High School Baseball
Mt. Pleasant clobbered West Burlington last night 13-2 behind J.C. Sitar’s second home run of the season as his three RBIs led the team. Ayden Figuereo finished the game with three hits and an RBI for the Falcons. West Burlington ends the regular season with an 8-11 record.
Mt. Pleasant will host #2 Sigourney tonight at 7 pm.
Central Lee walked-off Danville last night in an uncharacteristically low scoring contest with a 2-1 final. Gage VanAusdall and Chase Johnson each tabbed an RBI in the winning effort. Jaden Bauer had shut down the Hawks offense for 6.1 innings, allowing only six hits and striking out seven.
Central Lee will travel to Keokuk tonight at 7:30 pm.
Wapello fell to Highland last night 11-1.
Fairfield’s 11 runs were not enough to sink the Clippers as Clear Creek Amana put up 17 runs in the victory. Aiden Westercamp knocked home three runs as Luke Konczal continued to slug the ball with two doubles and two RBIs. The Trojans will face off against Burlington tomorrow, July 3rd, at 7:30 pm with the winner taking the Southeast Conference championship.
In what should have been their toughest game of the season, #5 Mediapolis demolished Class 1A’s #2 Sigourney last night 12-0. The Bulldogs will play Cascade tonight in a doubleheader on the road to end their regular season.
Winfield-Mt. Union got back in the win column last night after defeating Lone Tree 5-1. Tyson Kaalberg swatted a double for three RBIs in the winning effort. The Wolves will host Pekin tonight at 5:30 pm.
Van Buren County will celebrate their Senior Night tonight at 5:30 pm against Davis County.
Postseason Baseball Brackets
In Class 1A Substate 5 District 10, Danville and Van Buren County will be heading off to Moravia for the Saturday, July 5th, doubleheader. The Bears will square off against Moravia at 7 pm, while Van Buren County will start off the night at 5 pm.
On the bottom half of the bracket, Burlington Notre Dame will venture to New London to face off against Keota at 5 pm, while New London will host the nightcap against Wapello at 7 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call for both games with the pregame show at 4:45 pm.
Moving to Class 2A Substate 4 District 7, Mediapolis earned a bye and will host the winner between West Liberty and Camanche on July 8th at 7 pm.
Over in Class 2A Substate 5 District 9, West Burlington and Louisa-Muscatine will meet up in Wilton at 5 pm in the battle of the Falcons. Winfield-Mt. Union will take on the hosts at 7 pm, where the winner will advance to compete against Central Lee on July 8th at 5 pm at Chariton Middle School.
For Class 3A Substate 5, Washington will face off against Assumption on the road. In Substate 6, Mt. Pleasant will travel to play Fairfield for the fourth time this season, while Keokuk will take on Pella and Fort Madison will venture to Xavier with both games on the road.
For Class 4A Substate 3, Burlington grabbed the #4-seed and will hit the road to compete against the #3-seed Muscatine.
Classes 3A and 4A will start postseason action on July 11th with first pitch at 7 pm.
High School Softball
Mt. Pleasant could not stop scoring last night in a 17-10 thrashing of West Burlington/Notre Dame. Chaley Cook got the win in the circle and produced one of the team’s five doubles to bring home four runs.
Mt. Pleasant will head back home tonight to square off against Davis County with first pitch at 7 pm.
West Burlington/Notre Dame will take on Burlington in a road doubleheader tonight with game one at 5 pm.
Wapello’s three-game winning streak was snapped in a 4-1 loss to Highland last night. The Arrows will compete against Northeast tonight at home at 5 pm.
Holy Trinity Catholic crushed WACO last night 23-4.
WACO will travel to Highland tonight at 5:30 pm.
New London will face off against Holy Trinity Catholic tonight at 7 pm at home.
Kennedy Woepking nearly lifted Columbus to victory herself against Pekin, clouting a home run and tallying six RBIs in the 15-6 rout of the Panthers. The Wildcats end the regular season with a 12-11 record.
Danville could not upset Central Lee last night in their regular season finale, losing 3-0 to the Hawks.
Central Lee will make the trip to Keokuk tonight with first pitch at 7 pm.
Van Buren County will hit the road to take on Centerville tonight at 7 pm.
Fairfield will take on Burlington at home tomorrow, July 3rd, at 7:30 pm.
Mediapolis will host Davis County on July 8th at 5:30 pm.
Postseason Softball
The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union released the postseason brackets for all five classes, here’s a look at our local matchups.
For Class 1A Region 1, game one on July 7th will pin WACO against Wapello at 7 pm with the Arrows getting a home game. The winner of the matchup will play Holy Trinity Catholic at West Point South Park on July 9th at 7 pm.
Over in Class 2A Region 2, Van Buren County will host Danville on July 7th at 7 pm with the winner advancing to play #2 Louisa-Muscatine on July 9th in a road showdown.
Also playing on day one will be New London/Winfield-Mt. Union, as the Tigers will make the pilgrimage to Pella Christian High School to face off against the Eagles. The winner will take on Wilton in the quarterfinals.
Columbus earned a bye and a home game with the Wildcats gearing up for a contest with Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont on July 9th at 7 pm in the top half of the bracket with Louisa-Muscatine expected to host the July 11th contest in the semifinals if both teams advance.
On the bottom half of the Class 4A Region 3 bracket, it is a repeat of the season opener as Mt. Pleasant will travel west to face off against Oskaloosa. The Panthers struck first that night with a two-run homer off the bat of Paityn Ensminger, but could not keep the momentum going as they fell 11-3. KILJ will be on the call.
Prospect League
The Burlington Bees allowed 10 runs in the first inning to the Quincy Doggy Paddlers before falling 18-8 in eight innings. Caleb Seibers knocked a double and brought home two runs.
The Clinton LumberKings defeated the Normal CornBelters last night 10-5. Kaden Frommelt clocked a two-run homer in the winning effort.
The Bees and LumberKings will meet at Community Field tonight with game time at 6:30 pm for the first game of a three-game series.
2025 Prospect League All-Star Game
The Burlington Bees will be sending five players to the 2025 Prospect League All-Star game being held in Springfield on Tuesday, July 8th, at 6:30 pm at Robin Roberts Stadium.
Kooper Schulte has been showing off his power at the plate with 13 extra-base hits, which ranks second in the league, tied for the league lead in triples, and his 24 RBIs puts him in the top 10 for the league. Schulte will also participate in the Homerun Derby.
Caleb Siebers has brought home 17 runs, while scoring 17 runs himself, and he’s clocked four homers.
Mason Schwalbach has collected 16RBIs thanks to his batting average sitting near 0.400 for the season, including six extra-base hits.
Two guys on the mound that claimed a spot on the All-Star team are Braeden Sunken and Kaelen Clarkson.
Sunken has recorded five saves, which ranks second in the league, in 11 appearances, posting a 2-1 record with 3.14 ERA. Clarkson, a lefty, has thrown 12 strikeouts in 15 innings strewn across four starts. His ERA currently sits at 3.00.
This Day in Sports History
1903 – Pitcher Jack Doscher, debuts for the Chicago Cubs, the first son of a major leaguer (Herm played from 1882-92) to play in the MLB.
1941 – Joe DiMaggio hits a 3-run homer off Boston’s Dick Newsome to pass Willie Keeler’s MLB record 44 game hitting streak. The streak lasts 56 games.
1989 – Jockey Steve Cauthen wins the Irish Derby on Old Vic to become the first rider in history to sweep the world’s four major Derbies (Kentucky, Epsom, French, Irish).