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Washington Evening Journal
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Plainsmen, Tigers advance; Bears, Warriors seasons end
Belle Plaine, Iowa Valley play again Tuesday
WINTHROP — Belle Plaine came in as underdogs and came out victorious in a 3-2 win over Midland Saturday night in extra innings.
Throughout the season, the young Plainsmen have showed a lot of potential and that came to fruition in the first round of postseason play.
Nate Hoover started on the mound for the Plainsmen and threw six innings, allowing only two hits and one run.
Ty Alcott came in to relieve in the last two innings.
After seven innings the score was 1-1, and the Plainsmen bats got hot in extras.
Rhett Parrott and Hoover started off with singles, and Mason Walter executed the bunt to move them to second and third.
Hayden Neuhaus drove in the deciding runs on a liner over the infield that was playing in for another potential bunt.
Midland scored one in the bottom of the eighth.
“Midland is a very good team and we needed to play a complete game in order to advance,” Belle Plaine head coach Matthew Mengler said.
“I’m extremely proud of how our kids played. The five freshman that played, all in their first postseason game, showed great composure.”
The Plainsmen advance to play East Buchanan Tuesday night for a place in the district final.
“We’re excited,” Mengler added.
IOWA VALLEY VS. CENTRAL CITY
JEWELL — The Iowa Valley Tigers baseball team won its first-round Substate District game Saturday night over Central City, 9-4.
After getting down 2-0 in the top of the first, the Tigers responded with four of their own.
It was all tied up 4-4 after two.
“It was a tight game, and it was good to see them fight through some early adversity,” Iowa Valley head coach Sam Rohovit said.
A five-run sixth inning sealed the deal for the Tigers.
Caleb Haack came in to pitch in the fourth and allowed no runs on six strikeouts.
“Caleb dominated for us,” Rohovit said.
Mason Hoyt had the hot bat for the Tigers with three hits and four RBIs.
Nolan Kriegel had two RBIs and pitched seven strikeouts on the mound.
The Tigers will now travel to Wapsie Valley Tuesday to play the ranked Warriors.
“We’re going to need good defense, but we’re coming in with a why-not-us mentality.” Rohovit said.
HLV AT HILLCREST ACADEMY
KALONA — The Warriors gave a pretty good fight to the No. 2 seed in the district, Hillcrest Academy, in a 5-4 loss Saturday.
Hillcrest Academy started off strong with a home run off the first pitch of the game.
The Warriors responded by tying the game in the second inning and taking the lead going into the fifth.
Hillcrest Academy took a 5-4 lead in the fifth inning, and the score held to the end of the game.
“We had a few errors that allowed them to take the lead,” HLV head coach Kyle Henstorf said.
“The game was indicative of our whole season. We’ve been in a lot of games and been competitive.”
The Warriors have a lot of positives they can build on for next season, but they have to say goodbye to a special senior class which includes Cole Fontinel, Max Henstorf, Gaige Mercer, Brody Sternhagen and Boston York.
“Gaige did a good job for us this season. He struck the ball well at the end of the season and played good in center field for us,” Henstorf said.
“I wish I could’ve coached him for a few more years.”
Mercer came over in the Tri-County merger for the season.
Coach Henstorf has been coaching the other four seniors for a long time.
“I’ve been coaching them in all sports since they were kids around seven or eight. It’s very sentimental,” Henstorf said.
“The season did not go the way we wanted, but there is positives to look at moving forward.”
Coach Henstorf cited Levi Molyneaux’s growing leadership and young players such as Peyton Roth and Bryar Jack as key players for next season.
ENGLISH VALLEYS AT SIGOURNEY
SIGOURNEY — The Bears season came to an end Saturday when they fell to Sigourney 18-0.
The ranked Savages will continue their season against Lone Tree Tuesday night.
Sigourney finished second in the SICL behind Lynnville-Sully.
The Bears say goodbye to four seniors: Ty Ayers, Myles Grove, Luke Moore and Landen Montross.
Montross, Moore and Ayers all had double digit hits for the Bears this season while Grove led the team in innings pitched.
