Tigers back to state!

OTTUMWA — Was there ever any doubt that New London baseball would be making a trip back to the state tournament?

If so, those thoughts were evaporated Tuesday night at Ottumwa’s Legion Memorial Field.

The No. 3 Tigers scored nine runs in the first inning and added two more in the second to bounce Moravia 11-1, punching their second straight trip to the Class 1A state tournament in Carroll.

“It feels really good to be heading to back to state, but we’re not done,” New London senior Ryan Richey said. “We’ve got a lot more to prove and we wanna go farther than last year.”

New London was scorching hot straight out the gate and Seth Bailey was about as good as it gets from the hill.

The senior lefty, with a stout Tigers defense behind him gave up just four hits in the substate final.

Moravia put pressure on New London at the start with a single that quickly turned into a runner at second after a ground out.

That momentum was thwarted as Bailey made a quick turn from the mound in the next at-bat, picking off the runner at second.

“I’m supper comfortable,” Bailey said. “Over the last four years, I’ve found where my head needs to be to just compete at my best. I feel like I’ll be comfortable at any level.”

From then on out it was all New London.

In their half of the first, the Tigers nearly went around the order twice, bringing a total of 14 batters to the plate.

“That’s what we needed to do,” New London head coach Brad Helmerson said. “They’re a young team and we needed to come out and put the pressure on them right away.”

New London shortstop Kooper Schulte put the Tigers on the board with the second at-bat of the game, bringing Josh Catala home on an RBI double. Schulte then made his way home on a Dereck Santiago single.

Three batters later, the bases were loaded following a walk, error and hit by pitch.

Camden Kasel then knocked a pair in with single to make it 5-0. They weren’t done yet though as Memphis Watson was walked and Bailey delivered two more runs, extending the lead to 7-0.

After the first two outs — coming from tenth and eleventh batters of the inning — Santiago carded two more RBIs from yet another single to make it a 9-0 ballgame.

“We never would have guessed that we would put up nine runs in the first inning,” Helmerson said. “The guys took unbelievable at-bats in that first inning.”

After making quick work of the Mohawks in the top of the second, New London added two more in the bottom of the inning.

Ryan Richey and Camden Kasel each drew a walk to start the inning. Richey then took second on a wild pitch. Following back-to-back outs, Catala brought Richey home with a single. Kasel scored during the next at-bat on a wild pitch, making it 11-0.

Kasel crossing home marked the final run of the night for New London, but that’s all they needed.

Moravia would score once in the fourth, but Schulte closed it out from the hill in the fifth.

The Tigers finished with a total of eight hits in the victory.

Catala and Santiago both finished with two hits. Schulte, Tucker Gibbar, Kasel and Bailey each finished with one. Santiago ended with a trio of RBIs. Kasel and Bailey each had two. Richey, Schulte and Catala each carded one.

Bailey ended his night on the mound allowing just one run on four hits, two walks and two strikeouts. Schulte closed with a walk and a strikeout.

Despite the win, there wasn’t as over abundance of celebration from the Tigers.

With a heartbreaking 4-3 loss to Kee High in the quarterfinal round last year, the Tigers are laser focused this time around and all about business.

“It feels great to be heading back there, but we still got a sour taste in our mouth from last year,” Schulte said. “We got some unfinished business to take care of.”

With eight of the nine returning starters on the roster, New London knows what it takes to advance.

New London, now 28-1, will begin their state tournament run on Monday, July 18. The Tigers will play CAM (Cumberland Anita Massena) at 4:30 p.m.

“I don’t think there’s a team that’s better than us when we’re all together playing our game,” Schulte said. “I don’t think anyone can beat us.”