HAWKS HOST DISTRICT

EG Falls at Madrid, 5-3

Madrid got by East Greene 5-3 in the final regular season game in Madrid on Thursday night. The loss dropped the Hawks to 7-11 in the West Central Conference, where they finished seventh. EG takes an overall record of 10-14 in tonight’s opening round district game against Southeast Webster-Grand in Rippey.

Tom Beger and Brock Lyons were on the mound for the Hawks at Madrid, giving up 10 hits, 2 walks, advancing 1 hit batter and striking out 3. Brock Hinkel got the win for the Tigers. He struck out 8, walked 3 and gave up 3 hits.

Bradlee Clark led the charge offensively, going 2-for-3 and batting in all three EG runs. Tyler Cooklin rounded out the hitting with a double.

Des Moines Christian and Panorama clinched a tie for the West Central championship on Thursday night and Coon Rapids-Bayard had the chance to make it a three-way finish at the top, but the Crusaders fell at Van Meter, 4-3, in a makeup game on Friday. It was payback for the Bulldogs as CRB had quashed their title hopes, beating them in Coon Rapids on Tuesday.

2009 West Central Conference Baseball
Des Moines Christian 14-4 18-8
Panorama 14-4 16-4
Coon Rapids-Bayard 13-5 23-6
Earlham 13-5 18-7
Van Meter 11-7 16-13
Madrid 10-8 14-11
East Greene 7-11 10-14
West Central Valley 5-13 6-20
Glidden-Ralston 3-15 5-19
Guthrie Center 0-18 1-24

DISTRICT PREVIEW: The spotlight shines on Rippey tonight as four teams square off in the first two rounds of district play at Walt Anderson Field. Madrid (14-11) takes on Glidden-Ralston (5-19) in the opener at 5 p.m. with East Greene taking on Southeast Webster-Grand (4-19) in the nightcap at 7 p.m.

Tonight’s winners meet in the semifinal game on Thursday at 7 p.m. The winner on Thursday advances to the district final in Ames at 7 p.m. on Saturday where they face the winner of the lower bracket of District 12 at Ackley. Facing off in Ackley tonight are GMG of Garwin (10-14) and Colo-Nesco (1-21) in the opener followed by the host school, Ackley-Geneva/Wellsburg-Steamboat Rock (4-13) and Northeast Hamilton (14-10).

The Ames winner moves on to the one-game substate championship and the winner there advances on to the State Class 1A tournament in Des Moines. The substate game is Tuesday, July 21, at 7 p.m. in Ankeny.

EYE ON GJ SAYS: Madrid has to be the favorite in the Rippey bracket as it has downed the Hawks twice this season, the first win coming in Rippey, 14-3, on June 8. The Hawks did show big improvement though in their second go at the Tigers, losing by just two runs in their Friday game at Madrid.

EG must first get by Southeast Webster-Grand, a team they beat 3-2 in Rippey in the third game of the season. SWG finished 4-19 and 2-8 in the Twin Lakes Conference, but that is a bit deceiving as the other five TLC teams play in Class 2A. EG, though, played a demanding 18-game conference schedule in a conference with four 2A teams. EG will definitely need to bring its “A” game to get by the Eagles and move on to the semifinal round.

Madrid should take care of GR pretty easily as they’ve downed the Wildcats twice already this season, 16-1 and 10-2. Should EG get by SWG, the Hawks would have a home field advantage in their third go-round against Madrid.

Northeast Hamilton seems to be the team-to-beat in the Ackley bracket as they are 14-10 and the only team with a winning record.

Whichever team makes it to Ames and then advances on to Ankeny will face the winner of the powerful Martensdale-St. Mary’s district winner. The top half of the bracket at Bussey has Southeast Warren (Liberty Center) taking on Melcher-Dallas and the host school, Twin Cedars, facing Grandview Park Baptist, a team that made it to state last year.

The lower bracket has host Martensdale-St. Mary’s (23-10), a longtime power in state 1A baseball, taking on Iowa Christian Academy (16-2), champions of the Rolling Hills Conference in the nightcap. West Central rivals Van Meter and Earlham square off in the first game. Earlham (18-7) just missed tying for the league crown with 2A schools DMC and Panorama, while Van Meter (17-13) is a major force. Van Meter, who won the state title in 2003, will looking to make amends from last year, when after tying for the league crown with CRB, DMC and Panorama and having 21 total wins to its credit, was bounced out in the first round by Guthrie Center, a team that finished eighth in the conference.

The winner of this district will clearly be the favorite in the substate battle at Ankeny next Tuesday.

CLASS 2-A UPDATE: Three of the four Class 2A West Central teams advanced in 2A opening round district action on Saturday. The fourth team, Guthrie Center, was sidelined by conference foe West Central Valley, 8-2 in Guthrie Center. Panorama pummeled Nodaway Valley of Greenfield, 17-2 in 5 innings, in the second half of a doubleheader in Guthrie. WCV and Panorama face off tonight, also in Guthrie. Des Moines Christian got by Colfax Mingo, 8-6, and advances on to play Bondurant-Farrar. Ogden opened 2A play at home with a 5-2 win over Prairie Valley. Jefferson-Scranton also played at Ogden, but was dispatched in 5 innings by Woodward-Granger, 12-2. The Rams ended the season at 10-14. Perry and Boone open 3A tourney play on Friday.