High School Baseball
Mt. Pleasant drubbed Fort Madison last night 15-0 after four innings. After a scoreless first inning, the Panthers jumped on Caden Barnes and the Bloodhound defense. Payton Walker started off the 2nd inning with a single, but due to the first of five errors made his way to second base. Two walks later, Ben Newton cracked a two RBI single to give the Panthers a 3 to 0 lead. Payton Hagans, Zerek Venghaus, and Newton picked up an RBI in the 2nd inning. Walker provided the highlight of the inning by hitting a 3-run moonshot to help the Panthers take a 10 to 0 lead.
The next runs came across in the 4th inning with a two RBI double down the third baseline by Venghaus. Zack Newton tallied an RBI then the eventual game winning run on a passed ball. Venghaus picked up the win on the mound after 4 innings of work allowing only two hits, one walk, and striking out three batters. The Panthers will take on Davenport Central at home tomorrow, July 1st.
High School Postseason Baseball
The postseason brackets have been released for all of the classifications and here’s a look at our local matchups.
In Class 1A Substate 5: District 9, New London will face off against Highland in the opening round with the first pitch taking place at 7 pm tomorrow, July 1st, at Highland. KILJ will be on the call with pregame at 6:45 pm. Burlington Notre Dame enters as the #1 seed and will take on the winner of New London and Highland on July 5th.
In District 10 for Class 1A, Danville will face off against Sigourney tomorrow on the road.
Shifting our attention to Class 2A, our local teams will be beating up one another to see who makes it out of Substate 5: District 10. Winfield-Mt. Union will take on Louisa-Muscatine at 5 pm and Central Lee will face off against West Burlington at 7 pm with both games taking place tomorrow.
Van Buren County garnered the top seed and a first round bye. The Warriors will compete against the winner of Winfield-Mt. Union and Louisa-Muscatine. Mediapolis also earned a bye and will take on either the Hawks or the Falcons. The second round will be played on July 5th.
In Class 3A Substate 4, Washington will take on the #2 seed Davenport Assumption at 5 pm.
In Class 3A Substate 5, we will see a Southeast Conference matchup to start off the playoffs with Mt. Pleasant hosting Fairfield at 7 pm.
Fort Madison will travel to take on Benton and Keokuk is on the road to face off against Cedar Rapids Xavier with both games taking place at 7 pm.
Class 4A will have 8 substates and brackets of 6 teams. Each team will have an opponent for the first round with the highest winning seed getting a bye to the substate final. Burlington will take on North Scott in Substate 6 as the #4 seed.
The first round for Class 3A and 4A will take place on July 7th.
High School Softball
Mt. Pleasant fell to Fort Madison last night 17-4. Saige Burchett and Ella McNamee each picked up two hits in yesterday’s contest with McNamee tallying a double and an RBI. Coach Beason thanked the seniors: Jersey Beachy, Jayden Housh, and McNamee, for all of their work and sacrifice as the Panthers look to finish the year strong. Mt. Pleasant will compete in the Rick Doran Classic tomorrow, July 1st.
High School Postseason Softball
The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union released the postseason brackets for all the classifications and here’s the matchups for our local teams.
In Class 1A Region 8, New London will travel to face off against Holy Trinity Catholic and Wapello will host Winfield-Mt. Union with both games taking place tonight at 7 pm. KILJ will be on the call for the Crusaders and the Tigers with pregame at 6:45 pm.
In Class 2A Region 7, Van Buren County earned a first-round bye. The Warriors will take on the winner between Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont and Pella Christian on July 5th at 7 pm at home.
In Class 2A Region 8, Danville will travel to take on Durant at 7 pm tonight. Mediapolis will face off against Louisa-Muscatine on the road on July 5th at 7 pm.
Central Lee and Washington will square off on July 6th at Washington and West Burlington will host Fairfield on July 6th with both games taking place at 7 pm for Class 3A Region 8.
In Class 4A Region 6, Mt. Pleasant and Keokuk will compete in a conference matchup at Joyce Park on July 6th at 7 pm. Knoxville will host Fort Madison with the winner taking on Burlington at Burlington.
Mt. Pleasant Cross Country
On Mondays and Wednesdays, runs will begin at the Old Threshers Museum Theatre at 6:30 am.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays, runs will start at 7 pm at Saunders Park by the swimming pool.
The runs will continue throughout the summer until the middle of August. If you have any questions, reach out to Coach Murray at 319-850-0867.
Prospect League
The Burlington Bees swept the Lucky Horseshoes in their home doubleheader last night 6-4 in game one and 3-1 in game two. Tanner Holland led the Bees with 2 RBIs in game one after finishing 2 for 4.
Chase Golden picked up the win in game two, striking out 5 batters in 2 innings of relief work. The Bees will travel to face off against the Quincy Gems tonight.
The Clinton LumberKings smacked the Rockabillys last night 13-6. Gavin Brzozowski smacked two doubles on the day, notching 3 RBIs. Dylan DeButy clobbered a home run and tallied 2 RBIs. The LumberKings will look to do it again tonight against the Rockabillys.
This Day in Sports History
1934 – Detroit radio executive George Richards pays $7,952.08 to buy NFL’s Portsmouth Spartans; moves team to Detroit and rebrands it to ‘Lions.’
1982 – New Jersey NHL franchise officially named Devils by fan vote; based on the legend of the Jersey Devil, a creature that allegedly inhabited the Pine Barrens of South Jersey.
1994 – US Ice Skating Federation bars Tonya Harding for life.