We take a week off from preseason football information to preview the Iowa state baseball tournament, which got underway Monday
at Principal Park
(home of the triple-A Iowa Cubs) in Des
Moines. Iowa
is the only state in the nation with high school-sponsored baseball and softball
programs that holds its regular season during summer break.
Here is a primer:
What: Iowa High School
Athletic Association state baseball tournament.
When: July 26-31
Who: 32 teams
competing for four championships
Where: Principal Park,
Des Moines
History: The
first Iowa summer
state baseball tournament was in 1946. A spring tournament was also played from
1928 until 1972. From 1939-1985, a fall tournament was held involving mostly
small schools without football teams. The state tournament moved to Principal Park in 2005.
Class 4A
Defending champion:
Sioux City North
Team to beat: Dowling Catholic (West Des Moines) (32-8)
Next-best contender: Mason City (35-6)
Top player: Sioux
City North shortstop Damek Tomscha was named state player of the year by
Gatorade. The Iowa
Western Community
College recruit carries a .470 average with 10
homers and 46 RBI into the tournament.
The skinny: Dowling
Catholic has two starting pitchers with sub-2.00 ERAs and has an offense
averaging more than eight runs per game. The Maroons would be disappointed with
anything less than their second state title in three seasons.
Class 3A
Defending champion: Norwalk
Team to beat: Carlisle (25-10)
Next-best contender: Glenwood
(27-7)
Top player: Glenwood
junior Taylor Kaufman is having his second straight all-state season. He’s
batting .485 with 32 stolen bases while going 10-0 on the mound with an 0.86
ERA.
The skinny: Remarkably,
9 of the 11 teams ranked in the Iowa Sports Connection’s final regular
season 3A rankings lost in postseason play. Carlisle
(No. 5) and Glenwood (No. 9) were the lone survivors. Pitching is often the
ultimate X-factor come tournament time. Carlisle’s
team ERA is an impressive 2.41 with 272 strikeouts in 238 1/3 innings, so the
Wildcats get the nod as the favorite.
Class 2A
Defending champion: St. Edmond (Fort Dodge)
Team to beat: Solon
(38-2)
Next-best contender:
Davis County (Bloomfield) (33-1)
Top player: Davis County
hurler Calvin Mathews is a sophomore sensation who can top 90 mph on the radar
gun. He is 14-0 with 163 strikeouts and only 13 walks in 85 innings.
The skinny: A
Mathews vs. Solon matchup in the championship game would be interesting to say
the least. The Spartans are scoring more than 10 runs per game and have four players
batting over .400. If winning is contagious, it’s been an epidemic for Solon’s
2010 graduating class. They’ve already won a combined five state titles in
basketball, football and track, and hope to earn the school’s first state
baseball championship.
Class 1A
Defending champion:
Newman Catholic (Mason City)
Team to beat: Newman
Catholic (34-2)
Next-best contender:
Martensdale-St. Mary's (40-0)
Top player: Junior
pitcher Ethan Westphal, who transferred to Martensdale-St. Mary’s from Lenox
this year, has surrendered just one earned run in 81 innings and has struck out
163. He’s also batting .447 and has 25 stolen bases.
The skinny: A titanic
battle between two of the better small-school programs in the state could come
to fruition between Newman Catholic and Martensdale-St. Mary’s for the 1A crown.
Newman Catholic is the team to beat – but only because they’re the defending
champion.
Iowa softball: State tournament recap
The wettest state softball tournament in recent history
wrapped up last week in Fort Dodge.
Nine inches of rain fell in less than 24 hours Thursday, but the grounds crew
at Harlan Rogers Park still worked playing fields into good condition and the
tournament finals were played as scheduled on Friday.
Class 4A: Top-seed
Des Moines East fell short of winning its first state title since 1981.
The Scarlets lost to Central Iowa Metro League rival Valley (West Des Moines)
(31-10) in the championship game, 5-1. Designated hitter Laney Abrahamson drove
in two runs for the Tigers and was named captain of the all-tournament team.
Class 3A: Top-ranked
Carlisle (38-2) captured its fourth state
title with 10-1 blowout of Keokuk. Drake-bound hurler Jordan Gronewald
got the win and finished 33-2 for the season.
Class 2A: Behind
a dominant performance from pitcher Jamie Fisher, BCLUW (Conrad) (41-3) repeated as
champion. Fisher, who allowed only 13 earned runs in 265 innings all season,
didn’t give up a single run in three tournament games.
Class 1A: Top-seed Akron-Westfield (37-1) was led by pitcher Jordan Harris, who went 3-for-4
hitting and struck out six batters in seven innings on the mound as the
Westerners beat Newell-Fonda, 5-1, in the championship game.
Des Moines-based Jamie DeMoney has covered high school
sports and recruiting for more than 15 years. He is editor and founder of
PrepNation.com. You can reach him at PrepNation@aol.com.
