Johnston bidding to become just the eighth unbeaten state champion in state history; Centerville seeking first state title in 20 years.
By Bob Bakken
MaxPreps.com
The final games of the 2007-08 high school year are being played this weekend on Iowa’s high school “Field of Dreams.” The boys state high school baseball championships are being played at Principal Park in Des Moines, the home of the Iowa Cubs AAA franchise in the Pacific Coast League.
Class 1-A Baseball: Don Bosco Meets North Sentral Kossuth
Don Bosco reached the finals with a 7-4 victory over Mason City Newman and North Sentral Kossuth shut out top-ranked Iowa Mennonite 6-0 to reach the championship game.
Don Bosco is in the state tournament for the third time, its first visit since 1995, and ran this season’s record to 30-3 with its semifinal victory. North Sentral Kossuth (35-6) used a one-hitter from pitcher Aaron Siefken to advance through the semifinals and by the defending state champs in IMS, which was seeking to be the first back-to-back state winner in Class 1-A since Granville Spalding did it in 2000 and 2001.
Class 2-A Baseball: Cherokee Challenges Davenport Assumption
The Cherokee Braves are looking to repeat as state champions in the Class 2-A finals against Davenport Assumption. Cherokee (30-1) made the final round by virtue of a 6-2 semifinal victory over Solon, and Assumption (34-8) advanced with a 7-0 white-washing of St. Ansgar.
Cherokee used a four-run fifth inning to break up a tie game on their way to their semifinal victory, sparked by a two-run single down the right-field line by Kyle Ruehle. Cody Ege struck out ten for the Braves. Assumption gets a chance to avenge a 5-4 loss to Cherokee in last year’s state finals after their shut-out win over St. Ansgar.
Knights’ pitcher Jared McIntosh struck out 11 in the victory. Assumption is seeking the school’s eighth state championship and its first in two years. The Knights’ have won state baseball titles in three classes, 4-A, 3-A, and 2-A.
Class 3-A Baseball: Centerville Paired With Harlan for Trophy
Centerville (31-7) made the finals with a 2-0 win over defending champion Manchester-West Delaware, while the Harlan Cyclones (30-5) blew into the championship game with a 4-3 victory over Dallas Center-Grimes.
The Big Reds from Centerville seek only their second state championship 20 years removed from winning the championship against Oelwein. Their semifinal win was the Big Reds’ 12th straight victory of the season, dating back to the end of June. The shut out marked the first time West Delaware had been blanked this season.
Harlan is looking for its third state title, and first since 2003, in the finals against Centerville. Aided by five DC-G errors, the Cyclones scored a run in each of the first three innings on their way to the win. The final game for Harlan will be the 12th state championship game the school has been in for all sports this decade.
Class 4-A Baseball: Johnston Seeks Perfect Season against Marshalltown
The match-up is an all-Central Iowa Metropolitan League battle, as the Dragons advanced to the finals with a 7-5 conquest of another CIML Central Conference foe in Ankeny, and Marshalltown made its way to the championship game with a 10-9 victory over Burlington.
The top-seeded Dragons (39-0) are attempting to become the first undefeated team in Class 4-A baseball since the tournament went to four classes in 1981, and the eighth unbeaten state champion in Iowa high school baseball history.
Johnston took advantage of eight Ankeny walks, two errors and one hit batsman. It was the fifth loss of the season to the Dragons by the Hawks.
Marshalltown (27-12) used a five-run seventh inning to hold off Burlington in the semifinals. Jarred Carlson’s three-run triple capped the uprising. The contest took nearly three hours to complete and featured seven pitchers, and 20 walks. Burlington had the game-tying run at third base in the seventh inning, but Bobcats’ pitcher T.J. Flanagan struck out the final batter to end the game shortly after midnight Saturday morning.
Softball: West Des Moines Valley Leads State Champions
West Des Moines Valley won the Class 4-A state girls softball title last weekend over Sioux City North by a final score of 2-1 in a game carried over from last Saturday to Sunday due to rain in Fort Dodge.
Valley scored a run in the bottom of the seventh to claim its fifth state crown. Winterset defeated Fort Madison 2-1 for the Class 3-A title, North Polk ousted Solon 4-2 for the championship hardware in Class 2-A. The Class 1-A hardware was won by Newell-Fonda in a 6-3 victory over Martensdale-St. Mary’s.
Notes
* Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union associate executive director Mike Dick has been promoted to the executive director position. Dick replaced Troy Dannen, who was recently hired to become the University of Northern Iowa’s new athletic director.
* Veteran Aplington-Parkersburg football coach Ed Thomas spoke to the NFL Youth Summit in Canton, Ohio, about the May 25 tornado that destroyed his home, the high school and the school’s football field, as well as much of the community just west of Waterloo. Thomas says the community found out in a hurry what’s important in life when the tornado struck.
* The Iowa Shrine Bowl football game is set for Saturday, July 26 at Iowa State University in Ames. Coaches for the 36th annual all-star classic are Myron Radke of Aurelia and West Des Moines Valley’s Gary Swenson.
