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| 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 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
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