By Bob Bakken
MaxPreps.com
State Baseball Tournament Reaches Final Four
The Iowa high school state baseball tournament has reached the Final Four in all four classes. The tournament continues through the weekend at Principal Park in Des Moines, the home of the Pacific Coast League's Iowa Cubs.
In Class 1-A, Lansing-Kee, coached by America's leader in high school victories Gene Schultz, shut-out Lisbon 5-0 in the first round to meet Remsen St. Mary's, a 13-3, six-inning winner over A-H-S-T Avoca in the quarterfinals. On the other side of the bracket, Coon Rapids-Bayard needed nine innings to handle North Sentral Kossuth 4-3 in the first round, while Iowa Mennonite surprised Lenox 2-1 in the quarterfinals to get into the semi-finals.
Cherokee defeated Bondurant-Farrar 3-2 in the first game of Class 2-A action, while North Fayette bombed Gladbrook-Reinbeck 11-4 to meet Cherokee in the semis. Meanwhile, in a pair of five-inning decisions, Wellman Mid-Prairie beat Hawarden-West Sioux 13-5 and Davenport Assumption shut-out Mount Ayr 15-0.
The Class 3-A semifinals will pit top-seed Cedar Rapids Xavier against Sioux City Heelan, and Manchester-West Delaware against Knoxville. Xavier advanced past Creston 18-0 in five innings, and Heelan beat Mount Pleasant 8-1. West Delaware was a 6-0 victor over Saydel and Knoxville advanced past Webster City 10-4.
In Class 4-A, pairings will have top-seed Urbandale against Cedar Rapids Kennedy and Fort Dodge against Davenport Central. Urbandale advanced past West Waterloo 6-3 in the quarterfinals and Kennedy rallied to edge Clinton 5-4. The Fort Dodge Dodgers used the same 5-4 score to get by Ankeny, while Central shut out Indianola 2-0 in the quarterfinals.
Finals in all four classes will be played Saturday, July 28th in Des Moines.
State Softball Pairings Released
Iowa's top softball teams are getting ready to meet in the state tournament, starting July 31st in Fort Dodge.
Class 1-A pairings on July 31st include Westwood, a team that made it to state with a losing record (18-21) against Des Moines Christian (36-2). Other first round matchups in Class 1-A have Highland (31-4) against Don Bosco (36-7), IKM (25-14) meets New London (29-6), and Stanton (23-2) versus Southeast Webster (34-8).
The Class 2-A tournament also starts July 31st with Pleasantville (24-14) against Solon (48-3), North Butler (33-7) meets Treynor (28-8), Durant (27-8) is matched with North Polk (35-5), and Kuemper Catholic of Carroll (35-9) faces Akron-Westfield (35-2).
The Class 3-A portion of the state tournament begins August 2nd with Cedar Rapids Xavier (41-10) against ADM (41-4), and Chariton (24-15) tangles with Harlan (41-4). The other half of the 3-A bracket hasWest Delaware (42-8) against Davenport Assumption (30-18), and Saydel (24-14) is paired with Storm Lake (36-7).
The Class 4-A teams are last to go in the first round of the state tournament, waiting until August 2nd for their first-round contests. The top half of the bracket has Linn-Mar (32-13) against Des Moines Lincoln (31-21), Johnston (36-13) against Pleasant Valley (29-14), Sioux City North (35-10) versus West Des Moines Valley (49-3), and Cedar Rapids Jefferson (45-6) is matched with Ottumwa (35-10) in the first round.
Finals in all four classes will be played Saturday, August 4th, at Harlan Rogers Park in Fort Dodge.
South Defeats North in Shrine Bowl
The South all-stars has little problem in knocking off their Northern counterparts, 24-7 in the 35th annual Iowa Shrine Bowl all-star game on Saturday night at Iowa State's Jack Trice Stadium in Ames.
In the game, Washington quarterback Zach Davis fired three touchdown passes, including a pair to Colin Sandeman of Bettendorf. The only North touchdown came on a run from Josh Collins of Sioux City North in the second quarter.
Highway 30 was the dividing line for the teams. Mike Cooper of Iowa City West was the head coach of the South squad, while Jim Carver of Alburnett led the North.
Money raised from the game goes to the Shriner's Children's Hospitals. The teams had been practicing for a week and a half prior to Saturday's game.
