By: Nathan Bloechl — sports@kilj.com
College Baseball: Wesleyan Falls in Final Regular Season Games:
The Iowa Wesleyan baseball team fell in both of their final regular season games last night to third-ranked Webster at Mapleleaf Athletic Complex.
In game one, Webster put six runs in the 3rd inning en route to a 10-1 victory.
Wesleyan tied the game at one apiece in the bottom of the 2nd on a Erik Kiewiet RBI single.
From there, the Gorloks scored nine unanswered runs.
Charles Shockley took the loss for the the Tigers, working five innings allowing ten hits and nine runs — only three earned — while striking out two.
Jake Leonard had two hits for Wesleyan in the loss.
In game two, the Gorloks scored runs in each of the first six innings as they picked up a 17-0 win.
RJ LaRocca got the scoring started in the first inning on a steal of home as Webster never looked back.
The Gorloks scored five times in the the 2nd and 4th innings while adding three in the 5th and two in the 6th.
Their pitching staff combined for a two-hit shutout.
Dominic Gerace and Michael Noonan had the lone base hits, both singles, for the Tigers.
Clayton Lathen was the losing pitcher working just two innings allowing seven hits and six runs.
Wesleyan closes their regular season with 8-19.
They now turn their focus to the first round of the SLIAC Conference Tournament, which is slated for Thursday afternoon.
Girls’ Golf: Robu Wins Conference Crown:
Holy Trinity’s Alli Robu finished with an 18-over 90 to claim the Super Conference Girls’ Golf crown yesterday at Sheaffer Memorial Golf Course in Fort Madison.
Robu finished just one stroke better than that of New London’s Taylor Phillips who ended her 18 hole day with a 91.
Columbus’ Jobie Lekwa and Natalie Wilcox of Danville each carded 96’s — that broke the schools’ 18-hole record — while Sophie Mallot finished with a 98 to round out the top-five yesterday.
New London won the team title ending their afternoon with 404 strokes, 52 to the good of second place Danville.
Louisa-Muscatine finished third, while Van Buren and Highland rounded out the top-five.
Abbie Cooley led Winfield-Mount Union, while Taryn Miller was the top finisher for Mediapolis.
Boys’ Tennis: Panthers Fall to Burlington:
The Mount Pleasant boys’ tennis team fell in a close conference dual to Burlington, dropping a 5-4 decision.
Levi Graber picked up Mount Pleasant’s first win in No. 3 singles, winning 8-4, while Linc Henriksen and Jake Ensminger also earned singles victories.
Mount Pleasant’s lone doubles win came from Jack Schimmelpfennig and Levi Graber, who cruised to an 8-2 win.
College Track: Hunter Davis Named Head Coach at Wesleyan:
Iowa Wesleyan University has made Hunter Davis the next head coach of Tiger track and field and cross country.
Davis came to Iowa Wesleyan in the Fall of 2019 as a graduate assistant and was quickly elevated to interim head coach in November 2019 until January 2020 and again acted as the interim head coach from November 2020 until now when he took over for Chris Pio.
This spring, under the tutelage of Davis, Allison Morris earned a top-ten performance at the SLIAC Cross Country Conference Championships, which earned her 1st-Team All-Conference honors.
The Tigers took 3rd and 5th place at the SLIAC Indoor Championships under Coach Davis’ lead and took all-conference honors for men’s shot put, men’s distance medley, men’s 60-meter hurdles, men’s triple jump, women’s triple jump, and the women’s distance medley.
A native of Spirit Lake, Iowa, Davis earned a master’s degree in management leadership with a concentration in athletic administration.
He completed his bachelor’s degree in mass communications with a minor in sports management from Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa.
Prep Sports: Mount Pleasant School Board Approves Several Coaching Hires:
The Mount Pleasant School Board approved several coaching changes at their meeting Monday night.
Chief among is the hiring of Aimee Iverson as the new JV girls’ basketball coach and varsity assistant.
Iverson was most recently the head varsity coach at New London, helping guide the Tigers through the COVID pandemic winter season this year.
Also approved by the board was the hiring of Todd Broeker as an assistant varsity softball coach.
Broeker will join the staff put together by Mike Beason, who is taking the reins from Troy Mears who left the mantle for the Panthers at the conclusion of last summer’s season.
In resignations — which should come as no surprise as he transitions into his role as principal — Mike Wilson will step down from his position on the varsity football coaching staff.
Wilson, who has long been one of the top lieutenants on Shawn Striegel’s staff, will depart effective immediately.
It is unknown as of this time who is the front-runner for his now vacated defensive coordinator position.