National Highlight Reel: Iowa baseball win streak reaches 75 games

Though the national record for consecutive baseball victories was just set in the spring, it could be eclipsed this summer by Martensdale-St. Mary's (Martensdale, Iowa).

With doubleheader victories on Thursday and Friday, the Blue Devils now have won 75 consecutive games over the past two years. That ties them with Homer (Mich.) for No. 2 all-time. They have five regular-season games left, then a possible seven more if they win their second consecutive Class 1A state title.

The record they are shooting at is 83 by Portsmouth (N.H.), which could add to its own streak next spring.

"To win this many games in a row is pretty shocking," fourth-year head coach Justin Dehmer conceded. "We only have two seniors. It seems like we're young, but we have four who started out as eighth graders. We have a lot of hits and experience."



Last year's 43-0 state champs won seven one-run games. The closest victory this year was 4-2 and the Blue Devils have crushed their first 32 foes by a margin of 331-37.

Though the Blue Devils play in Iowa's smallest classification, they have beaten 2A teams 30 times, 3A teams nine times and a 4A team once for 40 of their 75 victories in the current streak. Thirty-six of the wins have been shutouts.

Martensdale-St. Marys has a rich baseball tradition, but when Dehmer took over he inherited the remnants of an 8-23 team.

"I started a lot of eighth graders and freshmen and didn't have a lot of upperclassmen," he said of his first year.

However, he posted a respectable 19-12 record that year. The record improved to 25-11, then 43-0 last year.
The Blue Devils are pitcher-rich. For example, they lead the state with 261 strikeouts and have walked only 50.

"We have five legitimate starters who can go against anybody and give us a chance to win," Dehmer noted. "We have five other backups."



Senior Ethan Westphal has posted an 8-0 record with a 0.47 ERA. In 45 innings, he has struck out 77 and walked just seven. A 5-foot-11 second baseman when not pitching, he also is batting .457 with 13 doubles and he has driven in 42 runs on just 43 hits. He also has struck out just four times.

The other senior, 6-foot, 200-pound third baseman Dillon Coates, is batting .494 with seven home runs, 13 doubles and 43 runs. He has driven in 39 runs on 44 hits. He also has walked 16 times and stolen 16 bases.

The team's top prospect, however, may be junior J.D. Nielsen, a 6-5, 185-pound left-hander who pitches and plays first base. A transfer from nearby Winterset (Iowa), he is 7-0 on the mound with 53 strikeouts and nine walks in 37 innings. His ERA is 0.76 and he has allowed only 17 hits. He fanned 15 in a game last week. At the plate he is batting .384 with nine home runs and 48 RBIs.

Westphal transferred as a junior and Coates as a sophomore.

"Our name's out there and they want to be a part of that," Dehmer said of the criticism his school sometimes attracts. "It's just a product of what we are about. Success breeds success."

Though the winning streak brings extra pressure, Dehmer expects to keep piling up victories in the future. Only two seniors will graduate and his JV team, which has tasted defeat just four times during his tenure, currently is 17-0-1.



* Alonso (Tampa, Fla.) senior pitcher Jose Fernandez has been named Florida's Mr. Baseball after leading the Ravens to the Class 6A state title. He posted a 13-1 record with 134 strikeouts and a 1.35 ERA. He also batted .409 with nine home runs and was the 14th pick in the Major League Draft by the Florida Marlins.

Three years earlier Jose and his mother fled Cuba, but their boat was stopped by the U.S. Coast Guard 10 miles from Miami and returned to their homeland, according to the Tampa Tribune. Labeled a traitor, Fernandez spent 15 days in an open-air prison cell. He finally did make it to the USA, however, and his future is bright.

* Former Major League pitcher David "Boomer" Wells has agreed to serve as a part-time pitching coach for his alma mater, Point Loma (San Diego, Calif.). He will be working on David Wells Field, in fact. During his senior year (1982), he threw nine shutouts – six in a row.

* Owasso (Okla.) pitcher Dylan Bundy signed a letter of intent last week to play baseball at Eastern Oklahoma State College. Earlier this year he has signed with the University of Texas. Both are hedges against his family's request that the Baltimore Orioles (who made him the No. 4 draft pick) give him a $30 million, five-year Major League contract, according to the Tulsa World.

* Neshannock (New Castle, Pa.) shortstop John Sansone, who led the WPIAL with a .661 batting average as a junior, has made a commitment to Florida State University, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. {PAGEBREAK}Boys basketball

Former Indiana Mr. Basketball Billy Shepherd has been hired as the boys basketball coach at Marion (Ind.). The 61-year-old Shepherd led Central (Muncie, Ind.) to a 20-4 record in his only shot at head coaching. He still is the No. 6 scorer in Indiana prep history with 2,465 points and holds the Butler University one-season scoring record with a 27.8 average.



* Jeffersonville (Ind.) has chosen its head girls basketball coach, Chad Gilbert, to take over its boys program. He is fresh off leading the girls to a 28-2 record and the Class 4A state title. The past 11 years, he posted a 220-43 record.

* Simeon (Chicago, Ill.), which won the last two Class 4A state titles, has added to its great talent pool with the transfer of 6-2 junior point guard Jaylon Tate, a two-year starter from De La Salle (Chicago, Ill.).

But Curie (Chicago, Ill.) coach Mike Oliver told the Chicago Tribune that he isn't conceding anything to Simeon. He lost just one player from last year's 28-3 team and will be working with such towers as 6-10 Detialion Jackson and 6-9 Cliff Alexander, both sophomores. And his 36-1 frosh-soph team won the city championship.

* Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) outlasted Loyola (Los Angeles, Calif.), 94-86, to win the Fairfax Tournament. Xavier Johnson led the way with 32 points. In the third-place game, Fairfax (Los Angeles, Calif.) nipped Poly (Long Beach, Calif.), 89-86, in overtime despite 43 points by the losers' Roschon Prince.

Earlier in the tourney, senior guard Gabe York scored 43 points as Orange Lutheran (Orange, Calif.) edged Oaks Christian (Westlake Village, Calif.), 97-91, in overtime.

The tourney drew three NBA coaches – Mike Brown of the Lakers, Larry Drew of the Hawks and Reggie Theus, an assistant with the Timberwolves - who all came to watch their sons play.



* Lawrence North (Indianapolis, Ind.) defeated Tech (Indianapolis, Ind.), 70-55, to win the USSFA Shootout despite 33 points by 6-9 rising sophomore star Trey Lyles.

* Salesian (Richmond, Calif.) point guard Dominic Artis is transferring to Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.), according to the Oakland Tribune. He averaged 14 points, 4.1 assists and 2.4 steals as a junior.

Girls baskeball

Lauren Holiday, a rising senior guard from Campbell Hall (North Hollywood, Calif.), has made a commitment to UCLA, according to the Los Angeles Times. The 5-8 standout is the younger sister of NBA guard Jrue Holiday and the older sister of Campbell Hall freshman phenom Aaron Holiday.

* Jalynn McClain has chosen Western Kentucky University, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal. She averaged 15.6 points and 6.0 rebounds as junior while helping Jeffersonville (Ind.) win the Class 4A state title.

* The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that Rachel Theriot has made a commitment to the University of Nebraska. The 6-0 senior point guard averaged 12.7 points, 9.3 assists, 4.9 rebounds and 3.3 steals as a junior for Midpark (Middleburg Heights, Ohio). {PAGEBREAK}Track and field



Barlow (Gresham, Ore.) star Ryan Crouser not only topped his national season-best in the discus, but he did it three times during the Independence Day Throws meet in Portland, Ore.

Crouser, who held the best 2011 mark of 213-7, threw 227-4 (No. 3 all-time), 224-6 and 215-3.

* The USATF World Youth Trials produced some magnificent matchups in Myrtle Beach (S.C.) as the nation's elite performers battled for berths in the World Youth Championships July 6-10 in Lille, France. At least four athletes who had national No. 1 times were beaten.

The biggest surprise probably was Mansfield Timberview (Arlington, Texas) rising senior Aldrich Bailey, who won the 200-meter dash in 21.09 seconds and the 400-meter dash in 46.57.

Robin Reynolds, a rising senior at Jackson (Miami, Fla.) set a national-best for 2011 when she won the 400-meter dash in 52.84.

Northwest (Seattle, Wash.) rising senior Maddie Meyers won the 2000-meter steeplechase in a USA-record time of 6:32.02. {PAGEBREAK} Lacrosse



Wells Stanwick of Boys Latin (Baltimore, Md.) has been named Reebok Boys Lacrosse Player of the year following voting by the National Lacrosse League and LaxGator.com. He had 33 goals and 56 assists as a senior and made All-American for the second year in a row. He has committed to Johns Hopkins, according to the Baltimore Sun.

* The Sun also reports that another Boys Latin player, rising junior All-American midfielder Ben Pridemore, has committed to the University of Notre Dame.

* Shenendehowa (Clifton Park, N.Y.) goalie Bobby Wardwell made 12 saves – all in the second half - and was named MVP after sparking the South to an 11-9 victory over the North during the sixth annual Under Armour All-America Lacrosse Classic in Towson, Md. The North won the girls game, 15-10, as MVP Tatum Coffey of North (Toms River, N.J.) scored five goals.

Golf

Two champions were crowned during the 34th annual Rolex Tournament of Champions in Sunriver, Ore.
Rising senior Shun Yat Hak of Lake Mary (Fla.) won the boys title by seven strokes with 6-under-par 282. Rising junior Gabriella Then of Rancho Cucamonga (Calif.), captured the girls crown in a sudden-death playoff after she and Ariya Jutanugarn of Bangkok, Thailand had tied with 6-under-par 282.

* Doug Ghim, a rising sophomore at Buffalo Grove (Ill.), shot 2-over-par 215 to win the 42nd Illinois State Junior Amateur in Barrington, Ill. Earlier in the tourney, he tied the course record with an 18-hole round of 65.



Potpourri

* Former NHL player John Pohl has been named girls hockey coach at Cretin-Derham Hall (St. Paul, Minn.). Pohl will be assisted by his wife, Krissy Wendell, a former U.S. Olympian, and Terry Skrypek, a longtime high school and college coach.

* Playing summer softball and baseball in states such as Iowa and Wisconsin has avoided the chilly, wet springs. However, it also has exposed the teams to extreme heat. Just last week two Iowa teams called off the second game of a softball twinbill, because heat-related problems sent two players to the hospital.