Albia makes Pekin whiff in district semifinal

EDDYVILLE ? Albia?s Jake Stalzer pitched eight scoreless innings in the Blue Demons? 1-0 win over Eddyville-Blakesburg Saturday, and when he took the same mound Tuesday night, it was a different opponent but much of the same result.

Stalzer got the best of Pekin hitters over the full seven innings Tuesday to get his team a 4-0 victory and keep the Blue Demons marching into Saturday?s district final vs. second-ranked Davis County. The Panthers finish an up-and-down year with a 17-11 record.

Stalzer completed his third-straight complete game shut out for an Albia team that has gotten hot at the right time and has won eight of its last nine games.

?There was nothing overpowering, but he was hitting spots and throwing a lot of strikes,? said Pekin head coach Jeff Eeling. ?We just didn?t hit and had some troubles putting things together.?

Pekin managed just four hits on the night including Trenton Northup?s single to leadoff the game, but it quickly became slim picking as Stalzer retired the next nine Panthers in order ? eight by strikeout.

While their junior hurler rolled, the Blue Demons made Pekin pay for its decision to start sophomore Josh Sterling on the hill. The first four Albia batters reached base, and after Tommy O?Leary scored on a bases-loaded wild-pitch, Stalzer delivered the games biggest hit ? a two-RBI double that scored Kile Overmyer and Andy Stephens. The runs made the score 3-0 and Stalzer went on to prove that was more than enough.

Trenton Northup relieved Sterling after the three runs had scored with nobody out, but the damage had been done.

?It was more or less a team decision to go with the sophomore, and I think he just got a little rattled,? Eeling said.

Northup pitched the rest of the way giving up four hits, no earned runs and striking out three across six innings. Albia put one unearned run across in the top of the fifth.

The Panthers put two runners on base in the fourth and had the bases loaded in the fifth, but all were left stranded after Stalzer ended the inning with a ?K.? Brady Lamb, Jeremy Allsup and AJ Neff picked up singles in those two innings.

Those three ? all seniors ? along with five other seniors end their Pekin careers with the loss.

?I expected to have a better season than we did. Losing 12 games to rain means we didn?t get to see more pitching, didn?t get the chance to make more live plays, which could have made things a little different,? said Eeling. ?But it was a great group of kids to work with, and we still walked away with a conference championship. It?s only the fifth in school history and certainly something to be proud of.?

Albia continues its season in what would be hard to deny as the toughest district in the entire state of Iowa. The Blue Demons will take on Davis County ? a team they handed its lone loss with Stalzer on the mound July 2 ? Saturday in Fairfield with a first pitch slated for 7 p.m.