Prep Softball- Two of the five champions have already been crowed for the 2024 Iowa High School Softball State Tournaments with the final three to be determined today, now seems as good as time as any to talk about the All-District Teams for the season.

Class 1A

The Southeast district named junior Emily Ross from Holy Trinity Catholic, senior Ada Boysen of Wapello, and Lilly Barre and Payton Brun of Highland to the team.

Emily Ross had a fantastic season at the plate with a 0.519 batting average to go along with a 0.581 on-base percentage and an 0.815 slugging. The junior slugged two home runs to go along with 10 doubles and 19 RBIs, which all led the Crusaders.

Wapello ended up a game short of the state tournament, losing 2-1 in extras to Sigourney—the team attempting to upset Martensdale-St Marys in the championship game tonight. A big reason for their success was the pitching prominence of Ada Boysen.

The senior started 28 games this season, achieving a 19-9 record with a 1.45 ERA to go along with 321 strikeouts, while keeping a WHIP of 0.77 from the circle. Boysen also hit for an average of 0.406 with eight triples, three home runs, 39 RBIs, and took 17 bases—all best on the team.

Highland’s season also came to an end against Sigourney in a close 2-1 final. Payton Brun batted 0.458 in her senior campaign with two home runs and 29 RBIs. The Huskies will be excited to have junior Lilly Barre return with her three triples, two home runs 16 RBIs, to go along with her 0.366 batting average and 0.521 on-base percentage.

Class 2A

Van Buren County’s Ashlynn Huff was the lone sophomore to make the Southeast All-District squad and Lily Coil of Columbus also made the team.

Huff hit an otherworldly 0.512 batting average with a 0.589 on-base percentage. She led the Warriors with 32 runs and tallied 13 RBIs of her own.

Coil played in nine less games but made her mark with a slash line of 0.623/0.706/0.887 leading her to finish second on the team in RBIs with 21, while tying for the team lead in doubles with 10 and leading the team in triples with two. She also stole 15 bases.

Additionally, the junior also posted a 2.95 ERA with 59 strikeouts in her 10 appearances.

Class 3A

There was plenty of local talent represented in the Southeast All-District team with seven local players making the squad.

For Central Lee, senior Shanna Buford and sophomore Kenna Sandoval claimed a spot. This slugging duo got the Hawks into the top 15 and were a game away from punching their ticket to the state tournament.

Sandoval led the team with a slash line of 0.588/0.634/1.021 while crushing seven home runs, 19 doubles, one triple, and 44 RBIs. Buford led the team with 20 doubles, five triples, eight home runs, and 51 RBIs. The senior hit 0.518 with a 1.000 slugging percentage.

Mediapolis’ Payton Harris, an 8^th grader, made the team. Despite just being an 8^th grader, Harris led the team with a 0.541 batting average and a 1.016 slugging percentage. Harris clobbered four home runs, three triples, and 11 doubles for 18 RBIs.

Bella and Leighton Salazar helped Washington finish with one of their best records in school history, earning them a spot on the team. Last year’s CO-SEC Player of the Year, Leighton, turned in another stellar year with a team leading slash line of 0.524/0.592/0.651. The sophomore also tabbed 10 doubles with 29 RBIs. She was also a kleptomaniac on the base path with 36 steals.

Bella was the ace for the squad with a 13-8 record, totaling 100 strikeouts for a 2.67 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP. She also finished second on the team with 37 RBIs.

Lastly, seniors Logan Kelley and Lauren Krieger for West Burlington/Notre Dame claimed a spot for the Falcons. Kelley provided the power to this Falcon squad with seven home runs and 42 RBIs to go along with her 20 doubles and two triples. Her 0.481 average, 0.553 on-base percentage, and 0.906 slugging percentage all led the team.

Kelley will also be playing for the White Team tomorrow at the Waukee Softball Complex for the 2024 All-Star showcase.

Krieger ranked second on the team in just about every offensive category with 13 steals, a 0.462 average, and 0.548 on-base percentage. The senior also slapped seven doubles and two home runs to the tune of 21 RBIs.

Class 4A

Lastly, Burlington’s Saydee Plummer, the SEC Player of the Year, earned a spot on the Southeast All-District team. The senior led the team from the circle and at the plate. Plummer posted a 15-2 record with 178 strikeouts and an ERA and WHIP of 0.78 and 0.58, respectively.

Plummer also batted 0.413 for the season with an on-base percentage of 0.518. She belted three home runs and tabbed 16 RBIs.

High School Postseason Baseball

Championship Friday is now set after Class 2A and Class 4A finished their semifinal matchups last night and while Wednesday’s semifinals featured only upsets, last night kept the status quo, generally.

In Class 2A, #4 Chariton did provide #1 Underwood a scare after putting up five runs in the first half frame, which included two errors and a two RBI double by Keagan Evans. The Eagles struck in the 3rd inning after a couple errors allowed two runs to score, 5 to 2.

The Chargers responded with two runs of their own in the next half-inning to take a 7 to 2 lead. Mason Boothby opened up the scoring in the bottom of the 5th inning for Underwood as small ball took over resulting in five runs crossing home and tying the game. Underwood’s Ryker Adair had the game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the 6th inning to win 8-7.  

On the bottom half of the bracket, #2 New Hampton struck gold in the 3rd inning, scoring all seven of their runs eventually going on to win 7-3. Jaxon Eckley went 3 for 3 at the plate with an RBI and got the win on the mound for his three innings of work, tabbing a strikeout.

Class 4A had similar storylines to Class 2A as #4 Johnston kept things interesting against #1 Cedar Rapids Kennedy, scoring six runs in the top of the 7th inning to tie the game at 7. 

The Cougars needed one swing of the bat as Ty Donels swatted a solo home run for his second RBI of the game to win 8-7. 

#3 Iowa City High ran into Cole Southard, who pitched a gem of a game for #7 Dowling Catholic; pitching all 7 innings, allowing a run on five hits and fanning eight in the win. 

Class 1A will begin championship Friday with first pitch at noon with #3 Remsen St. Mary’s looking for back-to-back titles going against #4 Lynnville-Sully. For Class 2A, #1 Underwood will face off against #2 New Hampton at 2:30 pm. #4 Bishop Heelan will face off against #3 North Polk at 5 pm for Class 3A. Lastly, #7 Dowling Catholic will attempt to pull off one more upset against #1 Cedar Rapids Kennedy at 7:30 pm tonight.

High School Postseason Softball

Classes 5A and 4A officially have a state champion, while Classes 3A, 2A, and 1A will be deciding their champion today. Here’s how yesterday’s action played out. 

In a high scoring affair, #2 Pleasant Valley is the Class 5A state champion after defeating #1 Valley 14-11, scoring nine runs in the 5th inning. Jessie Clemons was a slugging machine for the Spartans, crushing two home runs and a double to the tune of four RBIs.

#6 Urbandale downed #5 Ankeny in the 3rd place match, slamming the door in the 7th inning to win 6-5. Kyra Kain slapped a home run to finish with three RBIs. 

In Class 4A, #7 Carlisle finished their Cinderella tale with a title, defeating #4 ADM 7-6. Ally Nolte swatted a two-run home run for the Wildcats.

#6 North Scott cruised to a 6-2 victory over #1 North Polk to claim 3rd place.

The Class 3A 3rd place contest will start the day between #1 Benton and #3 Wahlert Catholic at 1 pm, followed by the championship matchup against #2 Williamsburg and #4 Assumption.

Class 2A will have their 3rd place matchup at 3:30 pm with #4 East Marshall facing off against #7 Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont. The championship game is scheduled for 5 pm against #1 Van Meter and #3 Audubon.

Class 1A will round out the night with #4 St. Edmond taking on #7 Southeast Warren at 6 pm for 3rd place and #1 Martensdale-St Marys attempting to avenge their championship game loss from last season against #6 Sigourney at 7:30 pm. 

Prospect League

The Burlington Bees stung the Thrillville Thrillbillies last night with an 8-6 victory. Christian Dunn and Jayden Cummings both tabbed two RBIs in the win. The Bees will travel to take on the Normal CornBelters tonight at 6:30 pm.

The Clinton LumberKings split their doubleheader last night against the CornBelters, taking game one 16-8 and falling 5-3 in game two. Bryan Belo and Karson Grout each finished with three RBIs in game one. The LumberKings will host the Chillicothe Paints tonight at 6:30 pm.

This Day in Sports History

1933 – Joe DiMaggio ends his 61 game hitting streak in the minor league Pacific Coast League.

1948 – “Babe Ruth Story” premieres, it would be Babe Ruth’s last public appearance.

1992 – Nolan Ryan strikes out his 100th batter for the 23rd consecutive season.

Iowa City, IA- The Iowa Hawkeyes are gearing up for the 2024-2025 football season with head coach Kirk Ferentz making his Big Ten Media Day appearance with a note that both sides of the ball feature veterans of the program.

It was no secret that the Hawkeye offense was lackluster last season with 10 of their 14 games having a final score under 21 points. Amazingly, the Hawkeyes still went 6-4 in those games, ending the season with a 10-4 record and ranked in the top 25.

However, the offense struggled the worst at the tail end of the season with just 28 points combined in the final four games, including shutout losses in the Big Ten Championship and the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl against Michigan and Tennessee, respectively.

Ferentz noted that the Hawkeyes were without three of their top playmakers on offense once the team got into conference play, including starting quarterback Cade McNamara, who tore his ACL.

Ferentz is confident that McNamara will be the starter entering the season and back at full speed for fall camp; nevertheless, Brendan Sullivan, a transfer from Northwestern University, will provide ample competition even at the #3 slot in the depth chart,

“I know he’s eager to go” said Ferentz. “And eager to see Brendan too in practice. It will be fun to work with him. He’s been really impressive in the summer program and really competitive guy. He’s been impressive in a lot of ways, and seems like he’s transitioned really well to Iowa City. We’re eager to see all of our guys out there, but the quarterback position will be something of note, for sure.”

The lack of offense led to the offseason hire of Tim Lester after he spent the year as a senior analyst for the Green Bay Packers and as head coach of Western Michigan University from 2017 to 2022. Under Lester’s leadership, the Broncos won 37 games and ranked within the top 35 nationally in total offense from 2018 to 2021.

Ferentz has enjoyed Lester’s positive, energetic nature, but what really stuck out was the fact that he has had experience at the helm of the program,

“One thing I do appreciate, he’s a former head coach. That wasn’t a requisite, but also quickly in the conversation, I think he’s got a deep appreciation for how football works, how offense can complement defense, special teams. Everybody is going to be working on the same — you know, towards the same end. So that part’s all been good.”

Lester is bringing in a different style of offense, reminiscent of what San Francisco 49ers’ head coach Mike Shanahan is doing on the west coast. The style does not matter to Ferentz, what does matter is execution, and he believes has picked up quickly,

“It’s not like you’re inventing anything. It’s going to be a little bit different certainly, but I think our players took to it quickly. I went through a similar thing in 1996, I guess it would have been, when we moved to Baltimore, and Ted Marchibroda took over the offense for us. My takeaway from that was the players learned a lot faster than I did. I was the only guy that was stumbling on things that were in my memory bank. The players just move on pretty quickly. It’s kind of been that way this way too. It’s been a good transition.”

Iowa will have some time to iron things out with their season opener taking place on August 31^st at 11 am at home against Illinois State. But, before then, Kinnick Stadium will host Kids’ Day on August 10^th with the gates opening at 10 am.

Team members will sign autographs for kids around 10:30 am at the west and south stands. Additionally, the 2024 Kid Captains will join players on the field for pictures along with an “inside look” at the stadium. Admission is free for all fans.