By Bob Bakken
MaxPreps.com
Soccer: All-State Soccer Teams Announced
Coaches of Iowa’s soccer schools have selected their All-State teams. The Iowa High School Girls’ Athletic Union recently announced the teams, which included a squad reflecting both classes.
Three of the elite All-State selections came from West Des Moines Valley. They include senior forward Whitney Sharpe, senior forward Elyse Galles, and senior defender Emily Hejlik.
Cedar Rapids Kennedy placed junior forward Jade Grimm and goalkeeper Rachel Spellerberg on the elite team. Cross-town rival Cedar Rapids Xavier also took two spots on the squad. They were senior forward Megan Showalter and senior forward Suzy Levett.
Other elite team selections were junior forward Kate Nielsen of Johnston, senior midfielder Kelsey Sandon of Urbandale, sophomore midfielder Morgan LeFebvre of Dallas Center-Grimes, and junior defender Chelsea Stokes of Sioux City North.
Baseball: Johnston Tops in Class 4-A
Johnston’s Dragons remain the team to beat in Class 4-A high school baseball, and nobody’s done it so far. Entering a Tuesday CIML Central Conference doubleheader against Indianola, the Dragons are 22-0 and in their third week at No. 1 in the latest poll from the Iowa Baseball Coaches Association.
The remaining teams in the top five for Class 4-A were No. 2 Sioux City North, followed by Burlington, Cedar Rapids Kennedy, and CIML rival Ankeny.
In the other classes of Iowa high school baseball, last year’s state champions hold down the top spots in each poll this week. Manchester-West Delaware is on top of the Class 3-A poll, Cherokee leads Class 2-A, and Iowa Mennonite School paces Class 1-A.
Baseball: Watch Out for Monticello
They may be unranked, but Monticello’s baseball team is getting noticed more and more in eastern Iowa. Last Thursday night’s Tri-Rivers Conference doubleheader split of third-ranked (Class 2-A) Cascade moved the Monticello Panthers’ record to 16-2 overall, 7-1 in the conference.
"We're a little overlooked. But we haven't done anything to deserve (attention),” first-year coach Mark Spensley told the Cedar Rapids Gazette. “There's not a lot of baseball history here. That's something we're working on at all levels. We're getting down to the lower grades and getting on the same page."
Part of the reason for Monticello’s success may be in the overall athleticism of this year’s team, which includes Dillon and Deven Spensley, who both ran on a Class 2-A state championship cross country team last fall.
The Panthers have average around 10 runs a game and the team has hit 12 homers, with shortstop Jacob Thompson hitting nine of his own among the 12.
Baseball: Tri-Center Wins WIC Conference Title
Tri-Center (Neola) won its fourth straight Western Iowa Conference (WIC) tournament championship last weekend with a 5-3 victory over Underwood. The victory moved Tri-Center’s season record to 13-1
The winning rally in the final inning began with a solo home run from winning pitcher Taylor Gunderson. But, the big blow came two batters later when Jordan McDermott stroked a two-run homer that gave Tri-Center the lead.
"He's done amazingly well,” Tri-Center coach Josh Abel told the Council Bluffs Nonpareil. “He did a great job tonight; he threw a lot of strikes.”
Gunderson struck out five in the tournament-clinching victory.
Softball: WCLT Remains Unbeaten
There’s only one unbeaten softball team in Iowa among the ranked teams and that’s the small Class 1-A juggernaut at Woden-Crystal Lake-Titonka, or WCLT.
The top-ranked Tigers were chosen 10th in the preseason rankings, coming off last season’s 30-5 record, but are now 21-0 through action last weekend. That includes a 4-1 victory over Belmond-Klemme to win the school's own invitational tournament last Saturday.
Led by right-handed pitcher Stacey Schutjer, the Tigers gave up a run in the top of the first inning, but then throttled B-K the rest of the contest. Schutjer gave up four hits, fanned four and did not give up a walk in the game.
