Sports, June 11th

High School Baseball

Fairfield split their road doubleheader against Washington last night, losing 5-4 in game one and dominating game two 16-1. Caden Allison and Luke Konczal each tabbed an RBI in game one, but three errors by the Trojans led to four unearned runs for Washington. Game two saw Fairfield bat 0.500 as a team with Allison notching four RBIs and Dain Burkhart grabbing three RBIs in the win. The two will finish the series on Thursday, June 13th, at 7:30 pm in Fairfield. 

Battling for the top spot in the conference, Mt. Pleasant also slipped in game one against Burlington last night, falling 17-1. Five errors spelled disaster for the Panthers in game one. Nevertheless, the Panthers responded in game two with a dominant 12-3 win over the Grayhounds as Payton Walker pitched 6.2 innings, allowing only two earned runs while striking out 11. Head coach Brent Broeker talked about his team’s effort after the game,

“You know, I thought we came in kind of flat tonight and. You know when you’re leading the conference, you got the bullseye on your back and Burlington came in right to play, and we didn’t, and they pretty much painted it to us. So, it was good to see the boys bounce back. Game two finally wake up a little bit. We did catch a break with Zahner going down on his first double. So, we got to face a little bit different pitches that we probably should have seen in game two, but I thought our boys did a good job putting the bat on the ball and putting up enough runs to keep them so they couldn’t catch us.”

The Panthers will host Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont tomorrow, June 12th, at 7:30 pm. 

Danville lost to Highland last night 8-6. The Bears will take on Van Buren County tonight at 5:30 pm on the road. 

Winfield-Mt. Union and Van Buren County mirrored themselves for 8 innings before the Wolves put up two runs in the 9th inning to eventually win 7-5 last night. Isaiah Meek led the Warriors with three RBIs in the contest.

Winfield-Mt. Union will square off against Danville tomorrow at 5:30 pm at home. 

Mediapolis defeated Hillcrest Academy last night 4-1 to win their fourth game in-a-row. Mediapolis will face off against Central Lee at home tonight at 5:30 pm. 

New London will square off against Burlington Notre Dame tonight at 5:30 pm on the road. 

West Burlington will play Louisa-Muscatine tomorrow on the road at 5:30 pm. 

High School Baseball Rankings

The Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association released their fourth round of rankings for the season and despite Burlington Notre Dame losing their first game this past weekend the Nikes still sit atop of the Class 1A standings.

The Nikes’ strength lies in their consistency on offense as six of their offensive starters have tallied at least 10 RBIs on the season with Spencer Brent leading the team with 18 RBIs. Additionally, the team’s pitching staff touts a 1.38 ERA.

High School Softball

Mt. Pleasant had an opportunity to upset Burlington last night after the Panthers scored the first two runs of game one. An Emma Starr single and Keagyn Coleman walk led to a two-RBI double by Addison Clark; however, the Grayhounds scored two runs of their own in the second inning to tie the game, then the game stalled as Myah Starr and Saydee Plummer went toe-to-toe from the circle until Burlington executed on a mistake and scored eight runs over the final three innings to win 10-2. Lilly Hand had three RBIs for Burlington.

Game two did not go Mt. Pleasant’s way as defensive miscues led to Burlington piling on and winning 18-1. Kylie Hill picked up the win in the circle and four RBIs at the plate. Emma Starr finished with four hits on the night and two runs scored between the two games. The Panthers will look for revenge on the road on Thursday, June 13th, at 7:30 pm. 

Fairfield dropped both games to Washington last night 13-3 in game one and 10-6 in game two. Isabella Salazar and Emery Walton each collected four RBIs between the two games for the Demons as Salazar also got the win in the circle for game one, striking out three. The Trojans will host Washington on Thursday at 7:30 pm. 

Van Buren County smacked Winfield-Mt. Union last night 12-2. Callie Kracht finished the night with a triple and two RBIs. The Wolves will take on Danville tomorrow at 5:30 pm at home. 

Danville will travel to Van Buren County tonight with first pitch at 7 pm. 

Holy Trinity Catholic pitched a shutout against Lone Tree last night, winning 4-0. West Burlington will take on Holy Trinity Catholic tonight at 5:30 pm on the road. 

Central Lee will square off against Mediapolis tonight at 7 pm on the road. 

WACO will take on Louisa-Muscatine tonight at 5:30 pm at home. 

Prospect League

The Burlington Bees will play tonight on the road against the Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp at 7:05 pm.

The Clinton LumberKings will take on the Springfield Lucky Horseshoes tonight at home at 6:30 pm. 

This Day in Sports History

1950 – 50th US Open Men’s Golf, Merion GC: 16 months after being severely injured in an auto accident, Ben Hogan wins in an 18-hole playoff in what is later dubbed the “Miracle at Merion.”

1959 – Charlie Sifford becomes the first African-American to play in the US Golf Open. 

1992 – Tracy Austin at the age of 29 is the youngest inductee of the International Tennis Hall of Fame.