State baseball hits semifinals

DES MOINES - It's crunch time at the state baseball tournament. All four classes have finished their quarterfinal rounds, and that means it's time all 16 remaining teams to get ready for the semifinals.

The Class 1A and 2A semifinals will be played today (Thursday) with Classes 3A and 4A holding their semifinals on Friday, Aug. 1. All four state championships will take place on Saturday, Aug. 3.

There was only one upset in the Class 1A quarterfinals, meaning three of the top four seeds are still playing. No. 1 Newman Catholic, the team that escaped Pekin's upset bid by one run, will play Don Bosco. No. 2 Alburnett will go at it with No. 6 St. Mary's.

In Class 2A, top-seeded North Linn will host No. 5 Des Moines Christian. North Linn cruised through their first round game and Des Moines Christian knocked out the last SEISC team in Central Lee. On the bottom half of the bracket, No. 2 Van Meter will play No. 6 West Sioux.

Eastern Iowa is well represented in the Class 3A tournament. After a chalky quarterfinal round, No. 1 Cedar Rapids Xavier will host No. 4 Marion in the top half of the bracket and No. 2 Davenport Assumption will play No. 3 Central DeWitt. Assumption is still representing the local district, which included Mt. Pleasant, Wasington and Fairfield.

In Class 4A, No. 1 Joinston will take on No. 4 Dowling Catholic after both teams shut out their quarterfinal oponents. No. 2 Iowa City West will take on No. 6 Urbandale on the other side of the bracket.

All semifinal games will be finished on Friday night. Saturday's championship games will begin with the Class 1A title bout at 11 a.m.