No. 1 Van Meter proves ranking against Comets

OSKALOOSA - At the beginning of any season, most every coach would think their team could make the state tournament if things fell right.

VanMeter won the state tournament last year under first-year coach Eben Baumhover and the coach the previous five years, Mike Kennedy returned from military service, so they have led the Hawks as co-coaches. Cardinal coach Rick Scott looked at his roster before the season and thought he had a chance to make the state tournament.

It turns out two are better than one as Van Meter and the co-head coaches took a 12-2 five-inning victory over Cardinal Tuesday in a substrate final.

'Every coach thinks that but realistically I really did,” Scott said.

The Comets nearly proved him right this season behind seniors Jentry Arbogast, Ryan Clark and Peyton Johnson.

'It is been a hard year on all seniors everywhere,” Scott said. 'With the virus and everything, it's been up and down. so the fact that they were able to play as well as they did, I think the world of them. I told them that there are going to be other battles in life when you get past high school so take this as a learning experience.”

Scott will definitely be a coach that thinks a state title is possible when 15 of his 17 players return.

Tuesday's starting pitcher, Landon Becker, is a sophomore. he was pulled in the third inning after a two-out home run put Cardinal down 10-0. Clark came in and got the Comets out of the inning.

In the top of the fourth inning, Cardinal sophomore Dawson Lewis thought the Comets needed a spark.

'We were down at the moment and we needed something to get going,” Lewis said. 'I decided it was my turn to step up and I guess I decided the ball needed to go over the fence.”

The outfield fence is the same height for three/fourths of the distance but there is a part in left field that is twice as high as the rest. That is where his hit exited the field.

'From his freshman year to now as a sophomore, Dawson has improved a lot,” Scott said. 'We know what we got in Dawson. He hit a good pitch off a good pitcher with a good result.”

Johnson had reached on an error so it was now 10-2. It was the first of two Cardinal hits. Maddux Jones had the other when he doubled in the fifth inning, but three strikeouts followed.

Van Meter loaded the bases in the fifth, getting a run on a groundout, then a slow roller up the middle ended it.

'Van Meter is an excellent ballclub, but I did not think we were intimidated,” Scott said. 'Our guys battled and that's all you can do.”

Arbogast was not able to pitch, getting the win against Eddyville to help the Comets get to this game.

There's an old baseball saying that a team can't win tomorrow's game today.

'He threw three too many pitches against Eddyville or we would've thrown him tonight,” Scott said. 'It was worth it, but I would have liked to see him against these guys. He has a scholarship to Southwestern.”

Kennedy did not know what to expect from the Comets. He only knew about the Eddyville game because an assistant formerly worked there.

”We don't play anybody they play and nobody in our conference plays anybody they play,” he said. 'We knew we were lucky not to face their No. 1.

We knew Becker was going to pound the zone and he had some off-speed stuff. You have to give them a lot of credit for the way they battled tonight and the way they battled against Eddyville to get here. Cardinal's hitters put the ball in play and they had solid swings.”

The Comets' three losses were to teams that went far in the postseason, New London, which lost to Notre Dame, Central Lee, which plays tonight to go to state, and Notre Dame.

'That's some good teams,” Scott said. 'The season we had was unbelievable. We won nine in a row and to be district champs, this team has come along way.

'I want to say big thank you to my seniors for an outstanding season. I'm really proud of them.”

The Van Meter Bulldogs advance to the Class 2A state tournament with a 20-2-1 record. The Cardinal Comets end at 10-4.