Hello Newman! Tigers face 2 seed in Class 1A semis

CARROLL — The New London baseball team now knows its semifinal opponent. After the Tigers’ 12-3 win over CAM, Anita in the Class 1A quarterfinals on Monday at Merchants Park, the team was able to watch the final quarterfinal game play out, and it was a good one.

Second-seeded Newman Catholic had to give it all to knock off seventh-seeded Lisbon. The Knights clung on for a 3-2 win, advancing them on to play against New London.

Newman Catholic scored one run in the first and two runs in the third to build a 3-0 on the Lions, but Lisbon didn’t say die. A two-run Lion fourth cut the lead to 3-2.

Like New London, Newman Catholic won’t be able to pitch their ace in the semifinals. While Santiago threw 85 pitches against CAM, Newman starter Doug Taylor threw 105 in a complete-game win against Lisbon.

Among the potential Newman starters are senior Elijah Brinkley, who is 7-1 with a 1.64 ERA, senior Matthew Henrich, who sports a 5-1 record and a 2.05 ERA, and junior Max Burt, who has a 0.58 ERA.

New London will have to deal with a tough Newman Catholic lineup, which features senior Tim Castle (. 527 avg, 28 RBIs) as well as Burt (. 468 avg, 48 RBIs), Taylor (. 448 avg, 7 HRs, 60 RBIs), and senior Nash Holmgaard (. 417 avg, 4 HRs, 52 RBIs).

In Wednesday’s first semifinal, top-seeded Remsen St. Mary’s takes on No. 5 seed Kingsley-Pierson.

St. Mary’s shut down eighth-seeded South Winneshiek- 6-0 in the first quarterfinal on Monday. Kingsley-Pierson had to rally back from a 4-2 deficit, scoring five runs in its last two at-bats to upset North Linn 7-4.

The winners of Wednesday’s semifinals will play at noon on Saturday in the Class 1A state championship game.