Wildcats season ends at state

 DES MOINES — The Durant Wildcat baseball team saw their season come to an end on Monday
night at the state baseball tournament. The Wildcats suffered a 2-1 loss to North Linn in one of four Class 2A state quarterfinals.
 The Wildcats were the seven-seed and unranked and were playing the two-seed, and second ranked North Linn. The Lynx won the Class 2A 2019 state title.
 North Linn scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh to grab the victory. The Lynx won on a walk-off RBI single by senior Parker Brechen, advancing to the 2A semifinals.
 Before the Lynx’s late-inning heroics, it was a low-scoring defensive battle at the hands of a complete pitching duel. North Linn’s Austin Hilmer pitched all seven innings, allowing
just two hits while striking out six. After Durant scored in the top of the first, Hilmer held the Wildcats scoreless the rest of the way.
 Durant starter Nate Dierickx put together an equally excellent start as well. Dierickx pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowing just two runs on five hits and seven strikeouts.
 Dierickx and the Wildcats needed one more out in the bottom of the seventh to advance. However, the Lynx rallied, scoring two runs with two outs to secure the win.
 Dierickx took the loss and struck out seven and walked two. He gave up five hits and two runs. Durant had two hits in the game, one each from Logan Callison, and another by Brendan Paper. Callison drove in a run and have a double.
 North Linn will face Des Moines Christian on Thursday in the 2A semifinals. Watch for more Durant state coverage in next week’s sports pages.

Knights season comes to an end in substate loss in Solon

 SOLON — Playing for their first trip to the state tournament in school history, the North Cedar baseball team gave fans one last memory of the 2020 season, after falling 7-5 to Burlington-Notre Dame in a Class 1A substate game on Wednesday, July 22. The Knights finish the season 7-8 and a postseason run unmatched across all classes. The Knights opened the postseason with a 7-2 win over Midland. Upset wins over No. 5 Alburnett 5-3 and No. 9 Easton Valley 3-1, both on the road gave North Cedar an opportunity to do something that no Knight summer ball team has been able to do since the school began in 1996. Advance to the state tournament.
 North Cedar scored in the top of the first inning. Jacob Wagner reached base on an error and would promptly steal second base. Wagner advanced to third on a wild pitch and was in prime scoring position with one out. Then, Ethan Sahr smacked a RBI single to give North Cedar a 1-0 lead. That lead held until the bottom of the third inning when Burlington-Notre Dame put up five runs to take a 5-1 lead. Burlington-Notre Dame batted around in the inning and had six straight batters reach base with one-out. The Nikes had four hits in the inning with three singles and a double.
 The Nikes added a run in the bottom of the fifth inning to extend their lead to 6-1 on back-to-back doubles by Mitchell Brent, and a RBI double by Josh Smith. The Nikes added another run in the sixth to take a 7-1 lead, scoring on a Knight error. North Cedar didn’t quit and kept fighting back. The Knights pushed four runs across the plate in the top of the seventh inning to cut the Nikes lead to 7-5. The Knights had the tying runs on base at second and third and the go-ahead run at the plate, when the third out was recorded. North Cedar batted around in their batting order in the half inning. North Cedar had five straight batters reach base to begin the seventh in Gage Walshire, Tadan Lange, Tyler Thurston, Brennan Kreel, and James Garner. Kreel had a two-run double in the inning and Garner a RBI single to give North Cedar three of their four runs in the inning.
 North Cedar had seven hits in the game and had two players with multi-hit games. Ethan Sahr and Tadan Lange each were 2-for-4 to lead North Cedar batters. Other Knight hits came from Jacob Wagner RBI’s while Sahr, Tadan Lange, and Garner each had RBI’s in the game. North Cedar were issued six walks in the game. Wagner had two walks as did James Garner, while Kreel and Tyler Jackson each reached base via a walk.
 Three North Cedar pitchers pitched in the game. Ethan Sahr started and took the loss. He went three innings and struck out four, walked three, and gave up five runs on five hits. Cole Miller pitched 1 ⅓ innings in relief of Sahr and gave up a run on one hit. Tadan Lange pitched 1 ⅔ innings
in relief giving up one run on no hits.
 Burlington Notre Dame had eight hits in the game, but had only one player with a multi-hit game. Jeron Conner was 2-for-4 with two runs scored to lead the Nikes. Drew Chiprez, Trenton Blythe, Brady Oleson, and Josh Smith each had RBI hits. Jeron Conner was the winning pitcher after giving up one-run on three hits and striking out nine batters. The Knights did their damage against relief pitcher Josh Smith who gave up four North Cedar runs in the top of the seventh inning.
 The Nikes played four games to get to the state tournament. They beat three Southeast Iowa Super
Conference teams in a row to get to the substate game with North Cedar. Burlington-Notre Dame beat Winfield-Mt. Union 20-0 in the first round on July 11 and followed that up with a 17-7 win over Lone Tree three nights later on July 14. The Nikes beat New London 6-4 in a Class 1A District Final on July 18 before playing North Cedar in the substate game. North Cedar beat three teams to get to the substate round including two, top-10 ranked Class 1A teams. North Cedar beat Midland in the first round, them beat No. 5 Alburnett, and No. 9 Easton Valley in consecutive games to advance to the substate game.

Beavers fall in Regional Final

 LETTS — The Wilton Beavers traveled to Louisa-Muscatine High School last week. The match-up was one of two top-15 ranked Class 2A teams. No. 13 Wilton traveled to No. 2 Louisa-Muscatine with the winner advancing to the 2020 Class 2A state tournament. There, the Beavers jumped out to a 2-0 lead early, but a 5-run third by the Falcons was too much to overcome for Wilton in a 5-2 loss. The Beavers were playing in their second Regional Final in three seasons and have one state trip (2018) to their credit. The Beavers end the year with a record of 14-4.
 Wilton sent a message to the Falcons that they were there to win the game, scoring the game’s first run in the top of the first inning. Chloe Wells was hit by a pitch to lead off the game and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Wells would advance to third on a passed ball and score on the same passed ball from second base, giving Wilton a 1-0 lead. The Beavers allowed only four Falcon batters to the plate in the bottom of the inning, and no runner advanced past first base.
 In the second inning, Wilton extended their lead to 2-0, which got the Beavers faithful to their feet. There, Ella Caffery smashed a solo home run, her first of the season, over the left centerfield fence to give the Beavers another boost in confidence. In the bottom of the inning, Wilton ran into problems. The Falcons scored all five of their runs in the game, in the second inning sending eight batters to the plate. Johnson got the first batter of the inning out on strikes, Morgan Stecher. The next six batters reached base in a row and scored five runs. The big hit was a 3-run home run by McKenna Hohenadel. Mallory Mashek and Kylee Sanders added RBI singles in the inning.
 Those runs were more than enough for the Falcons. Louisa-Muscatine pitcher Hayley Sanders. Sanders pitched last year for the Falcons and her only loss was in the state championship game to Davenport Assumption. She entered that game 21-0 with 278 strikeouts and a 0.40 ERA. Sanders pitched in relief for the Falcons in the 2018 Class 2A state title game, allowing no runs over the final four innings. Sanders also had the game-winning, walk-off single with the bases loaded to send the Falcons to a 4-3 win over Iowa City Regina for the 2A title that year. Sanders has signed to play softball at the University of Northern Iowa this fall. Sanders struck out five batters including two each in the final three innings to keep Wilton at bay.
 Wilton pitching was equally dominant down the stretch. The Beaver slammed the door on the Falcons the rest of the way, giving them a chance to stay in the game. Johnson and relief pitcher Grace Madlock did not allow a run over the final four Falcon at-bats to keep the score at 5-2. The Falcons did get a runner either to second or third base in each of the innings from 3-6, but Louisa-Muscatine could not plate another run.
 Mila Johnson took the loss after working three innings. She gave up five runs on six hits with one strikeout and one walk. Grace Madlock pitched three innings in relief and shut down the Falcons batting order, preventing more damage done on the scoreboard. She struck out one and scattered five hits.
Wilton’s offense was limited to just three hits by three different players. Chloe Wells, Mila Johnson and Ella Caffery all had hits. Caffrey had a solo home run and drove in the only run of the game.
 Louisa-Muscatine had 11 hits in the game with three players with multi-hit games. The Falcons 9-1-2 hitters of McKenzie Kissel, Kylee Sanders, and McKenna Hohenadel combined for seven of the eleven hits with four RBI’s. Kissel was 3-for-3 with a run scored and a double while Sanders had a RBI and run scored and Hohenadel had a three-run home run and scored once.
 Louisa-Muscatine improved to 18-5 overall and will play unranked Underwood (14-4) Tuesday at 4:30 in a 2A quarterfinal. The winner will play the winner of No. 3 Ogden (19-3) and No. 10 Mount Ayr (10-4). The state semifinals are on Wednesday and the state championship
game is on Friday, July 31 at 5:00 p.m.

Durant baseball team back at state for first time since 2003

 MAQUOKETA — The Durant Wildcats punched their ticket to the 2020 Class 2A State tournament with a 6-0 win over Monticello on Tuesday, July 21 in a substate game in Maquoketa. The Wildcats will return to the state tournament for the first time since 2003 and for the fourth time in school history. Durant also has state trips from 1996 and 1979 to the program’s history. Durant improved to 12-4 with the win. The Wildcats will be joined at state by fellow River Valley Conference South division member Mid-Prairie. The sixth ranked Golden Hawks beat Central Lee in another 2A substate game. One-fourth of the state field will be schools from the RVC.
 Durant enters the state tournament as the seven seed in the Class 2A tournament. Durant will play the second seed, and 2019 2A champion, North Linn (18-2) at 4:30 on Monday, July 27. North Linn is ranked No. 2 in Class 1A. Five of the eight teams in the 2A state field are top-10 ranked teams. They are No. 1 Van Meter, No. 2 North Linn, No. 3 Dike-New Hartford, No. 6 Mid-Prairie, and No. 9 West Lyon. The other teams in the state field are Des Moines Christian, Durant, and Treynor. The winner of that game will play the winner of third seeded Dike-New Hartford (15-3) and sixth seeded Des Moines Christian (15-6) on Thursday, July 30 in the mid-to-late afternoon at either 4:30 or 7:30 in a 2A state semifinal. The Class 2A state championship game is scheduled for Saturday, August 1 at 1:30.
 The Wildcats got another gem of an outing from ace pitcher Nate Dierickx. The junior hurler pitched a complete game shutout, scattering six hits. He struck out seven batters and walked one. Dierickx is turning in quite a season. Entering state, he has a record of 6-0 in 35 innings pitched with a 0.20 (1-earned run). He has 42 strikeouts and had issued only six walks. He has five shutouts in his six starts.
Durant had 10 hits in the game with three players having multi-hit games. Nolan and Drew DeLong and Logan Callison each had two hits. The trio combined to bat 6-for-12 with two RBI’s and two runs scored. Other hits for Durant came from Ben Orr, Aydin Flockhart, Lucas Callison, and Jake Willkomm. Orr, Brendan Paper, Ethan Gast, and Willkomm each had a RBI in the game. The Wildcats stole five bases in the game with Nolan DeLong and Aydin Flockhart each with two, and Drew DeLong with one stolen base.
 Durant had to win four games to get to the state tournament, all against River Valley Conference
teams. Durant beat Northeast 7-0 to begin the postseason on July 11. The Wildcats changed their trajectory with a big upset over 2A No. 9 Camanche at Camanche
 3-0 three days later on July 14. That win gave the Wildcats confidence that they could reach Des Moines. The Wildcats then won maybe the biggest game in program history in the last 15 years with a 15-5 10-run mercy rule victory over Iowa City Regina, at Iowa City Regina on July 18 in a Class 2A District Final. That win, advanced the Wildcats to the Sweet-16 teams remaining in the tournament. Then, the Wildcats beat the Panthers to advance to state. The Panthers had to win only two games to get to the substate game. Monticello’s wins however, came against two rivals that have had their number. The Panthers beat Cascade 6-3 in the district semifinal game, and then beat Dyersville-Beckman for the first time since 2009 with a 6-5 win in a 2A District Final. The Panthers were looking for their first trip to state in school history against Durant. The win by the Wildcats was their third straight over Monticello. The win also tied the series record between the teams at 4-4 in eight meetings since 2014.
After a scoreless opening inning,
 Durant scored twice in the top of the second to take a 2-0 lead. Durant nearly batted
around in the inning, sending seven batters to the plate in the inning. Aydin Flockhart reached base on a one-out single and went to second when Brendan Paper walked to give Durant two baserunners. Both would score. Flockhart on a RBI hit by Ethan Gast, and Paper on a RBI single by Jake Willkomm. Durant extended their lead to 3-0 in the top of the sixth inning. There, a Paper
RBI sac fly, scored Flockhart who had reached base on a fielder’s choice. Durant put the game away in the top of the seventh. There, the Wildcats had three straight two-out, RBI hits from Drew DeLong, Ben Orr, and Logan Callison. DeLong and Callison singled and Orr doubled. Nolan and Drew DeLong and courtesy runner Drake Shelangoski scored all of the runs to push the Durant lead to 6-0. The Wildcats slammed the door on the Panthers in the bottom of the seventh.
 Nate Dierickx got the first Panther batter of the inning to fly out. Dierickx struck out the second batter of the inning for two quick outs. Dierickx gave up a two-out single, but came back and struck out the next batter to end the game and send him and his teammates to Principal Park this week for the state tournament.
 Monticello had six hits in the game with two players collecting most of the hits. Justin Recker was 3-for-3 and Preston Ries was 2-for-3 to lead the Panthers. The Panthers left seven runners on base in the game. The Panthers used three pitchers in the game. Starter Caleb Sauser had a good game in his own right over six innings logged. Sauser gave up three runs on six hits and struck out one and walked two. Jeff Carlson and Tate Petersen combined to pitch the final top of the seventh where they gave up three runs on four hits.

Knights sit at state’s doorstep after second upset victory

 MILES — The North Cedar Knight baseball team is going where no other Knight baseball
team has been before, the doorstep of the state baseball tournament. After three wins last week in Class 1A postseason
district play, North Cedar sits one-win from school history.
The trip along the way has been historical in its own right, with three postseason wins for the first time in school history. Two of those wins were against state ranked, top-10 teams. North Cedar beat Midland to start their tournament trail on Monday, July 13 with a 7-2 win. The Knights upset Class 1A No. 5 Alburnett 5-3 in Alburnett to advance to the district final. In the district final game on Saturday,
July 18, North Cedar beat No. 9 Easton Valley 3-1 to advance
to the school’s first substate
game. The Knights will play West Burlington-Notre Dame with the winner going to the state tournament on Friday, July 24 or Saturday, July 25.

Knights Early Lead Holds Up In Upset Over No. 5 Alburnett
 ALBURNETT — Twenty-four hours after their postseason opening win over Midland, the Knights were back in Alburnett to take on the 5th ranked Pirates in a district semifinal. There, the Knights beat the ranked Pirates 5-3. The Knights win was their first in the last four games played between the schools.
 Ethan Sahr kept the Pirates off balance all night and got the pitching win. He improved to 3-1 with the win after working 5 ⅔ innings. Sahr struck out three and walked three and gave up three runs on five hits. Tyler Thurston pitched the final 1 ⅓ innings in relief to get the save. He allowed no runs on no hits.
North Cedar scored three runs in the top of the first inning behind their first five batters reaching base. Jacob Wagner led off the game with a triple and scored on a Tyler Jackson
single for a 1-0 North Cedar lead. Ethan Sahr singled, sending Jackson to second. Gage Walshire singled to load the bases. Then Tadan Lange came up with a big timely hit, a single, scoring both Jackson and courtesy runner Devonte Crist who was running for Sahr. Those runs gave the Knights a 3-0 lead, stunning the home Pirates and their fans. That score stood over the next four innings until North Cedar scored twice in the fifth to extend their lead to 5-0. The Knights nearly batted
around and got RBI singles from Brennen Kreel scoring Walshire for a 4-0 lead, and James Garner, scoring Lange for a 5-0 lead.
 Alburnett struggled to get off Alburnett struggled to get offense going in the first four innings.
The Pirates were retired in order in two innings and sent only four batters to the plate the other two innings. Alburnett scored their only runs in the bottom of the sixth, pushing three runs across the plate to cut the Knights lead to 5-3. The Pirates got the tying runs on base in the bottom of the seventh,
but could not score.
 The Knights outhit Alburnett 11 to 6 in the game. Three Knights had multi-hit games. Gage Walshire was 3-for-4 with three singles and a run scored. Jacob Wagner and Sahr each had two hits. Other Knight hits came from Tyler Jackson, Tadan Lange, Brennen Kreel, and James Garner.
 Alburnett had their six hits among three players - Hunter Caves, Kale Rose, and Shane Neighbor. Caves and Rose led the Pirates in hits with 31 and 26. Kale Rose took the loss after giving up three runs on five hits. Hunter Caves pitched the final seven innings and gave up two runs on six hits while striking
out six.

Bats Come Alive Late To Give Knights Postseason Opening Win
 ALBURNETT — The North Cedar Knights bats came alive late in their postseason opener on Monday, July 13 against the Midland Eagles. The Knights had three of their seven hits in the ball game helping to lead to six of the Knights runs in a 7-2 win over the Eagles.
 Ethan Sahr, Chase Miller, and Tyler Thurston combined to limit Midland to two runs on three hits. The trio struck out five batters in the game. Sahr started the game, Thurston was the winning pitcher after working the last two innings of the game. Alex Smith started for Midland and gave up one-run on four hits and struck out four in 2 ⅓ innings. Jensen Dodge took the loss after working 4 ⅔ innings. Dodge struck out seven and gave up six of the seven Knight runs.
 North Cedar had seven hits in the game. Tyler Jackson and Sahr each were 2-for-4 while Tadan Lange and Tyler Thurston each had hits. Lange and Thurston tied for the RBI lead in the game with three each. Jacob Wagner and Gage Walshire also reached base via walks.
 Midland scored a run in the first inning to take a 1-0 lead. North Cedar tied the score pushing across an unearned run in the third to knot the score at 1-1. Midland grabbed the lead right back with a run in the bottom of the inning to take a 2-1 lead. That score held for nearly three innings.
 In the top of the sixth, North Cedar scored three runs to take a 4-2 lead. Midland hit two Knight batters to lead off the sixth as Gage Walshire and Tadan Lange got free passes to reach base. Then, Tyler Thurston connected and smashed a three-run home run to give North Cedar the lead. In the top of the seventh, the Knights put the game away with three more runs. Tadan Lange drilled a towering 3-run home run to left centerfield scoring Tyler Jackson who singled and Walshire who walked earlier in the inning. That hit, gave the Knights a comfortable 7-2 lead, which would be the final score.

Comets beat Beavers in Class 2A district game

 WELLMAN — The Wilton Beaver baseball team is accustomed to making deep postseason runs. For example, last year the Beavers reached the Substate round of the Class 2A tournament a year after making the 2018 state baseball tournament. This year has been different for the Beavers. Eight new starters and the rebuilding of their traditionally strong pitching rotation along with disruptions from the CoVid-19 pandemic.
 All those factors were reset last Monday in the first round of the postseason tournament in the Beavers first round game with West Liberty at Mid-Prairie. There, the Wilton saw their season end, with a tight one-run loss, 6-5. The Beavers lost to the Comets 4-3 during the regular season. Wilton ends the season 5-9-1 and finish the season on a three-game losing streak.
Wilton last lost to West Liberty in the postseason in the 2011 season in a 7-6 in a walk-off hit in a game played in Durant. The Beavers have held a 23-4 record over the Comets in their last 27 meetings with West Liberty since the 2009 season.
 West Liberty scored the games first run in the bottom of the second inning for a 1-0 lead. That lead held until Wilton tied the game at 1-1 with a run in the top of the fifth. West Liberty seemingly took command of the game in the bottom of the fifth, exploding for five runs to take a commanding 6-1 lead. Wilton didn’t quit and tried to rally in the remaining two innings. Wilton plated four runs in the top of the sixth to pull within one run, 6-5, but could not get closer.
 Jackson Hull took the loss after working five innings. Hull gave up six runs on seven hits. Hull struck out six and walked three batters. Karson Willey pitched one-inning of scoreless relief of Hull in the sixth and gave up one hit. Wilton had only three hits in the game. GageHagen led Wilton, going 2-for-4 with a RBI and three stolen bases. Caleb Sawvell had the other Beavers hit. Sawvell scored two of the Beavers runs. Jackson Hull had three walks while Chase Garvin, Nolan Townsend, Sawvell, and Clayton Guyer all reached base via a walk.
 West Liberty had nine hits in the game with four players collecting two hits each. Lake Newtown, Talen Dengler, Will Esmoil, and Collin Cassady each had two hits. Esmoil had two RBI’s and Cassady had one RBI. Sophomore Caleb Wulf started the game and pitched 5 ⅔ innings. He struck out eight, walked five and gave up four runs on three hits. Talen Dengler pitched 1 ⅓ innings in relief of Wulf and earned the win. He did not allow a hit, but did let Wilton score a run.
 Trailing 1-0, Wilton tied the game in the top of the fifth. Caleb Sawvell walked to lead off the inning and came around to score on a wild pitch. Trailing 6-1, the Beavers scored four runs in the sixth and sent ten batters to the plate in the inning. In the sixth, Nolan Townsend, Karson Willey, and Caleb Sawvell all reached base with one-out in successive at-bats. All three would later score along with another run in a four-run sixth for Wilton, setting the score at 6-5. Wilton went down in order in the seventh with a line-out and two fly outs.

Substate game next for Wildcats

 IOWA CITY — The Durant Wildcats are looking to return to the state baseball tournament
as they sit one game away from punching their ticket to the event at Principal Park in Des Moines. The Wildcats last went to state in the 2003 season.
 Last week, the Wildcats beat Northeast, state ranked Camanche, and Iowa City Regina.
 The Wildcats improved to 11-4 with the win and will play Monticello Tuesday in a Class 2A substate final. The Panthers are 6-7 and lost to Durant 4-3 on June 29.

Durant walks over Regals, 15-5 in six innings

 IOWA CITY — The Durant baseball team collected their third win in a week’s time in grand fashion
on July 18 at Iowa City Regina. The Wildcats won their sixth game in a row, scoring their most runs in a game this year in a 15-5, six-inning win. The Wildcats lost to Regina 5-4 to open the season back in mid-June. Durant will play another River Valley Conference team, Monticello, Tuesday, July 21 at Maquoketa with the winner advancing to the state tournament.
 Brendan Paper was the winning pitcher and pitched three innings. Paper struck out three and walked five while giving up three runs on three hits. Ethan Gast pitched three innings in relief. Gast struck out four, walked four and gave up two runs on three hits. Durant had 12 hits in the game led by Ben Orr who was 3-for-3 with three RBI’s and a run scored. Jake Willkomm also was 3-for-4 with three RBI’s. Drew DeLong had a pair of singles and drove in three runs. Other Durant hits came from Nolan DeLong, Logan Callison, Aydin Flockhart, and Ethan Gast.
 Durant trailed 1-0 after the first inning, but scored three times in the second inning to take a 3-1 lead. Regina tied the game at 3-3 with a pair of runs in the third inning. Durant grabbed a 4-3 lead after four innings. The Wildcats put the game away with a 7-run fifth where they took an 11-3 lead while collecting four hits. Regina scored twice in the sixth to cut Durant’s lead to 11-5, but Durant dashed hopes of Regal comeback in their half of the sixth, scoring four runs and ending the game by the 10-run mercy rule after six innings.

Wildcats Topple 8th Ranked Indians, Move To District Final Game
 CAMANCHE — The Durant Wildcats advanced along the Class 2A tournament trial on Tuesday,
July 14 with a 3-0 win over Class 2A No. 8 Camanche. The Indians end the season 10-5. The Wildcats exacted a measure of revenge on the Indians who beat Durant 8-6 less than two weeks ago, 8-6 on senior night. It was the second straight night that Durant won, the second straight night Durant recorded a shutout, and second straight night that the win came over a River Valley Conference North foe.
Durant scored the first of three runs in the bottom of the third inning to take a 1-0 lead. It would be more than enough to sideline the Indians.
 Nate Dierickx pitched a one-hitter in the win and recorded ten strikeouts. He walked two batters. The only hit he gave up was to Brayden Lodge. Mason Byrns reached base twice via a walk each time. Lodge, Mason McManus and Logan Shaw pitched for the Indians.
 The Wildcats had eleven hits in the game and had four players with multi-hit games. Jake Willkomm, Aydin Flockhart, Ben Orr, and Drew DeLong each had two hits. Nolan DeLong, Drew DeLong, and Ethan Gast all had RBI’s. Nolan DeLong, Lucas Callison, and Ethan Gast each had hits in the game.
 The Wildcats had two times in the game where they had the bases loaded only to come up without
scoring runs. Durant added a run in the fourth inning to extend their lead to 2-0. Durant’s
final run came in the top of the sixth on a Camanche fielding error.

Wildcats Get 7-0 Shutout win Over Northeast In Postseason Opener
 DURANT — The Durant Wildcats opened the post season with a 7-0 shutout win over Northeast
on Saturday, July 11. The Wildcats scored all seven runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to claim the victory. Durant has won three straight games over Northeast, but the Rebels hold an 8-4 advantage in the last 12 meetings between the teams dating back to 2013. Durant beat Northeast 4-0 in their second game of the season on June 18.
 Early on, the game was a pitcher’s duel. Durant got an outstanding start from sophomore Ben Orr who spun a three-hit shutout. He struck out six and walked one batter. Durant had eight hits in the game. Nolan DeLong and Ben Orr each had two hits. Drew DeLong, Logan Callison, Aydin Flockhart, and Jake Willkomm each had hits. Drew DeLong had 2 RBI’s and Callison, Flockhart,
and Willkomm each had RBI’s in the game.
 Northeast had three hits in the game, one each by Cade Hughes, Dakota Stevenson, and Dane Johnson. Dakota Stevenson started and took the loss after working 5 ⅔ innings and gave up four runs on five hits while striking out two and walking three. Two other Rebels also pitched in the game.

Tiger softball season ends with home regional loss, 9-4

 TIPTON — The Tipton softball season came to an end last Wednesday, July 15 at the hands of Mid-Prairie, 9-4. The Tigers offense has struggled over the last five games, scoring two runs combined over their last five games. The Tigers also had fewer than five hits in each of those five losses. Against the Golden Hawks in the first round of the 3A regional tournament, THS’s offense again was slow to come around in the game and THS fell behind the Golden Hawks early and could not catch up. THS did break out in the game overall, collecting ten hits in the game. It was the fourth time this season that THS has reached double digit hit totals in a game this summer. The Tigers end the season 4-12 while Mid-Prairie improved to 2-12 and advanced in tournament play.
 Tipton had three players with multi-hit games. Carly Langenburg was 3-for-3 with three singles and a run scored to lead Tipton batters. Delaney Fitch and Grace Nichols both had two hits with a pair of singles. Fitch drove in three of the Tigers runs and Nichols had a RBI. Other Tipton hits came from Kamryn Chapman, Sydney Barton, and Morgan Wendel. Britney Ford, Fitch, Barton, and Langenburg scored the Tigers runs in the game. Morgan Wendel took the loss after working all seven innings. She struck out three, issued no walks, and gave up nine runs on eight hits.
 Mid-Prairie had 12 hits in the game and had four players with multi-hit games. Rylee Vercande
was 3-for-4 with three runs scored. Kendra Schaefer, Abbi Patterson, and Jaselyn Robertson each had two hits. Robertson had a home run and 4 RBI’s while Patterson and Georgia Nisly each had one RBI.
Abbi Patterson started and was the winning pitcher. She worked five innings and gave up three runs on two hits. Patterson struck out four and walked one. Myah Lugar pitched in two innings and gave up one run on two hits and struck out one batter.
 Mid-Prairie scored twice in the top of the first inning to take an early 2-0 lead. Rylee Vercande tripled and scored on a Jaselyn Robertson double. Robertson scored on a passed ball for the
runs. That would be the scoring until the fifth inning. THS starting pitcher Morgan Wendel settled down and did not allow more than four batters to the plate over the next three innings. In the top of the fifth however, the Golden Hawks got to the Tigers, putting up four runs on three hits and nearly batting around. The runs extended the Mid-Prairie lead to 6-0. Tipton scored three of their four runs in the bottom of the fifth to cut the Mid-Prairie lead in half at 6-3. THS nearly batted
around in the inning and had four hits in the inning. Sydney Barton, Britney Ford, and Delaney Fitch all scored in the inning.
 The 6-3 score held to the top of the seventh. There, Mid-Prairie put the game out of reach, pushing
three runs across the plate to set the score at 9-3. Tipton was able to score one run in the bottom of the seventh to set the score at its final of 9-4.
 The Tigers beat Mid-Prairie in Kalona 2-1, back on Thursday, June 18. In that game THS had six hits and scored both runs in the top of the first. The Tigers held on attempts by the Golden Hawks to score more than their single run in the bottom of the fourth inning, to capture the victory. In that game, Kamryn Chapman had a RBI double and Avary Calonder and Delaney Fitch led THS in hits with two each. Morgan Wendel was the winning pitcher that day after striking out seven over seven innings.

Tigers season ends in Camanche

 CAMANCHE — The Tipton Tiger baseball team stumbled into the postseason on a seven-game losing streak. However, hopes abounded last Monday, July 14 when they traveled to Camanche to play Iowa City Regina to begin the postseason. The Tigers had a bye in the first round of the Class 2A district tournament and played the Regals in a district semifinal at Camanche. There, the Regals ran away late to a 10-4 win. The Tigers finish the 2020 season with a record of 5-11, the Regals improved to 7-5.
 The Tigers used five pitchers in the game. Trent Pelzer started and went two innings, giving up four runs on four hits. He walked three and struck out one. Cole Syring pitched four innings of good relief, shutting down the Regals in four innings.
 He gave up one-run on two hits even though he walked four batters. Davis Webb pitched next and took the loss after giving up four runs on two hits in ⅔ innings of work. He also walked two batters. Elliot Cummins and Brady Connor also pitched in the game.
 Tipton had ten hits in the game with four players getting multi-hit games. Trent Pelzer, Caden Schmidt, Nile Schuett, and Davis Webb all had two hits in the game. Webb had two RBI’s while Pelzer and Schuett each had one RBI. Webb had the Tigers only extra base hit, a double.
 The Tigers will say goodbye to seniors Trent Pelzer, Connor Hermiston, Kael Jauron, Elliott Cummins, and Gavin Belitz off of this year’s team.
 Iowa City Regina sent eight batters to the plate in the first inning and scored three runs. Regina extended their lead to 4-0 with a single run in the third inning. Tipton scored their first run in the bottom of the third inning. David Webb led off the inning with a double and stole third base. He scored on a RBI single by Trent Pelzer to set the score at 3-1. Tipton tied the score at 3-3 in the fourth inning. The Tigers got their first two batters in the inning on base in Connor Hermiston and Kael Jauron who each scored on a 2-run single RBI Davis Webb. The Tigers scored runs in the third straight inning in the bottom of the fifth inning.
 A Nile Schuett RBI single scored Caden Schmidt to give Tipton a 4-3 lead. It would be their only lead of the game, as Regina would take control of the game in the top of the seventh, scoring six runs to set the score at its final of 10-4.
 Regina had ten hits in the game and had three players with multi-hit games. Eliezer De Los Santos, Levi Quinlan, Alex Meister each had two hits. Meister, Declan McCoy, Danny Malony, and Alec Wick all had two RBI’s. Regina used three pitchers in the game. Levi Quinlan was the winning pitcher after working 1 ⅓ innings of relief of starter Chase Becker and reliever Kyle Schooley. Tipton roughed up Becker, scoring three runs on five hits and drawing two walks. The Tigers also hit Schooley well with five hits, but only scored one run.

11 hits by Wapello too much for Durant Wildcats to overcome

 WAPELLO — The Durant softball team’s season came to an end on Thursday, July 16 in Regional
Tournament play. The Wildcats fell 6-3 to Wapello in Wapello behind an 11-hit Arrow attack. The Wildcats end the season 10-5 while Wapello improves to 11-5. Durant had a season best seven-game win streak from June 24-July 3.
 Durant had six hits in the game and had two players with multi-hit games. Shannon Head was 3-for-3 with two RBIs to lead Durant at the plate. Allie Poston was 2-for-3 with a RBI and run scored. Savann Meinert had the other Durant hit and scored a run. Poston had a RBI and Ally Happ and Kylie Schult each reached base via walks. Kylie Schult took the loss after working six innings. She struck out five, walked one, and gave up six runs on eleven hits.
 Allyah Loling was the winning pitcher after working seven innings. She gave up three runs on six hits while striking out two and walking two batters. Wapello had 11 hits in the game and two players had multi-hit games. Mady Reid was 3-for-4 with a run and Toni Bohlen was 2-for-4 with a run in the game. Other hits came from Tatum Wolford, Serah Shafer, Morgan Richenberger, Anesa Noa, Erin Hemphill, and Loling.
 The Arrows advanced to the 2019 state tournament last year and was looking at getting back there. Wapello fell behind 3-0 in the fourth inning. Durant broke a scoreless game with a two-run top of the second. Durant took a 3-0 lead after scoring a single run in the top of the fourth. Wapello took a 4-3 lead putting up four runs in the bottom of the fourth. The Arrows continued to pile on unanswered
runs with two more in the bottom of the fifth to extend their lead to 6-3.

Wilton advances to Regional Final

 WILTON — The Wilton Beavers will play for the state tournament after defeating Wapello 3-0 Saturday night in a regional semifinal game. The Beavers, ranked No. 13 in Class 2A, will travel to Class 2A No. 2 Louisa-Muscatine. The Falcons won the state championship in 2018 and were runners-up in 2019 in Class 2A. Wilton had won 14 of 17 games this summer before the Wapello game. Now they have won 15 of 18 and have a sporty record of 15-3.
 The game was scoreless through the first three innings of the game. Wilton broke the scoreless tie in the fourth inning. Peyton Souhrada started the inning reching base via a walk. Hayley Madlock then singled to give Wilton two runners on base with one-out. Wilton then used Maddy Wade as a pinch hitter for Taylor Garvin. Wade smacked a two-run triple to give Wilton the lead and a boost with a 2-0 lead after four innings. Wilton added another run in the fifth on a Payton Ganzer RBI single that scored Mallory Lange to extend Wilton’s lead to 3-0. Wilton was retired in order in the sixth, and shut the door in the seventh as Grace Madlock picked up the save not allowing a run in relief.
 Wapello had chances, but couldn’t push a run across the plate. The Arrows had two hits in the first, but left two on base without a run. The Arrows advanced a runner to third base in each of the third and fourth innings, but failed to push a run across the plate. Wapello had a hard time trying to dent the scoreboard late in the game. The Arrows were retired in order in both the fifth and seventh innings.
Mila Johnson was the winning pitcher after five innings of work. She struckc out one and walked one while scattering five hits. Grace Madlock pitched the final two innings in relief. She struck out to and did not allow a hit or run.
 Wilton had six hits by six different players in the game. Maddy Wade had a 2-run triple and Payton
Ganzer had a RBI single as both hits accounted for all three Wilton runs. Other hits from Beaver bats came from Mallory Lange, Hayley Madlock, Ella Caffery, and Mila Johnson.
 Wapello had six hits in the game led by Tatum Wolford who was 2-for-3. Mady Reid, Toni Bohlen, Serah Shafer, and Sammy Ewart all had hits. Anesa Noa took the loss after working four innings. She walked two batters, and gave up two runs on four hits. Aliyah Lolling pitched the final two innings in relief.

Johnson Pitches Perfect Game Against MEPO In Regional Opener
 WILTON — The Wilton Beavers got a big start to their 2020 postseason run last week when ace Mila Johnson spun a perfect game against the Mediapolis Bulldogs in the postseason opener for Wilton. The Beavers defeated MEPO 12-0 in three innings to advance. Johnson did not allow a hit or a baserunner in the game to earn the perfect game. Johnson struck out four batters and did not walk any batters.
Wilton put up six runs in the second and third innings to get their 12 runs. Wilton had 14 hits in the game with five players getting multi-hit games. Mallory Lange was 3-for-3 with three runs. Chloe Wells, Payton Ganzer, Elal Caffery, and Johnson each had two hits. Wells had 3 RBI’s, while Peyton Souhrada, Ganzer, and Johnson each had 2 RBI’s. Other Wilton hits came from Souhrada, Hayley Madlock, and Taylor Garvin.
 Wilton sent ten batters to the plate in the second inning and had seven hits and six runs in the inning. Hayley Madlock, Ella Caffery, Taylor Garvin, and Mila Johnson all had singles to lead off the second inning. Johnson’s single scored the beavers first run and drove in Madlock.
 Chloe Wells had a one-out, two-run triple to score Garvin and Johnson to give Wilton a 3-0 lead. Peyton Ganzer also had a RBI double as part of the six-run inning.
 In the bottom of the third inning, Wilton scored another six runs to end the game by the 12-run mercy rule after three innings. Four Beavers had RBI hits in the inning. The big hit was a 2-run single by Peyton Souhrada. Ganzer, Wells, and Johnson all had RBI singles in the inning.

Knights Season Ends At Cascade In Class 2A Regional Tourney

 CASCADE — Though the two teams played three days earlier on July 10, North Cedar met Cascade on Monday, July 13. There, the Cougars would need 11 innings to defeat the Knights from North Cedar, 5-4. The Cougars advanced along the Class 2A tournament trail and improved to 6-9. The Knights close the season 2-11. North Cedar will say goodbye to seniors
Kayla Syring, Kassidie Galloway, and Emma Boleyn.
 North Cedar scored the first runs of the game. The Knights broke a scoreless game with two runs in the top of the fourth inning for a 2-0 lead. The Knight’s extended their lead to 3-0 with a run in the top of the sixth. Cascade rallied, scoring a run in the bottom of the sixth and scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh to send the game to extra innings.
 The Knights scored the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth, but Cascade answered with the tying run in the bottom of the ninth to set the score at 4-4. The game stayed tied until the bottom of the 11th when the Cougars pushed the winning run across the plate to win 5-4.
 North Cedar had 10 hits in the game and had three players with multi-hit games. Kendall Smith, Alyssa Hefflefinger, and Emma Boleyn each had two hits to lead North Cedar. Other hits came from Carly Meier, Kayla Syring, Jenna Syring, and Sam Koth.
 Alyssa Hefflefinger started the game and pitched eight innings. She struck out six, walked one and gave up three runs on four hits. Kendall Smith pitched the final 2 ⅓ innings in relief and took the loss. She struck out four, walked one and gave up two runs on one hit.

Knights Fall Behind Early In Regular Season Finale
 CASCADE — The North Cedar softball team couldn’t come back from being down 2-1 early, falling to the Cascade Cougars 3-2 in the regular season finale for both teams on Friday, July 10.
North Cedar scored first with a run in the first inning. Kassidie Galloway scored on an error after singling to start the game. Cascade scored twice in the bottomof the third inning to take a 2-1 lead. The Cougars added a run in the fourth to extend their lead to 3-1. North Cedar cut the Cougar lead in half with a run in the top of the fifth. Kendall Smith scored on a double by Carly Meier.
 North Cedar had six hits in the game. Kendall Smith led North Cedar at the plate going 2-for-4. Other North Cedar hits came from Kassidie Galloway, Carly Meier, Jenna Syring, and Emma Boleyn. Kendall Smith took the loss after six innings. Smith struck out eight and walked three. Smith gave up three runs on five hits.

Flory Hopes To Say Those Magic Words One More Time, Knights Win!

Tipton native Hobert Flory shows how he sets up to broadcast North Cedar baseball and softball games this summer for the Knightcast.  The broadcast is part of the Sportscast Media Network out of Mediapolis, Iowa.  Flory will be on the call of Wednesday's Class 1A substate game the Knights are in.  Photo by Ryan Stonebraker.

Flory Hopes To Say Those Magic Words One More Time, Knights Win!

By Ryan Stonebraker

Sports Editor, Tipton Conservative

 LOWDEN — Tipton native and North Cedar community school district employee Hobert Flory saw a need about four years ago. The Knightcast, a property of sportscast media out of Mediapolis Iowa, needed a summer broadcaster for North Cedar Knight baseball and softball games. So he stepped up and did it. Since, Knight fans who tune in to SCM North Cedar broadcasts, hope to hear at the end, Flory’s signature ‘Yes! Knights win! Knights Win’.

Hobert Flory from the Knightcast.

 “I’ve started doing volleyball and have done basketball broadcasts for the Knightcast,” said Flory.
 “I really like baseball and softball though,” he said.
 Flory is a bus driver for the school district and he and his wife are the theater directors for North Cedar. Flory’s wife works in the Lisbon school district. Flory has been with the North Cedar district since 1991. He is a 1975 graduate of Tipton High School.  The Knightcast was one of the first internet broadcasts for the internet streaming company in Southeast Iowa owned by Danny Davis. Davis, the owner and publisher of the Mediapolis News, began in January of 2012. The first broadcast was a girl-boy Southeast Iowa Super Conference varsity basketball doubleheader between Mediapolis and Pekin that had 51 listeners. The Knightcast regularly averages four times that much for broadcasts of football, volleyball, basketball, baseball, and softball games. Today, SCM boosts 23 schools mainly across Eastern and Southeastern Iowa with internet broadcasts.
 Flory is a self described Cubs fanatic having gone to many games when he was younger. His brother David who lives in Arizona is the official scorekeeper of the Cincinnati Reds rookie league team that plays there.
 “I love baseball. We were raised on and in it growing up. Two of my brothers were pitchers and we played all the time,” he said.
 Flory got interested in radio in college at McPherson College in McPherson, Kansas.
 “I got to get my feet wet back then. Radio was different in the 70’s. DJ’s talked fast and like maniacs and it was a different time,” he said. Flory however did not pursue a radio career. Radio, in this case internet broadcasting, found him.
 “I love broadcasting for the Knightcast. I like being around the kids. I drive them around to all their events and I get to be there. Especially with the pandemic and not much going on with school and such, It fills a void for me. I have had a lot to talk about this summer and I can get pretty excited on the broadcasts,” said Flory.
 Radio stations in Eastern Iowa rarely come to Lowden or Stanwood to broadcast North Cedar events. Sometimes, Maquoketa radio station KMAQ comes, but it is always on the road and always only in the postseason. The Knightcast also has broadcasters Scott Kasik and Rick Crittenden who have quite a following for their football broadcasts in the fall.
 “Rick, Scott and I like what we do. We like the kids and really like to tell our listeners what we see. We all feel blessed to do this,” said Flory.
 Fans as far away as Ohio tune into the broadcasts and no doubt many more will be tuning in for the substate game.
 Wednesday night, the Knights won’t have to travel far to play their Class 1A substate game with the game in the next county over in Solon. The Knights seek the school’s first trip to the state baseball tournament as the North Cedar CSD. Win or lose, Flory will be on the call, hoping to say what scores of North Cedar fans are hoping for, “The Knights are going to the state tournament!”.
 “It hasn’t sunk in yet that I will be on the call if we could get to state. I was looking on facebook the other day and it started to hit me. We are close. Very close. We are hot right now and I think we can play with about anybody,” said Flory.

 The Knightcast will have the call for North Cedar’s substate game with Burlington-Notre Dame Wednesday, July 22 at 7:00. Pregame starts at 6:45 and can be accessed at www.theknightcast.net.



Class 1A Substate 4 Final — Burlington-Notre Dame (13-2) vs. North Cedar (7-7)

North Cedar Leaders
Hitters:
Hits: Ethan Sahr 19, Tyler Jackson 14, Jacob Wagner 12, Tadan Lange 10.
RBI’s: Tadan Lange 11, Ethan Sahr 8, Tyler Jackson 8, Tyler Thurston 6.
Home Runs: Tyler Thurston 2, Tadan Lange 1.
Doubles: Jacob Wagner 7, Tyler Jackson 6, Ethan Sahr 2.
Stolen Bases: Jacob Wagner 8, Ethan Sahr 4, Tyler Jackson 4.

Pitchers:
W-L: Ethan Sahr 4-1, Chase Miller 2-0, Tadan Lange 1-2, Cole Taylor 0-4.
Innings Pitched: Ethan Sahr 37.1, Chase Miller 15, Tadan Lange 13 ⅓, Tyler Thurston 12 ⅓, Cole Taylor 9 ⅔, Tyler Jackson 3.
Strikeouts: Ethan Sahr 40, Tadan Lange 13, Tyler Thurston 12, Chase Miller 7, Cole Taylor 5, Tyler Jackson 2.
ERA: Ethan Sahr 1.31, Chase Miller 3.27, Tyler Thurston 3.41, Tadan Lange 7.88, Cole Taylor 9.41.

Burlington-Notre Dame Leaders
Hitters:
Hits: Nicholas Skerik 25, Drew Chiprez 23, Jeron Conner 23, Carson Chiprez 16, Trenton Blythe 15, Brady Oleson 13.
RBI’s: Drew Chiprez 24, Nicholas Skerik 21, Brady Oleson 19, Mitchell Brent 18, Jeron Conner 15, Trenton Blythe 11.
Home Runs: Drew Chiprez 7, Mitchell Brent 4.
Doubles: Drew Chiprez 7, Jeron Conner 6, Carson Chiprez 5, Nicholas Skerik 5, Trenton Blythe 5.
Stolen Bases: Jeron Conner 10, Trenton Blythe 9, Brady Oleson 8, Owen Culick 8.

Pitchers:
W-L: Jeron Conner 4-0, Brady Oleson 3-0, Mitchell Brent 2-2, Josh Smith 2-0, Carson Chiprez 1-0, Nicholas Skerik 1-0.
Innings Pitched (10 innings min.): Mitchell Brent 23 ⅓, Jeron Conner 16, Josh Smith 12 ⅓, Jackson Brent 11 ⅔, Brady Oleson 11.
Strikeouts: Mitchell Brent 38, Jeron Conner 25, Brady Oleson 19, Nicholas Skerik 16.
Walks: Mitchell Brent 30, Nicholas Skerik 14, Jeron Connor 13.
ERA: Jeron Conner 2.19, Brady Oleson 1.27, Mitchell Brent 2.70, Josh Smith 0.00.

2020 Postseason Tournament Trail - How They Got Here:
North Cedar Knights
District Final (At Miles) - North Cedar 3, No. 9 Easton Valley 1 - The Knights got their first hits and first runs in the sixth inning of their District final game with the River Hawks. All the runs were scored in the sixth inning. North Cedar had four hits by four different players. Tyler Jackson had a 2-run double and Ethan Sahr had a RBI single. Sahr got the win after six innings of work where he struck out 11 batters and walked one. He gave up one run on three hits. Tyler Thurston pitched a scoreless seventh for the save. The loss was the first of the season for Easton Valley who came into the game 14-0.
District Semifinal (At Alburnett) - North Cedar 5, No. 5 Alburnett 3 - North Cedar jumped on the Pirates early with three runs in the first inning. The Knights never trailed in the game and led 5-0 before withstanding a comeback attempt by the Pirates. Alburnett ends the year 16-4. North Cedar had 11 hits with two players with multi-hit games. Gage Walshire was 3-for-4 and Ethan Sahr was 2-for-4. Tadan Lange had 2 RBI’s while Tyler Jackson, Brennen Kreel, and James Garner each had one RBI. Sahr was the winning pitcher after 5 ⅔ innings worked. Sahr struck out thre, walked three and gave up three runs on five hits. Tyler Thurston earned the save with a scoreless 1 ⅓ innings worked.
District Opener (At Alburnett) - North Cedar 7, Midland 2 - Trailing 2-1 going to the sixth, North Cedar rallied late for the win. The Knights scored three runs in each of the sixth and seventh innings to get the win. Tadan Lange and Tyler Thurston each hit home runs and drove in three runs in the game. Tyler Jackson and Ethan Sahr each had two hits. Chase Miller was the winning pitcher after working the final three innings. Ethan Sahr started and was relieved by Tyler Thurston.

Burlington-Notre Dame Nikes
District Final (At Burlington ND) - Burlington-Notre Dame 6, New London 4 - Burlington ND held off a late New London charge for the win. New London scored three in the top of the seventh to get the score to 6-4. The Nikes had six hits led by Jeron Conner who was 2-for-3 with a double and RBI. Conner was the winning pitcher after starting the game. He struck out five, walked three and gave up one-run on three hits in three innings. The Nikes used four pitchers in the game.
District Semifinal (At Burlington ND) - Burlington-Notre Dame 17, Lone Tree (6 in.) - The Nikes scored 11 of their 17 runs in the first three innings of the game, taking command early, 11-1. A 5-run second and 4-run third gave Burlington ND the big lead. The Nikes had 14 hits and five players with multi-hit games. The 1-2-3 hitters of Jeron Conner, Nicholas Skerik, Drew Chiprez (all seniors) combined to hit 9-for-13 with 7 RBI’s. Conner had four hits and Skerik had four RBI’s. Conner was the winning pitcher after working three innings and allowing one-run on two hits. He struck out six and walked two.
District Opener (At Burlington ND) - Burlington-Notre Dame 20, Winfield-Mt. Union 0 (4 in.) - Burlington-ND dominated their district opener beating Winfield-Mt. Union 20-0. The Nikes scored nine runs in the first, five in the second inning and six runs in the third to get the win. The Nikes had 15 hits in the game led by Jeron Connor who was 4-for-4 with a double, 5 RBI’s, and four runs scored. Drew Chiprez had a home run and also drove in five runs. Josh Smith pitched a one-hitter over four innings for the complete game win.

Other Class 1A Substate Finals = Results From Tuesday, July 22 games:
Substate 1 — No. 2 Remsen-St. Mary’s 2, Newewll-Fonda 0
Substate 2 — #6 Mason City Newman 3, Madrid 2 (9 innings)
Substate 3 — No. 4 South Winneshiek 3, Saint Ansgar 0
Substate 4 — Burlington-Notre Dame vs. North Cedar - Postponed
Substate 5 — #7 Don Bosco 12, No. 10 HLV 5
Substate 6 — No. 1 Martensdale-St. Mary’s 11, Mount Ayr 3
Substate 7 — No. 3 Council Bluffs St. Albert 9, CAM (Anita) 5
Substate 8 — No. 8 Kingsley-Pierson 9, Logan-Magnolia 5

Wildcats four-run 7th gives Durant road win

 WEST BRANCH — A four-run seventh inning by Durant, sent the Wildcats to a 7-6 win at West Branch last Monday, July 6. The victory was their 7th on the season. The Wildcats
snapped a two-game losing streak to West Branch with the win. Durant holds a 23-10 record
over the Bears dating back to 2009.
 Durant fell behind 6-0 after the second inning after a 5-run bottom of the second inning by West Branch. The Wildcats first runs were a pair of runs in the top of the third to cut into the Bears lead at 6-2. Durant would plate four runs in the top of the seventh to grab their first lead of the game, 7-6. The Wildcats would hold on to win by the same score.
 Durant had eleven hits in the game and had four players with multi-hit games. Drew DeLong,
Ben Orr, Logan Callison, and Jake Willkomm each had two hits in the game. DeLong had two RBI’s while Nolan DeLong, Orr, Brendan Paper, and Willkomm each had a RBI in the game.
 Ethan Gast was the winning pitcher after working 5 ⅔ innings in relief of starter Brendan Paper. Gast struck out five, walked one and gave up no runs. He did give up three hits. Paper gave up six runs on five hits and struck out two.

Lopsided Win Over Calamus-Wheatland For Durant

 DEWITT — The Durant softball team split a pair of games last week. Both games were on the road. Durant lost at West Branch on Monday, July 6 and won at Calamus-Wheatland 19-7 on Tuesday, July 7. The Wildcats ended their regular with a record of 11-4. Durant begins Class 2A postseason play this week. The Wildcats are in Region 8 and will travel to Wapello on Wednesday, July 15. The winner of that game will play at Wilton on Friday, July 17 against the winner of Wilton-MEOP/Danville winner.

Wildcats Rout Warriors 19-7 In Regular Season Finale
 WHEATLAND — The Durant Wildcats won their 11th game of the year and third straight game against Calamus-Wheatland last Tuesday in the last regular season game for Durant. There, the Wildcats took a 19-7 win over their non-conference foe. Durant holds an 8-1 record over the Warriors in their last nine meetings.
 Durant had 21 hits as a team and pounded out 17 singles, three doubles, and a home run. Seven players had multi-hit games led by Abbey Rhoades who was 4-for-4 with three singles, a home runs, 2 RBI’s, and scored four runs. Nicole Brown had three singles, 2 RBI’s and scored twice. Ally Happ, Shannon
Head and Kylie SChult each had two hits. Kira Schult and Allie Poston each had three hits. Head drove in four runs, Schult three and Kylie Schult two runs.
 Durant scored runs in six of the seven innings in the game. Durant trailed 3-2 after the first inning,
but tied the game at three by the end of the second inning. The Wildcats led 7-6 after four innings. The Wildcats put up four runs in the top of the fifth to extend their lead to 11-6. Durant put the game away in the top of the seventh inning, scoring eight runs in the top of the seventh to get the score to 19-6. Shannon Head was the winning pitcher after working seven innings.
 Head walked five and gave up seven runs on nine hits.

Bears Beat Wildcats 7-1, Win 5th Game Of The Year
 WEST BRANCH — West Branch senior Kaiya Luneckas held down the Durant offense in a 7-1 win in RVC play last Monday. The Wildcats fell to 10-4 with the loss while West Branch won their fifth game of the season with the victory.
 Luneckas kept the Wildcats off balanced the whole night, limiting
Durant to only three hits. Luneckas struck out 11 Durant batters and walked two. She allowed only one, unearned run. Three Bears had multi hit games. Maddy Hatfield was 3-for-3 with three singles, Luneckas and Nicki Henson both had two hits. Lunecaks and Lexi Klinkhammer each had home runs with Klinkhammer driving in three runs and Luneckas
two.
 West Branch scored two runs in the bottom of the first inning to take an early 2-0 lead. The Bears added single runs in the third and fourth innings to extend their lead to 4-0. Durant scored their only run of the game in the top of the fifth to cut the Bears lead to 4-1. However, in the bottom of the inning, West Branch put the game away with three more runs to get the score to its final, 7-1.
Durant’s three hits came from three different players. Collecting hits were Abbey Rhoades, Kira Schult, and Brooklyn Bullard.
 Ally Happ reached base via a walk as did Bullard. Kylie Schult took the loss after working
six innings. Schult struck out one, walked one, and gave up eleven hits and seven runs.

Wilton Beavers take road game at West Branch

 By Gregory Norfleet, West Branch Times
 WEST BRANCH — Senior Mackenzie Heise pounded a three-run homer in the final inning, but West Branch’s softball team fell short of a comeback by falling 6-4 to the visiting Wilton Beavers on July 8.
The home team dropped to 5-8 a week before entering the postseason.
 The Beavers put up their runs in innings three, four and five after trailing 1-0.
 “We started off a little sluggish,” Wilton Head Coach Kourtney Denkman said. “I was a little worried after the first inning. Our bats were kind of dull. But we came back, we hit the ball pretty well.”
Denkman said she wanted to see how her team handled the field that night.
 “We’ve kind of been struggling a little bit with our defense but we had pretty solid defense tonight
-- no errors -- so that’s a positive and when we can do that we’re going to win,” she said.
 The Bears came alive in the final half inning after junior Chloe Pence drove a single into center field and junior Nicki Henson outran a third-base throw to first. Heise stepped up to the plate with two outs and clobbered the ball over center field for the three-run pickup.
 Then senior Kaiya Luneckas drove a single to right field to get West Branch back on base right away.
But Wilton freshman relief pitcher Grace Madlock, who stepped in for the final two innings, drew her second strikeout to record the save. Denkman said she did not regret putting Madlock
on the mound.
 “(Heise) hit a home run on us last year. She’s a great hitter,” the Wilton coach said. “But we wanted to get some of our younger pitchers a little bit of a chance. So to get Grace a few innings was great. We ended up on top, so it is what it is.”
 Eastern Iowa saw several days in a row with temperatures over 90, and both coaches said that though they could do without the heat, they liked their teams getting that important experience. Denkman said the Beavers played three days in a row in the hot weather and would get one day off before heading to Mount Pleasant for a double header before the postseason.
 “These girls come, they’re ready to play (and they) understand and they’ve played enough travel ball -- we live in Iowa, so it’s going to be hot,” she said.
 Denkman called herself “very pleased” at where Wilton stands a week out from the postseason.
 “We’ve struggled a few days this week -- errors and things like that,” she said. “So to come here and to play solid against a very good pitcher (Luneckas) and a very good West Branch team was definitely good for us.”
 Her team will focus on the fundamentals before the July 15 playoffs begin, from “getting hits and executing and playing tough defense,” she said.

Wilton ends regular season with three-game win streak
 MT. PLEASANT — The Wilton Beavers ended a five-game week with three straight wins. The Beavers traveled to Mount Pleasant on July 10 for a doubleheader and came away with a sweep. Wilton ends the regular season with a record of 12-3. The Beavers beat the Panthers 7-3 in game one, and 8-0 in game two.
 In game one, WIlton broke a 3-3 tie in the top of the seventh with a four-run inning. Those runs gave Wilton a 7-3 lead which would be the final score. Peyton Souhrada, Hayley Madlock, and Emily Coss each had two hits. Charlotte Brown and Ganzer each hit home runs. Brown and Maddy Wade each had two RBI’s.
 In game two, Wilton earned their first shutout of the season with an 8-0 win. The Beavers offense came alive late to score all eight runs spread out from the top of the fifth to the top of teh seventh. Wilton broke a scoreless game open with two runs in each of the fifth and sixth innings for a 4-0 lead. The Beavers scored four runs in the top of the seventh to push their lead to 8-0.
 Grace Madlock pitched a complete game, two-hitter while striking out eight batters and issuing no walks.
 Wilton had 14 hits in the game. Chloe Wells was 4-for-5 in the game with four singles and a run scored. Emily Coss had three hits and drove in four runs while Maddy Wade and Peyton Souhrada
each had two hits. Souhrada and Ganzer each had two RBI’s. Ganzer hit a home run in the game.

Wilton Splits Early Week Games
 WILTON — The Wilton softball team began their five-game week with a pair of games against RVC North foes. The Beavers won at home on Monday,
 July 6, 13-2 over Cascade before losing 9-7 to state ranked Anamosa at home on July 7.
 The Beavers started their week with a 13-2 win over Cascade at home in five innings. Wilton scored runs in all but one inning of the game and led 2-1 after the first inning. The Cougars tied the game at 2-2 with a run in the top of the third. Wilton would score the final 11 runs in the game starting with a five-run third to take a 7-2 lead. Wilton led 9-2 after the fourth and ended the game by the 10-run mercy rule, with a 4-run fifth.
 Wilton had ten hits in the game led by Peyton Souhrada who was 3-for-3 with two doubles, a single and five RBI’s. Mallory Lange and Emi Coss each had two hits. Chole Wells and Emi Coss each had home runs in the game. Mila Johnson was the winning pitcher after five innings of work. She struck out two and walked four while giving up two runs on four hits.
 The Beavers fell 9-7 the next night at home to state ranked Wilton. The Beavers were ranked No. 13 in Class 2A and Anamosa was ranked No. 8 in Class 3A at the time of the meeting. There, Anmosa broke open a scoreless game in the top of the fourth inning with a seven-run inning. Wilton scored twice in the bottom of the inning to set the score at 7-2, but Anamosa got those two runs back in the top of the fifth to set the score at 9-2. Wilton would score five more runs over the course of the next two innings, but could get no closer than the game’s final score.
 Wilton had 11 hits in the game led by four players with two hits each. Taylor Garvin had a home run and two RBI’s and Chloe Wells, Mallory Lange, and Payton Ganzer each had two hits. Lange, Peyton Souhrada, and Ganzer each had RBI’s. Mila Johnson took the loos after working four innings
and giving up seven runs on seven hits.

Bears Hammer Beavers In Regular Season Finale

 By Gregory Norfleet, West Branch Times
 WEST BRANCH — Getting up by two runs in the first inning? A good start. Scoring 11 runs in the second? An awesome follow-up.Smashing a three-run homer for a 15-plus-run win in the fourth? A sweet, sweet finish.
 West Branch’s baseball team wrapped up conference play July 8 by overwhelming the visiting Wilton Beavers’ pitching staff and defense with a 17-0 victory in the bottom of the fifth inning after junior Cael Fiderlein knocked in the game-ending runs over the left-field fence.
 Senior Trey Eagle pitched all four innings, allowing only two hits and striking out 11 — a good number of Ks for even a full, seven-inning game. West Branch fell to then top-ranked Wilton in 2019 in two close games.
 Wilton Head Coach Jake Souhrada said pitching made the difference.
 “We were very short on pitching today,” he said. With a busy schedule that week and a makeup game with Anamosa the day before, he had to rest some of his best pitchers. “We came into the game short-handed pitching-wise,” he said. “Our pitchers threw strikes but West Branch hit the ball but we didn’t make plays behind them. … It kind of snowballed on us.”
 Part of the satisfaction includes overcoming a team under the leadership of Souhrada, one of the longest-serving and successful baseball coaches in Cedar County Souhrada said after the game that Wilton needs to practice hard before the playoffs.
 “Obviously we need to work on just about everything at this point,” he said. “But we’ll keep battling and get better. We’ve had some big wins over the course of the year but today was just not one of those days.”

Wilton Splits Early Week Games At Home
 WILTON — The Wilton baseball team split two home games last week. The Beavers beat Cascade
2-1 and fell 14-4 at home to Anamosa.
 On Monday, July 6, Wilton beat the Cascade Cougars 2-1. The Beavers scored the game’s first runs with single runs in the first and second inning to take a 2-0 lead. That lead held the rest of the game. The Cougars scored their only run in the top of the seventh to make things interesting, only to see Wilton come up with a 2-1 win.
 Karson Willey was the winning pitcher after starting and going 4 ⅔ innings. Willey struck out five and walked one and gave up only three hits. Nolan Townsend pitched the final 2 ⅓ innings to earn the save. Townsend gave up one run on six hits and struck out five.
 Against Anamosa, Wilton had a tough night in a 14-4 loss in five innings. The Raiders put up 11 runs in the top of the fifth to secure a 10-run margin to end the game in the fifth inning, at 14-4. Wilton trailed 3-0 going to the bottom of the third. There, Wilton put up four runs to take their first lead of the game, 4-3 after three innings.
 Jackson Hull took the loss after working 4 ⅔ innings. He gave up 11 runs on ten hits and walked four. Chase Garvin also pitched in the game. Wilton had only three hits in the game with hits from three different players. Getting hits for Wilton were Gage Hagen, Caleb Sawvell, and Jackson Hull. Hagan, Hull, and Patrick Barszczewski each had RBI’s.

3A No. 7 West Liberty Beats Knights 11-0

 LOWDEN — The North Cedar softball team took an 11-0 loss at home to state ranked West Liberty last Wednesday, July 8. The Comets were ranked No. 7 at the time of the game in Class 3A. The Knights fell to 2-9 with the loss.
Despite the ranking, North Cedar held on tough, keeping the game scoreless through three innings. The Comets scored the first run of the game in the top of the fourth and led 1-0 after four innings. The Comets took control of the game in the top of the fifth inning scoring four runs to lead 5-0. The Comets led 7-0 after two innings and put up four runs in the top of the seventh to extend their lead to 11-0.
 North Cedar had two hits, both from freshman Alyssa Hefflefinger with a single and triple. Hefflefinger took the loss after seven innings of work. She struck out three and walked five.
 Finley Hall and Austyn Crees each had two hits and two RBI’s to lead West LIberty. Sailor Hall was the winning pitcher after working seven innings. She struck out seven and gave up two hits.

Knights Knock Off Mid-Prairie, 2-1
 LOWDEN — The North Cedar Knights picked up their second win of the season with a 2-1 win over Mid-Prairie. The game was called early due to weather. The Knights scored what would be the winning
runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to set the score at 2-1. Mid-Prairie scored the first run of the game in the top of the first inning.
 Kendall Smith got the win with a six inning effort. Smith struck out seven, walked no batters and gave up six Mid-Prairie hits. North Cedar had nine hits in the game with three players with multiple hits. The Knights 3-4-5 hitters in the game - Smith, Carly Meier, and Alyssa Hefflefinger - each had two hits in the game. 

Fourth Ranked Rebels Too Much For Knights
 LOWDEN — The North Cedar softball team struggled against Class 2A No. 4 Northeast last Monday to open their final week of the regular season. The Knights fell 15-1 to the Rebels in a game that ended after three innings.
 Northeast led 4-1 after the first inning and added five runs in the top of the second inning and six runs in the top of the third inning to get to their 15-run game. The Rebels had nine hits to the Knights two hits in the game. North Cedar had eight fielding errors in the game.
 North Cedar had two hits in the game. Kayla Syring had a double and Carly Meier had a single and RBI. Alyssa Hefflefinger was the losing pitcher. She gave up 15 runs on nine hits and struck out two batters.
The Rebels had four players with multi-hit games. Bree Mangelsen had three hits including
a double and drove in two runs for the Rebels. Neveah Hildebrandt, Makenna McDonald, and Valerie Spooner each had two hits. Madiston Kluever was the winning pitcher after three innings of work.

Tigers snap five-game streak with 13-3 Bellevue win

 GOOSE LAKE — The Tipton Tiger baseball team will go into postseason play this week on a seven-game losing streak. The Tigers were 5-3 before that streak began. However, most of those games were close with a timely hit or two or an error, or extended inning too much to overcome. The Tigers ended the regular season 5-10 after taking three losses last week to Camanche, Maquoketa, and Northeast.
The Tigers traveled to Northeast last Wednesday, July 8 to finish up the regular season and suffered a 9-6 loss. There, the Rebels scored two runs in the first and five runs in the second inning to take a 7-0 lead early. Tipton tried to catch up scoring twice in the third and three times in the fourth to get within two runs at 7-5, but could get no closer. The Rebels took a 9-5 lead after a two-run fourth. Tipton scored the games last run in the top of the sixth to set the score at 9-6.
 Tipton had five hits in the game. The Tigers were issued 12 walks by Rebel pitching in the game and had five players with two walks each. Nile Schuett was 2-for-4 with two RBI’s to lead THS. Trent Pelzer, Cole Syring, Connor Hermiston all had hits in the game. Hermiston drove in three runs and Syring also had a RBI.
 Tipton used four pitchers in the game. Peyton Gaertner started and took the loss after working ⅔ innings. He gave up five runs on four hits and struck out two. Elliott Cummins pitched two innings in relief and gave up two runs on three hits and struck out two batters. Brady Connor pitched 2 ⅔ innings and did not allow a run and gave up two hits. Davis Webb pitched the final ⅔ innings in relief.
Northeast used four pitchers in the game. Riley Wolfe was the winning pitcher after working two innings. He gave up one run on two hits and walked two. Hayden Lee, Dane Johnson,
and Clayton Meyermann all pitched for the Rebels in the game.
 Northeast had ten hits in the game led by three players with two hits each. Hayden Lee, Dakota Stevenson and Kael Parson all had a pair of hits in the game. The game was the last regular season game for Tipton as the Tigers will face Iowa City Regina at home in the first round of the Class 2A district tournament. 

Cardinals Rally Late to Defeat Tigers 8-6
 MAQUOKETA — The Tipton baseball team dodged the rainy weather on Tuesday, July 7 and got their game in at non-conference foe Maquoketa. The Cardinals however, were not a kind host, taking the game by a score of 8-6. The Tigers led most of the game, but watched as Maquoketa
rallied late and took the game. The Cardinals have a record of 14-7.  Tipton jumped on the Cardinals in the first inning, scoring three runs for an early 3-0 lead. The first three Tigers reached base and scored. Trent Pelzer walked and went to second on a Cole Syring single. Both advanced to load the bases on a Nile Schuett single with Pelzer scoring and Syring going to second. A Connor Hermiston one-out single advanced the runners and Syring would score on a sacrifice fly by Kayden Rezac to set the score at 3-0. The  Cardinals pushed a run across the plate in the bottom of the first putting the score at 3-1. Maquoketa tied the game at 3-3 with single runs in the bottom of the third and fourth innings. The Cardinals added a run in the fifth to take a 4-3 lead. Tipton tied the game at 4-4 with a run in the top of the sixth.
 Maquoketa would push four runs home in the bottom of the sixth to set the score at 8-4. Tipton rallied to score two runs in the top of the seventh and had the bases loaded with two outs, but could get no closer than the 8-6 final.
 Tipton had eleven hits in the game and had three players with multi-hit games. Nile Schuett was 3-for-4 with three singles and two runs scored. Cole Syring was 2-for-4 with two singles and two runs scored and Connor Hermiston was 2-for-4 with two singles, two RBI’s and a run scored. Kayden Rezac and Peyton Gaertner each had RBI’s. Gaertner, Caden Schmidt, Carter Hill, and Davis Webb had the other Tipton hits. Though he didn’t get a hit, senior Trent Pelzer reached base twice via walks and scored a run. The Tigers used a trio of pitchers in the game. Trent Pelzer got the start and went three innings. He gave up two runs on two hits and struck out one batter. Cole Syring pitched 2 ⅓ innings in relief and took the loss. Syring gave up six runs on five hits. Peyton Gaertner pitched the final ⅔ innings in relief.
Liam Aunan was the winning pitcher after six innings of work. He gave up four runs on with hits and struck out six Tipton batters. Jack Dostal pitched the final inning of the game and got the save despite giving up two Tiger runs on three hits.
 Maquoketa had had ten hits in the game. Hunter Manning was 3-for-4 with a RBI and two runs scored and Abe Michel was 2-for-3 to lead the Cardinals.

Early THS lead vanishes in loss

 CAMANCHE — The Camanche Indians rallied after the Tiger baseball team led early in the game, to take a 10-5 ball game. Tipton had eight hits to the nine from Camanche.
 Tipton scored the game’s first runs with three in the top of the first inning. The Tigers sent eight batters to the plate in the half inning. Cole Syring,
 Kael Jauron, and Connor Hermiston all reached base and scored for THS in the inning. Syring and Hermiston reached by walk and hit batsman while Jauron had the Tigers first hit in the game, a single. Camanche answered with four runs in the bottom of the first inning to take a 4-3 lead. Back came the Tigers. THS scored twice in the top of the second inning on a Nile Schuett RBI double that scored Trent Pelzer who had doubled with one-out. Cole Syring would score on an Indian error to give Tipton a 5-4 lead. Camanche tied the game at 5 in the bottom of the second inning and that score would stay until the fourth. In that inning, Camanche took control of the game, scoring four runs to break the tied game, and take a 9-5 lead. The Indians tacked on another run in the bottom of the fifth to set the score at its fina of 10-5.
 Tipton had eight hits in the game and had two players with multi-hit games. Caden Schmidt and Kael Jauron each had two hits. Schmidt had two RBI’s and Nile Schuett had a double and two RBI’s. Other Tipton hits came from Trent Pelzer, Cole Syring, and Kayden Rezac. Pelzer, Syring, Rezac and Braden Bartels all reached base by drawing a walk. Kayden Rezac started the game and went 3 ⅓ innings. He struck out three, walked two and gave up nine runs on five hits in taking the loss. Elliott Cummins pitched the final 2 ⅔ innings in relief. He gave up one run on three hits and walked one batter.
Camanche had ten hits in the game led by Caleb Delzell and Carter Christofferson who each had a pair of hits. Cade Everson had a home run and drove in four runs. Mason McManus was the winning pitcher after working five innings in relief. He struck out one, walked one and gave up three hits. Ethan Buckley started the game and pitched two innings in relief. He gave up five runs on five hits.

Tigers regular season comes to an end with three games

 TIPTON - The regular season is over for the Tipton Tigers and the postseason will be right around the corner. The Tigers lost their last three games of the regular season last week with losses to Camanche, state ranked Northeast, and at home against West Branch. The Tigers record sits at 4-11. Tipton will host Mid-Prairie Wednesday in the first round of the Class 3A regional tournament.
 The Tigers played West Branch tough for three innings before falling 8-0. The Bears scored only one run in the first three innings to take a 1-0 lead to the fourth. There, the Bears took command of the game, putting up seven runs in the inning to extend their lead to 8-0. That was more than enough runs for Bear starter Kiaya Luneckas. Luneckas pitched a no hitter in the game after collecting 16 strikeouts and walking two THS batters. She pitched all seven innings in the game. The Bears had 11 hits in the game with four players
with multi-hit games.
 Tipton avoided a Luneckas perfect game by getting two walks from Delaney Fitch. Fitch did have a stolen base in the game. Morgan Wendel took the loss after working seven innings. Wendel gave up eight runs on 11 hits and struck out three batters.
 West Branch was led at the plate by Nicki Henson who was 4-for-5 with four singles, 1 RBI and two runs scored. Lexi Klinkhammer had three hits including a double. Taylor Thein and Mackenzie Heise each had two RBI’s.

4th ranked Rebels Beat THS 12-0 In Three Innings
 GOOSE LAKE — The Tipton Tiger softball team had a tough task on Wednesday, July 8. There, they traveled to Goose Lake to play the No. 4 ranked Rebels on their home field. The Rebels came into the game 14-1 with their only loss at Class 3A state ranked Anamosa.
 It was senior night for the Rebels where they honored five seniors. The Rebels had 12 hits in the game and they had three players with multi-hit games. Bree Manglesen was 3-for-3 with three singles and a RBI while Valerie Spooner and Madison Kluever eadh had two hits and a RBI. Audrey Morris and Alyssa Pessman each had drove in two runs.
 Northeast nearly batted around twice in their batting order in the first inning and scored nine runs to take a 9-0 lead after the first inning. The Rebels had six hits in the inning and sent nine batters to the plate after having their lead-off batter fly out. The Rebels would not score runs in the second inning, but would score three runs in the third inning to end the game by the 12-runs after three innings mercy rule. Rebel starter Madison Kluever. Kluever struck out three Tiger batters over three innings of work. Delaney Fitch took the loss after giving up 12 runs on ten hits. She walked five batters.
 Tipton’s hits came from a pair of senior players in Britney Ford and Kamryn Chapman, both singles.

Indians Take Matchup With Tigers, 12-2
 CAMANCHE — The Tipton softball team began the week with a road game at Camanche on Monday, July 6. There, the Tigers fell 12-2 in a five inning game. Tipton held tough early, trailing only 1-0 after two innings, but a five-run third by Camanche set the Indians on their way with a 5-0 lead.
 Tipton scored both of their runs in the top of the fourth inning to get the score to 5-2, but back-to-back three-run innings in the fourth and fifth innings, gave Camanche a 12-2 lead. Tipton got lead-off batter Britney Ford on base in the top of the fourth with a lead-off single. She would score on an error when Delaney Fitch reached base. Fitch would later score in the inning on an error on a ball put in play by Grace Nichols.
 Camanche starter Tarah Wehde was the winning pitcher. Wehde kept the Tigers off balanced
the whole game, striking out 12 THS batters while giving up two runs on two hits over five innings. Tipton used two pitchers in the game. Morgan Wendel started and took the loss after 4 ⅓ innings of work. She struck out five and walked one. Wendel gave up 12 runs on ten hits. Madison Meier pitched as well.
 Tipton had two hits in the game. Those hits came from Britney Ford and Avary Calonder
who both had singles.
 Camanche had 13 hits in the game and had four players with multi hit games. Lauren Synder
and Jamie Roberston each had three hits and three RBI’s, while Tarah Wehde and Aubrey Carstensen each had two hits.

Golden Hawks rally late to slip by Wilton

 WELLMAN — The Wilton baseball team ended their week with a tough one-run loss, 7-6 at Mid-Prairie. The Beavers record slipped to 4-5-1 heading to the final week of the regular season. It was the second one-run loss in a week’s time for the Beavers.
 Wilton tied the game at 1-1 with their first run of the game in the third inning. A Chase Garvin RBI single scored Colby Sawvell for the run. Sawvell had led off the inning with a single. Wilton exploded
for four runs in the top of the fourth inning to take a 5-1 lead. Wilton batted around in their batting order in the inning. Three straight RBI hits accounted for the runs. A Gage Hagen RBI single, a Jackson Hull 2-run double and a Chase Garvin RBI single accounted for the runs.
 Mid-Prairie scored a run in the bottom of the fourth to set the score at 5-2. Each team scored a run in the fifth as the score stood at 6-3 Wilton, after five innings. Mid-Prairie would match the Beavers four-run fourth with a four-run sixth to take a 7-6 lead. The Golden Hawks would hang on to get the win, their second in a row over Wilton.
 The Beavers however, hold a 16-6 lead in the series with Mid-Prairie dating back to 2009.
 Jackson Hull started the game and took the loss after working five innings. Hull gave up seven runs on nine hits. Of those runs, only four were earned. Hull struck out five and walked three. Nolan Townsend pitched a scoreless sixth inning.
 Wilton had 11 hits in the game with three players with multi-hit games. Sophomore Nolan Townsend was 3-for-4 with two singles, a double and he scored a run. Gage Hagen and Jackson Hull added two hits each. Hagen and Jackson Hull each had two RBI’s and Chase Garvin had a RBI. Other Wilton hits came from Colby Sawvell, Chase Garvin, and Patrick Barszczewski.
 Mid-Prairie had 13 hits in the game and had four players with multi-hit games. Vinny Bowlin was 3-for-3 with a RBi while Brad Tornow, Kayden Reinier, and Monte Slabaugh each had two hits. Kayden Reinier started the game and went four innings. He stuck out two, walked two and gave up five runs on nine hits. Monte Slabaugh got the win after pitching the final three innings.

Beavers Fall To Camanche In Extra Innings, 4-3
 WILTON — The Wilton baseball team is learning along the way this summer with basically a new team. Last Monday, June 29, the Beavers fell in eight innings to a very good Camanche team at home.
Wilton scored single runs in the bottom of the second and third innings to take a 2-0 lead. Camanche
tied the game at 2 with single runs in the fifth and sixth inning. The game went to extra innings.
In the top of the eighth, Camanche pushed two runs across the plate for a 4-2 lead. Wilton would score once in the eighth to get within 4-3, but it wasn’t enough.
 Wilton had three hits in the game. Gage Hagen, Jackson Hull, and Patrick Barszczewski each had hits. Nolan Townsend took the loss after coming in to relieve starter Jackson Hull. Hull went 5 ⅓ innings and struck out four, walked six, and gave up two runs on two hits. Townsend gave up two runs on one-hit over the final 2 ⅔ innings. He struck out one and walked one.
 Logan Shaw got the win in relief of starter Brayden Lodge. Lodge started and went six innings.
He had four strikeouts, six walks and gave up two runs on one hit. Shaw pitched the final two innings and gave up one-run on one-hit. Three different Indians had hits in the game. Mike Delzell and Troy Edmunds each had RBI’s.

Wildcats go 4-0 to improve to 9-3

 DURANT — It was a fantastic week for the Durant Wildcat softball team with four wins in four games to improve to 9-3 on the season. Durant began the week with a 5-3 win over Monticello followed by a 7-0 win over Wilton and a 5-4 win over Camanche. The Wildcats beat Tipton 10-0 behind a Shannon Head no hitter for their fourth win on Friday, July 3.

Wildcats Survive Indian Comeback In 1-Run Win
 DURANT — The Durant softball team picked up a big one-run 5-4 win over Camanche on senior
night. The Wildcats won their third straight game.
 Neither team scored until the fourth inning when Durant pushed four runs across the plate to take a 4-0 lead after four innings. Durant added another run in the fifth to take a 5-0 lead. Camanche scored three runs in the sixth to pull within 5-3.
 Nicole Brown, Brooklyn Bullard, Ally Happ, Savanna Meinert, and Allie Poston each collected one hit to lead Durant. Shannon Head started and got the win after going 5 ⅔ innings. She struck out six and walked three batters. Kylie Schult came in and got the save after 1 ⅓ innings pitched in relief. She stuck out three batters.

Wildcats Shutout Beavers 7-0
DURANT — Two big innings helped Durant defeat rival Wilton on Tuesday, June 30, 7-0. Kylie Schult pitched a complete game shutout over the Beavers after giving up eight hits and striking out three. The Wildcats have won two straight games in the series.
Durant broke open a scoreless game with four runs in the bottom of the fourth. Durant added a single run in the fifth and two more runs in the sixth to set the score at 7-0.
Durant had 11 hits in the game with three players having multi-hit games. The Wildcats 3-5 hitters of Allie Poston, Kylie Schult, and Kira Schult, each had two hits and combined to go 6-for-11 with four RBI’s, and three runs scored. Other Durant hits came from Ally Happ, Savanna Meinert, Nicole Brown, Halle Collier, and Brooklyn Bullard.
 Wilton had seven hits in the game led by Chloe Wells who was 2-for-3 with two singles. Mallory Lange, Peyton Souhrada, Hayley Madlock, Emi Coss, and Grace Madlock each had hits. Mila Johnson took the loss after starting and going four innings. She gave up four runs on six hits and struck out three. Grace Madlock pitched the last two innings and gave up three runs on four hits.

Wildcats Begin Week With 5-3 Home Win Over Monticello
 MONTICELLO — The Durant Wildcats picked up a 5-3 win over Monticello on Monday, June 29 to begin a busy week. Shannon Head got the win after working six innings. She allowed three runs and struck out six batters.
 Durant led 3-0 after scoring three runs in the second inning. Monticello cut the Wildcat lead to 3-2 by the end of the fifth, but Durant scored twice in the sixth to hold Monticello at bay.
 Each team had nine hits in the game. Kira Schult was 3-for-4 with two doubles to lead Durant.
Kylie Schult had a double and Kira Schult and Allie Poston each had triples. Kylie Schult had 2 RBI’s while Brooklyn Bullard and Abbey Rhoades each had a hit and a RBI.

Head spins no hitter against Tipton

 DURANT — Durant starter Shannon Head had a great night in the pitching circle last Friday, July 3. The Wildcat hurler got a good start to the july 4th holiday weekend, tossing a no-hitter against visiting Tipton, as Durant beat the Tigers 10-0 in five innings. Head faced 16 batters in the game, missing a perfect game by only one batter. Head pitched five innings and got the Tigers to ground out six times and fly out three times. She struck out six batters and walked one. The only Tiger to reach base was Carly Langenburg in the top of the third when she drew a walk.
 The Wildcats won their ninth game of the season and capped off a 4-0 week of games. The Wildcats won their 22nd straight game over the Tigers dating back to June of 2009. In those wins, Durant has shut the Tigers out 14 times.
 The Wildcats scored runs in all but one of the innings played. Durant opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning. The Wildcats sent seven batters to the plate and scored four runs. All but one run was unearned. Ally Happ scored on a sac fly from Kylie Schult. Neither team scored in the second inning. Durant added to their lead in the bottom of the third inning, scoring four runs to extend their lead to 8-0 after three innings. Kylie Schult drove in two runs in the inning on a two-run single to score Happ and Allie Poston. Both Kylie Schult and Kira Schult would score later in the inning. Nicole Brown had a RBI in the inning.
 Durant scored single runs in each of hte fourth and fifth innings to push the score to its final at 10-0.
Kylie Schult led Durant at the plate going 2-for-2 with 4 RBI’s and a run scored. Brown had a hit and RBI and Savanna Meinert had a RBI in the game. Other Durant hits came from Abbey Rhoades, and Halle Collier.

6-run First Inning Sends Wildcats To 1-hit, 12-0 win in five innings over Tigers
 DURANT — The Durant baseball team had their way against Tipton last Friday in a 12-0, five-inning RVC win in a game between two Cedar County teams. The Wildcats improved to 6-4 with the win.
The Wildcats scored six runs in the first and added five more runs combined in the second and third innings to take a commanding 11-0 lead after three innings. The Wildcats added their last run in the bottom of the fourth inning to set the score at its final of 12-0.
Durant had ten hits in the game. Wildcat junior
 Nate Dierickx pitched a 1-hit shutout in the game and struck out seven batters. Drew DeLong
and Logan Callison led Durant in batting with two hits each.
 Kael Jauron had the only Tigers hit, a double. Two Tigers reached base via walks in Trent Pelzer
and Jauron. Jauron also had a stolen base in the game. Three Tipton pitchers saw time in the game between Cole Srying, Davis Webb, and Elliot Cummins. The trio combined to give up 12 runs on ten hits and walk eight batters.

Durant Wildcats win two of three games

 DURANT — The Durant baseball team won two of three games heading into their home game with Tipton last Friday. The Wildcats beat Monticello and Wilton before losing to Camanche on July 2.
Four-Run fourth inning enough for

Wildcat Win over Monticello
 MONTICELLO — The Durant Wildcats scored four runs in the top of the fourth inning to take a 4-3 lead over Monticello in their RVC game on Monday, June 29. That was enough runs to take the game, as Durant began a busy four-game week with a win.
 Durant had ten hits in the game with three players having multi-hit games. Ben Orr was 3-for-4 with a RBI while Keagan Head and Nolan DeLong each had two hits. Drew DeLong, Logan Callison, and Brendan Paper each had hits. Jake Willkomm, Drew and Nolan Delong each had RBI’s. Ben Orr was the winning pitcher after seven innings of work. He struck out nine and gave up three runs on four hits.
 The Wildcats batted around in the bottom of the fourth inning and took the lead 4-3 after the Panthers
led 3-0. Durant had RBI hits in succession from Nolan DeLong, Jake Willkomm, Drew Delong
and Ben Orr to score their four runs. The Wildcats had seven straight runners reach base with one-out in the inning.

Wildcats Get Win Over Wilton 6-1
 DURANT — The Durant Wildcats picked up a 6-1 win over rival Wilton on Tuesday, June 30 for their second win in a row. The win was the first over Wilton since the 2017 season. Wilton holds a 22-7 record over the Wildcats since the 2009 season.
 Wilton scored first with a run in the top of the third inning. Little did Wilton know was that it would be their only run in the game. Durant tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the third. Durant added another run in the fourth to take their first lead at 2-1 and used a 3-run fifth to take control of the game 5-1. The Wildcats tacked on a late run in the sixth to set the score at its final of 6-1.
 Durant had a dozen hits in the game with a trio players having multi-hit games. Jake Willkomm, Nolan DeLong and Logan Callison each had two hits. DeLong drove in two and Willkomm and Callison each had one RBI. Drew DeLong had a double while Keagan Head, Brendan Paper, Nate Dierickx, Logan Callison, and Aydin Flockhart each had hits.
 Wilton had seven hits in the game led by Jackson Hull who was 2-for-2 with a RBI. Gage Hagen also had a RBI in the game. Other Wilton hits came from Gage Rosenkild, Karson Willey, Nolan
Townsend, Caleb Sawvell, and Chase Garvin. Karson Willey took the loss after starting and going 5 ⅓ innings. He gave up six runs on 11 hits and struck out seven. Patrick Barszczewski pitched ⅔ innings in relief.
 

Wildcats Win Streak Snapped
 DURANT — The Camanche Indians spoiled the senior night for Durant with an 8-6 win on Thursday,
July 2 in Durant. The Indians grabbed the lead in the top of the fourth to take an 8-6 win.
 Mike Delzell and Logan Shaw combined to keep Durant off balanced. Delzell got the win, going four innings and striking out five. Shaw got the save after pitching three innings of relief and striking out three Wildcats. Camanche had ten hits in the game led by Tucker Dickherber who was 3-for-4 with two RBI’s and two runs scored. Mason Byrns and Brayden Lodge each had two hits.
 Durant had 15 hits led by Nolan DeLong who was 3-for-4 with two RBI’s and two runs scored. Drew DeLong, Ben Orr, Keagan Head, Brendan Paper, and Lucas Callison each had two hits. Brendan Paper took the loss after working four innings and striking out eight batters. Drew DeLong pitched the final three innings in relief.
 Camanche fell behind 3-0 after three innings. The Wildcats scored two runs in the third to extend
their 1-0 lead. Camanche wiped out the Durant lead with a 5-run fourth to take a 5-3 lead. The Indians scored twice more in the fifth to take a 7-3 lead. The Wildcats would outscore the Indians
3-1 in the final two innings, but could get no closer than the two-run difference on the scoreboard
after seven innings.

Knights Capture First Win, 13-2

 LOWDEN — It took seven games, but North Cedar has won a game in softball this summer. The Knights have displayed better play each game out, but a win has eluded them. Not this time. The Knights scored runs early and kept them coming in a 13-2, six-inning win at home on Thursday, July 2.
North Cedar had 16 hits in the game that led to 13 runs. The Knights scored four runs in the first inning to lead 4-0. North Cedar doubled their 5-1 lead in the fourth inning when they scored five runs. The Knights extended their 10-2 lead in the bottom of the sixth, ending the game by the 10-run mercy rule, by scoring three runs.
 Kendall Smith was the winning pitcher after working six innings. She struck out six and walked no Bellevue batters. She gave up six hits and two runs.
 North Cedar had six players with multi-hit games. Kassidie Galloway and Emma Boleyn each had three hits. Smith, Carly Meier, Alyssa Hefflefinger, and Jenna Syring each had two hits. Kayla Srying had three RBI’s while Meier and Jenna Syring each had two RBI’s. Smith, Hefflefinger,
and Boleyn each had RBI’s.
 

Indians Erase Early North Cedar lead in 10-3 win
 CAMANCHE — The North Cedar Knight softball team put a scare into the Camanche Indians last Wednesday, scoring two first inning runs, however, the Indians came roaring back and beat the Knights 10-3.
 North Cedar scored twice in the first inning to take a 2-0 lead. The Knights sent five batters to the plate in the inning. Kassidie Galloway drew a lead-off walk to start the game. Then Kayla Syring
smashed a two-run home run to give North Cedar a 2-0 lead.
 The Indians grabbed a 4-2 lead after a 4-run third inning. The Indians kept the runs coming, scoring four more runs in the fourth and two in the fifth to push their lead to 10-2. The Knights scored their last run in the top of the seventh. Jenna Syring led off the seventh inning with a triple
and scored the Knights run shortly after that.
 Alyssa Hefflefinger took the loss in the game after working six innings and giving up ten runs on twelve hits. She struck out six and walked four. The Knights had four hits in the game and had two extra base hits. Jenna Syring had a triple while Kayla Syring had a home run and two RBI’s. Hefflefinger and Kendall Smith each had hits in the game. Kassidie Galloway also reached base via a walk.
 

Knights Begin Week At Regina
 IOWA CITY — The North Cedar Knight softball team hung in early in their game at Iowa City Regina
on Monday, June 29, but fell 8-0 when the dust had settled. The Knights had only one-hit off of Regina starting pitcher Jaelynn Ernst.
 Ernst pitched all seven innings and struck out six batters. Emma Sueppel was 3-for-4 with three RBI’s and two runs scored to lead the Regals 10-hit attack.
 Kendall Smith took the loss after working six innings. She gave up eight runs, five of which were earned, struck out five, and walked four batters. Jenna Syring had the only North Cedar hit and Alyssa Hefflefinger also reached base via a walk.
 Regina scored the game’s first run in the bottom of the first inning. That score stood until the Regals
extended their lead to 3-0 with a 2-run third. The Regals led 4-0 after five innings and put the game away with a 4-run bottom of the sixth.

Knights End Week With Road Loss At State Ranked Anamosa
ANAMOSA — The North Cedar softball team had a tough game at Class 3A No. 9 Anamosa. The Knights struggled to get a hit in the game, collecting
just one in a 10-0 loss in five innings.
 Anamosa broke open a 2-0 game with an 8-run bottom of the fourth. The Raiders had six hits and North Cedar had five defensive errors in the loss.
 Alyssa Hefflefinger had the only Knight hit and Emma Boleyn reached base via a walk. Hefflefinger
took the loss after working four innings and giving up ten runs on six hits. She struck out four and walked three batters.