High School Postseason Baseball
The 2024 state championships are in the books and here’s how the matchups went down.
In Class 1A, #4 Lynnville-Sully’s four run dash in the final inning secured a 7-1 victory over #3 Remsen St. Mary’s. Carson Maston slashed a double and tallied three RBIs in the win. This was Lynnville-Sully’s second state championship in their program’s history.
Jack Vanfossan’s 5.2 scoreless and hitless innings with four strikeouts helped #1 Underwood capture their first state championship in a 5-1 win over #2 New Hampton in the Class 2A championship match.
If you wanted drama, then Class 3A provided it as #3 North Polk and #4 Bishop Heelan entered the final inning tied at four. Chase Fjelland ended up being the hero for the Comets with a walk-off RBI single to win the game 5-4. It was North Polk’s second state championship in the past decade.
#1 Cedar Rapids Kennedy had been the squad to beat the entire year in Class 4A and #6 Dowling Catholic was looking for one last upset to clinch the title; instead, the Cougars busted the game open by scoring the first five runs of the game to go on to win 7-3. Owen Hutchinson notched two RBIs for Kennedy in the win. The Cougars claimed their second state title in their program’s history.
High School Postseason Softball
Classes 3A, 2A, and 1A concluded their state tournament brackets yesterday and here’s how everything went down.
The Class 3A state championship was high scoring but never in doubt as #2 Williamsburg defeated #4 Assumption 12-9. Taylor Sanchez smashed a home run and tallied five RBIs in the win. The Raiders have now won back-to-back state championships.
#3 Wahlert Catholic handled #1 Benton in the 3rd place match with a 7-1 victory.
For Class 2A, #1 Van Meter had loss only one game all season but found themselves down 3 to 1 to #3 Audubon entering the bottom of the 5th inning. Nevertheless, the Bulldogs found four runs between the 5th and 6th innings to win 5-3. Mady Schnell crushed a two-run homer in the win. Van Meter has now won two state championships.
#7 Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont drubbed #4 East Marshall 14-2 to claim 3rd place.
Heartbreak city once again in Class 1A as #6 Sigourney put up two runs in the top of the 7th inning to eventually go on to beat #1 Martensdale-St. Marys 3-2 and for the second year in a row the Blue Devils fell in the championship game. Carly Goodwin finished her excellent season for Sigourney with a solo home run and a complete game win with eight strikeouts. It was Sigourney’s first state championship.
Lastly, #7 Southeast Warren capped off their season with a 12-8 extra innings victory over #4 St. Edmond to grab 3rd place. Emma Masner smacked a home run to finish the game with four RBIs.
High School Softball
A trio of teams, which include the best players from all over the state of Iowa, have been created to participate in a All-Star weekend at the Waukee Softball Complex tonight with West Burlington/Notre Dame’s Logan Kelley playing for the white team.
Kelley provided the power to the 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.
The white team will compete in two games with game one at 4 pm against the red team and another game at 6 pm against the blue team.
Prospect League
The Burlington Bees fell to the Normal CornBelters last night 16-6. Skyler Agnew led the Bees with a grand slam in the loss. The Bees will host the CornBelters in a doubleheader tonight with game one at 5 pm.
The Clinton LumberKings attempted the comeback against the Chillicothe Paints last night but ultimately fell 3-2 in front of the home crowd. Blake Timmons had the lone RBI as the pitching staff ended up taking the loss despite throwing 10 strikeouts. The LumberKings will get their rematch tonight against the Paints at 6:30 pm at home.
This Day in Sports History
1959 – Baseball’s new Continental League is formally announced by attorney William Shea; teams in Denver, Colorado; Houston, Texas; Minneapolis–St. Paul, Minnesota; New York City; and Toronto, Ontario are confirmed, with three more to be named later. The league never plays a game.
1988 – Baseball star Tommy John commits a record three errors on one play as the Yankees rout the Brewers 16-3.
1992 – The Houston Astros begin a 26-game road trip to make room for the Republican National Convention.