the sprint medley team of Dayson Workman, Voss Richardson, Ethan Bisgard, and Tejada will be running.

Keokuk: Ryan Bair will be zooming in the 100 and 200-meter dashes. Chayse Smith will be sprinting in the 400-meter dash. Kurt Joy, Tramell Smith, Travarius Smith, and Drew Campbell will run in the 4×100 meter relay. Bair will tag out Joy to compete in the 4×200 meter relay. Chayce Smith and Brenton Hoard will participate with Travarius and Tramell Smith in the 4×400 meter relay. Joy, Bair, Campbell, and Travarius Smith will compete in the sprint medley relay.

Fort Madison: Peyton Lambert will run in the 400-meter dash. Nolan Guzman will take off in the 800-meter run. Mason McLey, Nolan Guzman, Riley Tripp, and Lambert will look to win the 4×800 meter relay. Dayton Lamar cleared 23 feet in the long jump to take the District Championship and enter as the favorite. Brayton Schneider will toss the discus, while Urijah Brooks and Caden Barnes will heave the shot put. Kenden Bowie will challenge the Fairfield powers in the high jump. Brandon Klein will compete in the Wheelchair Para events.

Washington: Tyler Alderton will compete in the 800-meter run. The squad of Logan McDole, Sawyer Tschantz, Carson Ryan, and Alderton will run in the 4×800 meter relay. Seth Shepherd, Keider Gomez Valdez, McDole, and Alderton will participate int eh distance medley relay. In the field events, Greyson Hartman will throw both the shot put and discus. Josh Anderson will be participating in the Wheelchair Para events.

West Burlington/Notre Dame: Landry Haberichter snatched a top ten seed as an at-large bid for the 100-meter dash. Logan Hamma will be participating in the 400-meter hurdles. The squad of Maddox Diewold, Colby Booton, Eli Oleson, and Haberichter grabbed a spot in the 4×100 meter relay. Hamma will jump in for Oleson to run in the 4×200 meter relay. Lastly, Mason Watkins will insert himself into the high jump conversation.

Girls Class 4A

Burlington: The Grayhounds will be prowling in the field events with Lilian Mennen participating in the high jump. Kylee Hill will look to defend her title in the shot put and look to improve upon her 4^th place finish in discus last year.

Boys Class 4A

Burlington: Laderrias Shealey will compete in the 100-meter dash.

Up Next

Stay tuned to KILJ for updates and results throughout the three-day event starting on May 22^nd.

High School Track

For Class 1A, only first place finishers from each state qualifier automatically qualified for the state meet with the next 14 best performances statewide getting a spot. Here’s a look at local qualifiers from WACO’s meet.

The Columbus boys’ team took the team win with 123 points with New London finishing in 4th place with 67 points. 

Columbus had Alexander Rees outsprint his teammate Lamar Ceant by six-hundredths of a second in the 200-meter dash. Rees pulled off another upset against Ceant in the 110-meter hurdles, outdueling his teammate by two-hundredths of a second with a time of 14.72 seconds. The Wildcats had the squad of Rees, Ceant, Jonathan Miranda, and Riley Kaalberg take the shuttle hurdle relay with a time of 1 minute.

For the Tigers, London Franklin claimed the top spot in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.32 seconds. New London’s team of Cale Westerbeck, Gavin Strawhacker, Brigham Porter, and Franklin won the 4×100 and 4×200 meter relays. 

Winfield-Mt. Union’s Kohlby Newsom cruised to victories in the 400-meter dash with a time of 50.27 seconds and the 800-meter run with a mark of 1 minute and 57 seconds. 

Kolton Small of Wapello swept the throwing events with a toss of 49 feet and 5.75 inches in the shot put and a mark of 140 feet and 7 inches in the discus. 

On the girls’ side, WACO was the highest team finisher with a 5th place team score of 62 points followed by Danville with 61 points. The Warriors finished in 2nd place in two events, including Jose Dykstra’s time of 1 minute and 9 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles. 

The Bears had Alaina Gourley claim 1st place in the 400-meter dash with a time of 58.87 seconds and the 800-meter run with a time of 2 minutes and 24 seconds. Gourley anchored the sprint medley relay squad of Macie Wagner, Violette Sowell, and Delaney Newberry as they won the race with a time of 1 minute and 52 seconds. 

Josie Nelson of Winfield-Mt. Union’s time of 16.25 seconds won the gold medal in the 100-meter hurdles. Freshman Kynlee Buffington clinched the win in the long jump with her best leap of the season, getting a mark of 17 feet and 8 inches. 

Van Buren County made the trip to Wayne last night and the boys’ team finished in 2nd place with 106 points, while the girls’ team collected 96 points for 4th place. 

On the boys’ side, the Warriors had the team of Bryce Moquin, Kayden Simmons, Izaak Loeffler, and Lincoln Bainbridge win the sprint medley relay with a time of 1 minute and 35 seconds. Bryce Newcomb replaced Moquin in the distance medley, which claimed 1st place with a time of 3 minutes and 37 seconds. The girls’ team took second place in five different events.

For Classes 2A and 3A, the top two place winners advance to state along with the next eight performances statewide.

Mediapolis made the trip to Monticello last night and the boys’ team claimed 2nd place with 71.5 points, while the girls’ team accrued 48 points for 7th place. Simon Wendel finished in 2nd place with a time of 4 minutes and 35 seconds in the 1600-meter run. The Bulldogs had the squad of Kyler Crow, Noah Schmidgall, Henry and Will Luttenegger grab 1st place in the 4×100 meter relay with a time of 44.64 seconds and the 4×400 meter relay with a mark of 3 minutes and 27 seconds. Lathan Keller cleared 6 feet and 1 inch to take 2nd place in the high jump.

Central Lee traveled to PCM and Kegan Damico’s 2nd place finish in the 400-meter dash with a time of 56.91 seconds earned the senior a spot at the state meet. On the girls’ side, Aubrey Weber took the bronze in the shot put with a heave of 34 feet and 6 inches. 

Mt. Pleasant hosted their state qualifier last night and the girls’ team took home 2nd place with 154 points as a team, while the Fairfield boys’ team grabbed the silver with 120 points.

On the girls’ side, Mt. Pleasant had Alex Scott collect victories in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.31 seconds and the 200-meter dash with a mark of 26.17 seconds. Kiyah Sanders also qualified in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.88 seconds, which was good enough for 2nd place. The Panther team of Kynlee White, Taylor Williamson, Sanders, and Scott took the 4×100 meter relay and claimed 2nd place in the 4×200 meter relay with the squad of Ellie Freeman, White, Sanders, and Scott. Freeman, Sanders, and White were joined by Izzy Sloat to finish in 2nd place in the sprint medley relay with a time of 1 minute and 51 seconds. Additionally, Sloat managed to leap 16 feet and 9.25 inches in the long jump to finish in 2nd place. The last automatic qualifier for Mt. Pleasant was Ella Ensminger in the shot put with a 2nd place heave of 39 feet and 3.5 inches. 

Fairfield’s Lilly Bergren won the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.47 seconds and claimed the silver in the 400-meter hurdles with a mark of 1 minute and 8 seconds. 

On the boys’ side for Fairfield, Gabe Tejada won the 800-meter run with a time of 1 minute and 58 seconds. In the 400-meter hurdles, Dylan Adam took 2nd place with a time of 55.68 seconds. The distance medley team of Blake Burnett, Ousman Saine, Tejada, and Adam claimed 1st place with a time of 3 minutes and 38 seconds. In the high jump, the Trojans grabbed both the gold and silver as Eli Zillman cleared 6 feet and 7 inches, followed by Ryan Giberson with a leap of 6 feet and 5 inches. 

Stay tuned to KILJ for a full list of our local state qualifiers and for updates and results throughout the three-day event starting on Thursday, May 22nd. 

High School Tennis

The Mt. Pleasant boys’ team will compete against Grinnell for the first round of the team Substate 7 tournament at Kennedy High School tomorrow, May 17th.

The Fairfield boys’ team will face off against Centerville at home tomorrow for their first round matchup for Substate 8.

The Mt. Pleasant girls’ team will travel back to Fairfield today for their team Regional Tournament. 

High School Golf

The girls’ Class 1A Region 5 meet will take place today in Wapello with Winfield-Mt. Union, WACO, New London, Danville, Holy Trinity Catholic, and Columbus making the trip. 

The Mediapolis and Central Lee girls’ teams will head to Kalona for the Class 2A Region 5B meet today. 

The Mt. Pleasant and Fairfield girls’ teams will compete in the Class 3A Regional on Wednesday, May 21st, at Edmundson Golf Course. 

The boys’ Class 1A District meet for Winfield-Mt. Union, Wapello, and Holy Trinity Catholic will take place at Heritage Oaks in Wapello on Monday, May 19th. 

The boys’ Class 2A District Meet for Mediapolis and Central Lee will take place in Pella on Monday. 

The boys’ Class 3A District meet featuring Washington will be hosted by West Delaware on Monday at Pin Oak Links. 

High School Soccer

Camryn Bailey was unstoppable for the Mediapolis girls’ team last night, notching four goals in a 5-1 victory against Keokuk. The Mediapolis girls’ team will face off against Columbus/Winfield-Mt. Union on Wednesday, May 21st, at 7 pm at home for postseason play.

The Fairfield girls’ team escaped Centerville last night with a 2-1 victory, snapping a seven-game winless streak. Emmelia Miller and Lexi Mast picked up the goals for the Trojans. The Fairfield boys’ team will travel to Oskaloosa tonight at 6:30 pm.

The boys’ SEISC tournament semifinals are set for tonight. Mediapolis will take on Highland with the winner advancing to the championship tomorrow, May 17th, at Central Lee at 10 am. #6 Burlington Notre Dame will travel to Central Lee tonight for their semifinal matchup scheduled to start at 7 pm.

The WACO boys’ team will hit the road to take on Sigourney Keota tonight at 5 pm.

The Burlington Notre Dame girls’ team will host Davenport Central tonight at 5 pm.

The Central Lee girls’ team will start Regional play on Monday, May 19th, on the road against Fairfield at 7 pm.

The Wapello girls’ team will face off against Mid-Prairie in the Class 1A Region 3 first round at 7 pm on Monday.

The Mt. Pleasant girls’ team will compete against Ottumwa on Monday on the road at 4:30 pm.

Southeastern Community College

The Iowa Community College Athletic Association Conference (ICCAC) has released the Division II All-Region Baseball teams and Southeastern Community College’s head coach Justin Schulte took home Coach of the Year honors for the second consecutive season, while Abrahan Rios was named Defensive Player of the Year.

In his 20th season at the helm for the Blackhawks, the three-time Coach of the Year winner led the team to his second consecutive ICCAC regular season title with a 29-4 record. Additionally, under his leadership, Schulte helped SCC fly as high as being ranked 3rd nationally and currently sit in 6th with a 48-13 record. If the Blackhawks earn an at-large bid for the NJCAA World Series, then it would be their third straight appearance.

Abrahan Rios was a force at the plate with a 0.294 batting average and had the ability to push across runs with 34 RBIs for the season, but he also possessed an elite glove. Rios committed only two errors in 52 games and recorded 228 outs in ICCAC play, which ranked second in the conference.

Michael Farina, Jackson Petsche, Zach Moorman, Keaton Fenn, and Owen Thomson were named to the All-Region First Team.

This Day in Sports History

1957 – NY Yankee players including Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, and Hank Bauer are involved in a brawl at the Copacabana nightclub while watching Sammy Davis Jr. perform, leads to the Billy Martin trade.

1984 – Harvey Mackay pays $218,718 for 44,166 tickets to keep the Twins in Minnesota. The Twins sell 51,863 tickets but only 6,346 fans show up for the game.

2019 – Brooks Koepka ties the tournament record and breaks the course record when he shoots a 63 (-7) to lead the PGA Championship by one stroke after the 1st round at Bethpage Black, New York.