Burlington, Fort Madison departures end SEC baseball season

Entering Monday night, the Southeast Conference had two baseball teams left in contention for a state tournament berth. After the day was done, the conference had none.

In Class 3A Substate 4, the bracket which included Washington, Fairfield and Mt. Pleasant, Fort Madison fell 5-1 in a home semifinal against Central DeWitt.

The Bloodhounds gave up runs in the first, second, fourth fifth and seventh innings. The Fort Madison offense was shut out until the final frame.

Top-seeded Davenport Assumption vanquished Clear Creek-Amana, 16-6, in the other semifinal. The Knights will play Central DeWitt in Muscatine in Wednesday’s substate final.

Meanwhile in Class 4A, Burlington was unable to carry the SEC crown, falling 7-2 to Iowa City High. The Grayhounds scored two in the first but blew that lead when the Little Hawks tied the game in the fourth, went ahead with one in the fifth and pulled away with four in the sixth.

Burlington was the No. 3 seed in that bracket. Second-seeded Iowa City High plays at top-seeded Ottumwa in Wednesday’s substate final.

The Fort Madison and Burlington losses not only spelled the end for the SEC baseball season, but also the conference’s schedule as a whole. The softball teams were shut out from the state tournament as well, with Fairfield being the SEC’s only substate finalist.