Postseason High School Baseball
The Class 1A and Class 2A brackets are set with the teams heading to Carroll to play at Merchants Park with Class 1A playing today and Class 2A starting play tomorrow, July 21st. Here’s the matchups.
In Class 1A, #1 Coon Rapids-Bayard will take on #8 Moravia with the winner playing either #4 Remsen St. Mary’s or #5 North Linn.
On the bottom half of the bracket, #7 Burlington Notre Dame will attempt to upset #2 South Winneshiek at 1:30 pm today. Nike head coach Chris Chiprez has the benefit of having Eli Oleson, the CO-SEISC-South Player of the Year, on his team,
“You know, I tell you what, the kid eats, sleeps, and drinks baseball, you know. You can find this kid here an hour before practice, if not more, and then almost daily after practice, he’ll stay for another hour after practice to hit in the cage or do some defensive work in the outfield. You know, there’s, you know, it’s kind of funny. There’s times that you almost have to shut these guys down because, you know, it’s hot, you need to, you know, we got games the next day or whatever, and you want to make sure that they get their rest in. But I was actually talking to Coach Olsen, his dad, he’s one of my, he’s my outfield coach, and he kind of told me a story, like, I don’t know, it was maybe halfway through the track season, that when they got back from a track meet, he got off the bus around 10:30 at night, he came straight to the field and hit in the dark in the cage off a tee. So, I mean, that just shows you the dedication that this kid has, and that’s the reason why he’s having the season he’s having.”
The winner will play either #3 Newman Catholic or #6 Ankeny Christian.
For Class 2A, #1 Pleasantville will square off against #8 Ridge View at 7 pm tomorrow. #4 Cascade will take on #5 Beckman Catholic at 4:30 pm. #2 Roland-Story will face off against #7 Durant at 1:30 pm and #3 West Lyon will tangle with #6 Unity Christian at 11 am.
Class 3A and Class 4A will be making the trip to Cedar Rapids to play at Kernels Veterans Memorial Stadium with Class 3A set to play today and Class 4A to follow the action tomorrow.
At 11 am today, #1 Wahlert Catholic will square off against #8 Knoxville with the winner playing either #4 North Polk or #5 Western Dubuque. On the bottom half of the bracket, #7 Assumption will face off against #2 Carlisle at 4:30 pm. The night cap will be #3 Xavier competing against #6 MOC-Floyd Valley.
Class 4A will start play tomorrow with #4 Johnston taking on #5 Pleasant Valley at 11 am. #1 Sioux City East will tangle with #8 Iowa City Liberty at 1:30 pm. Eyeing an upset will be #7 Southeast Polk against #2 Indianola at 4:30 pm and #3 Waukee will renew a conference rivalry at 7 pm against #6 Valley.
All-District Baseball Teams
The Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association released the All-District teams and 13 members from our local teams made the Southeast squad for their respective classes.
Class 1A was solely populated by Notre Dame Nikes with Landry Haberichter and Eli Oleson placed on the First Team outfield along with Tatum Warner with First Team utility. On the Second Team was Payne Prottsman for third base and Maddox Diewold in the outfield.
For Class 2A, Mediapolis had Max Griffin earn a spot on the Second Team as a pitcher, while Kyler Crow found a spot on the Second Team utility.
The Southeast Conference made themselves known in Class 3A with five members making the squad from Fairfield, three from Burlington, and one from Mt. Pleasant and Washington.
On the First Team, Archer Kreuter was tagged for the outfield, while Dain Burkhart claimed a spot for utility. DeAndre Taylor was First Team second base and Noah Krieger took First Team utility.
On the Second Team, Mt. Pleasant’s Grayson Lowery was given the nod as a pitcher. Aiden Westercamp and Voss Richardson for Fairfield and Ethan Peebler for Washington were placed in the Second Team infield. Ethan Bisgard of Fairfield earned a spot in the outfield, while Burlington’s Austin Donahoe earned Second Team utility.
Postseason High School Softball
All five classes will be heading to Fort Dodge today to compete in a double-elimination bracket. Here’s a look at the matchups.
In Class 1A, #1 Exira-EHK-Audubon will face off against #8 Edgewood-Colesburg at noon. #4 West Monona will square off against #5 Southeast Warren. In the bottom half of the bracket, #2 Clarksville will take on #7 North Butler and #6 Remsen St. Mary’s will tangle with #3 St. Edmond.
Class 2A will start the action today with #1 Grand View Christian squaring off against #8 Cardinal at 10 am. #4 Regina Catholic will face off against #5 Hinton. #7 Ridge View will attempt to upset #2 Durant at 2:30 pm and #3 Wapsie Valley will take on #6 Logan-Magnolia.
For Class 3A, #8 West Liberty will attempt to spoil #1 Williamsburg’s season at 11:15 am. #5 PCM and #4 Mt. Vernon will duke it out at 1:30 pm. #2 Wahlert Catholic will attempt to soar past #7 West Delaware and #3 Albia will take on #6 Van Meter at 6 pm.
For Class 4A, Kylee Hill will look to lead #8 Burlington past #1 ADM at 10:30 am. The winner will take on either #4 Western Dubuque or #5 Winterset. #2 Carlisle will face off against #7 North Polk and #3 Fort Dodge will square off against #6 Clear Creek Amana at 5:15 tonight.
#1 Waukee Northwest and #8 Pleasant Valley will lead off the Class 5A bracket at 11:45 am. #4 Dallas Center-Grimes will face off against #5 Cedar Rapids Kennedy at 2 pm. On the bottom half of the bracket, #2 Ankeny Centennial will take on #7 Dowling Catholic, while #3 Valley will dance with #6 Southeast Polk at 6:30 pm tonight.
Mt. Pleasant Cross Country
Summer runs are underway for the Mt. Pleasant Cross Country team. These runs are optional but a great way to run with others and get in shape for the fall season. The runs are available to anyone entering 7th through 12th grades. Coaches may not be present at every run, as they are often led by upperclassmen.
On Mondays, the runs will take place at 6:30 am at the Old Threshers Museum Theatre. Wednesdays will be high school speed day at 7 am at Mapleleaf and Tuesdays and Thursdays will take place at Saunders Park by the swimming pool at 7 pm.
The runs will continue through the middle of August until the Mt. Pleasant Cross County camp. If you have any questions, you can contact Coach Lyle Murray at 319-850-0867.
Local Athletic Camps
Mt. Pleasant will be hosting their volleyball camps starting in late July at the high school gym.
The middle school camp for grades 7th and 8th and the high school camp for 9th through 12th graders will run August 3rd through the 5th with the middle school going from 4 to 5:30 pm and the high school to follow from 6 to 8 pm. The cutoff date is Thursday, July 23rd. All camps will cost $30, cash, per person with the camper getting a t-shirt.
Here is the link to sign up for the camp: Middle and High School Camp Registration
Wapello will be holding a youth football camp for students entering 3rd through 8th grade starting on August 3rd and running through the 6th from 4 to 5:30 pm. The camp will cost $25 and includes a t-shirt. If you have any questions, then email coach Tony Johnson at tony.johnson@wapellocsd.org.
Here’s the link to register: Wapello Football Camp Registration
The Columbus football camp starts tonight for all junior high and high school football players. The camp starts at 4 pm and it is free of charge.
The Mt. Pleasant Football Youth Camp is gearing up to start tomorrow, July 21st, and run through Wednesday, July 22nd, from 5:30 to 6:45 pm. The camp is for all students entering 1st through 6th grades with the camp costing $30. If you have any questions, then reach out to coach John Bowlin at john.bowlin@mtpcsd.org.
Here’s the link to register: Mt. Pleasant Football Registration
Prospect League
The Burlington Bees had to deal with a weather delay over the weekend, but it did not slow down the bats as the Bees defeated the Alton River Dragons, 12-9, and the Quincy Doggy Paddlers, 16-8. Troy Peltz slashed a double and a triple for five RBIs in their victory yesterday. The Bees will ride an eight-game winning streak into a home contest against the Springfield Lucky Horseshoes tomorrow, July 21st, at 6:30 pm.
The Clinton LumberKings split their weekend road showcase, losing 16-3 to the Johnstown Mill Rats before coming back yesterday to best the Chillicothe Paints, 8-3. Kaden Frommelt led the effort yesterday with a home run and three RBIs. The LumberKings will host the Normal CornBelters tomorrow at 6:30 pm.
This Day in Sports History
1944 – Browns Nelson Potter is 1st pitcher suspended for throwing spitballs.
1968 – First Special Olympics held in Chicago, Illinois for children and adults with intellectual disabilities.
1976 – Hank Aaron hits 755th and last home run off Angels Dick Drago.