Wildcats Season Ends At State In Heartbreak

 DES MOINES — The Durant Wildcat baseball team returned to the state baseball tournament
for the first time since 2003 on July 27. There, the Wildcats faced 2019 Class 2A state runner-up North Linn in one of four state quarterfinals. The Lynx pushed two runs across the plate in the bottom
of the seventh inning to slide past the Wildcats 2-1 and advance. Durant ended the season with a record of 12-5.
 The Wildcats did not play as the underdog in the game and on the big stage of the state tournament, did not seem overmatched. The Wildcats got another quality start from junior ace Nate Dierickx in the game, but the Lynx were able to scoot by.
 The game proved to be a pitcher’s duel between Dierickx and Lynx sophomore Austin Hilmer. Both unbeaten this year pitching going into the game (Dierickx 6-0 and Hilmer 8-0), the duo gave fans every bit of their price they paid for their ticket to the game. Dierickx gave up two hits in the first five innings including allowing no hits in three consecutive innings (2nd-4th innings).
 Dierickx struck out five of his seven strikeouts in the game in the first five innings. Hilmer was equally impressive in the first five innings, allowing one-run as he struck out three Wildcat batters.
Hilmer improved to 9-0 with the win. He needed 110 pitches and went seven innings. He gave up one run, struck out six, and walked only one batter.
 Dierickx took the loss, his first of the season, after working 6 ⅔ innings. He gave up just his second and third unearned runs of the season while striking out seven and walking five Lynx batters including beaning three North Linn batters. Dierickx finishes the season 6-1 and needed 108 pitches.
 Durant had only two hits in the game a single by Brendan Paper and a double by Logan Callison that drove in the only Durant run. Durant left five baserunners on base. North Linn had only five hits in the game by just three players. The top-2 batters for the Lynx - Austin Hilmer and Parker Bechen - each had two hits in four at-bats and drove in a run. Cael Bridgewater had the other North Linn hit and scored a run. Jarin Peyton also scored a run for North Linn.
 Durant came into the game as the No. 7 seed of eight teams in the Class 2A field while North Linn was the No. 2 ranked team in 2A and thus the No. 2 seed at state. The Lynx were 18-2 while Durant was 12-4 before the game.
 Durant sent a message to the higher seeded Lynx in the opening inning, scoring the game’s first run. Drew DeLong reached base on a one-out Lynx error. Ben Orr followed with a routine fly out that turned out to be anything but routine. The Lynx outfielder botched the play for an error and DeLong advanced. Then Logan Callison smacked a double down the left field line scoring DeLong and advancing Orr to third all with one out. Hilmer however, settled down, striking out Aydin Flockhart for the second out and getting Brendan Paper to pop out, stranding two runners in scoring position.
 Dierickx mowed through the Lynx lineup in the first innings of the game, giving up only one hit early. In the third inning, Hilmer led off the Lynx inning with a ground out followed by Parker Bechen grounding out for two quick outs. Lucas Voss walked and Nathan McEnay was hit by a pitch to put two runners on base, one in scoring position. Then, the play of the game to that moment happened.
A deep fly out by Lynx catcher Alex Sturbaum was snagged at the last second by Flockhart, saving one run for sure that would have tied the game at 1-1, and likely two runs, as the ball was closer to the warning track than the infield. Durant however, could not get much else going offensively against Hilmer. In the Wildcats third-sixth innings, Durant had no hits and only two baserunners.
Durant came up with another solid defensive play in the bottom of the fifth inning. North Linn advanced Austin Hilmer to third base with one out, putting the tying run close to home. Parker Bechen then hit into a fielder’s choice and Hilmer got caught in a rundown. Hilmer was tagged out in the run down for the second out, and Durant was able to get Bechen out trying to take third base for a double
play to end the inning.
 The score stayed at 1-0 Durant until the bottom of the seventh. After an 11-pitch at bat by lead-off batter Corbin Woods, Tate Collum pinch ran for him. Collum however, strayed too far off of first base and was caught in a rundown, and ultimately tagged out by Drew DeLong for out No. 1. Cael Bridgewater reached on a one-out single and Jarin Peyton was hit by a pitch to put runners at first and second with one out. Dierickx got Ben Wheatley to fly out for the second out of the inning. That brought up Austin Hilmer. Hilmer singled in Bridgewater to tie the game at 1-1 and Peyton
advanced to third. Parker Bechen then singled home Peyton with the winning run.
Durant will graduate a senior class of seven from this year’s state team. They are Jason Arp, Jake Willkomm, Drew DeLong, Brendan Paper, Nathan Hultquist, Lucas Callison, and Logan Callison. The Wildcats will return five starters next year in left fielder Aydin Flockhart, right fielder Nolan DeLong, third baseman Ben Orr, shortstop Ethan Gast, and pitcher Nate Dierickx.
 The Class 2A field had five of the eight state qualifying teams ranked in the final Class 2A rankings. The top-3 ranked teams of No. 1 Van Meter, No. 2 North Linn, No. 3 Dike-New Hartford were the headliners. Unranked Durant was joined by Des Moines Christian and Treynor in the field and also unranked.
 Top-ranked Van Meter won the Class 2A state title 6-0 over unranked Des Moines Christian. Des Moines Christian’s Cinderella season ended with a runner-up finish after upsetting No. 3 Dike-New Hartford 2-1 in ten innings in the quarterfinal and No. 2 North LInn 4-2 in eight innings in the semifinals. Van Meter won their second straight state title, winning back-to-back titles and winning the third championship in school history.
 The state baseball tournament attendance was the highest since 2014, all amid a global pandemic and safety protocols for the safety of fans. The total attendance for the week was 29, 904 people. The record for state baseball tournament attendance is 35,095 set in 2013.