Hawks Face Ar-We-Va in Denison

WINNER ADVANCES TO STATE; GAME ON KKRL 95.7

East Greene takes on Ar-We-Va (Westside) tonight in the substate championship in Denison with the winner advancing to the Class 1A State Baseball Tournament next week at Principal Park in Des Moines. Start time is 7 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on station KRRL of Carroll, 93.7 FM via live Internet streaming at www.1380kcim.com.

East Greene goes into the game as champions of District 15, after beating Southeast-Webster Grand, Coon Rapids-Bayard and No. 4 Elk Horn-Kimballton/Exira. The Hawks are 19-11 and finished fifth in the 10-team West Central Conference with an 8-9 record. The Hawks finished a game behind Earlham (9-8). EG got a win over Earlham earlier in the season but their home-and-home rematch was rained out. If EG had played that game and won, they would have tied the Cardinals at 9-9 and finished fourth in the league. Coon Rapids-Bayard and Woodward-Granger won the conference with 17-1 records and Des Moines Christian finished third. All three of those teams are 1A schools, which gave the 1A teams four of the top 5 places in the 10-team conference, which was evenly divided this year with five teams each in 1A and 2A.

Woodward-Granger fell to top ranked Martensdale-St. Mary’s 4-2 in Madrid on Saturday night. MSt.M (39-0) takes on HLV (Victor) (20-3) in the Substate 5 Championship tonight at Dowling High School in West Des Moines.

Ar-We-Va brings a 12-13 record into the EG matchup. Ar-We-Va beat Charter Oak-Ute, Woodbine and Woodbury Central (Moville) to win the District 16 championship.
The Rockets finished sixth in the nine-team Western Valley South Conference with a 7-9 mark. Three of the nine teams in the WVS are 2A schools, and 2A Logan-Magnolia took the title with a 15-1 mark. The other 2A schools are IKM-Manning and West Monona (Moorhead).

Western Valley South Conference
Logan-Magnolia 15-1
West Harrison (Mondamin) 13-3
IKM-Manning 13-3
Woodbine 9-7
West Monona (Onawa) 10-8
Ar-We-Va (Westside) 7-9
Boyer Valley (Dunlap) 4-12
Charter Oak-Ute 1-15
Whiting 1-15

Ar-We-Va and EG had two mutual opponents this past season, Earlham and Glidden-Ralston. Earlham beat the Rockets 9-6 and Glidden-Ralston beat them 7-4. GR and Ar-We-Va faced each other again in the consolation game of GR’s four-team tournament on July 3 with the two teams ending the game in a 7-7 stalemate when it was ended due to rain. That game goes into the record books as a non-completed game and is not included in either team’s season record.

EG advanced with a big 8-5 upset of undefeated EHKE. The Spartan’s ace hurler Carson Smith struck out 15 Hawks but he gave up six hits and walked five.

“He didn’t have his good stuff and everything was flat,” EHKE coach Tony Peterson told the Atlantic News Telegraph. “And they were ready from the beginning.”

Three Hawks got key extra base hits off Smith. Tom Beger lead the Hawk barrage with a home run in the sixth inning that drove in two runs. Jessie Priest had a two-run triple in the first and Reed Ostrander slammed an RBI double.

Wes Onken started on the mound but was beaned accidentally in the helmet while batting. Through three innings he gave up three runs on four hits, walked two, hit one batter, had one wild pitch, and struck out three. Tyler Cooklin came on in relief to start the fourth inning and pitched the rest of the way, giving up two runs on two hits, one hit batter, four walks and striking out seven.

Aaron Lyons came through with another key defensive play when he nabbed a running catch in the sixth inning.

Ar-We-Va beat Woodbury Central in Moville 3-2 on Saturday night to take the District 16 title. Ryan Schurke got the win, giving up six hits, three walks and striking out six.

EYE ON GJ SAYS: These two schools are pretty familiar with each other as they square off in 8-man football each season and run in many of the same track meets in the spring. The last two seasons Ar-We-Va has been a non-conference football opponent but in previous years both teams were in District 2 along with Glidden-Ralston and Coon Rapids-Bayard. These same four teams will be reunited again this fall in District 7, where EG has played the last two seasons. Other schools in the 8-team district are Walnut, a holdover along with EG, GR and CRB from the D7 the last two seasons and Western Valley South members Charter Oak-Ute, Woodbine and Boyer Valley.

Hopefully all the beatings EG has taken on the gridiron from the Rockets will be enough of a motivating factor for the Hawks on the diamond tonight. Interestingly, Denison is on the other side of the three towns on Highway 30 that makeup the AWV district—Arcadia, Westside and Vail—so hopefully driving through this “Rocket territory” will get the Hawks extra-psyched by the time they reach the field in Denison. This will truly be a “Battle of the Lincoln” (Highway) as both schools are located in towns on the original Lincoln Highway as is Denison, site of the substate championship game.

EG rolled into last year’s substate game with a “losing” record (13-14) so they will not be taking the Rockets lightly. Their big wins over CRB and EHEK are of no consequence now because if the Hawks want to head back to the Principal they will need to put all their focus and intensity in beating the Rockets—the standard one game at a time clearly applies here.

Hawks Take District Title Over EHKE, 8-5

FACE AR-WE-VA TUESAY IN SUBSTATE

East Greene continues to march forward to another berth in the Class 1A State Tournament, upending Elk Horn Kimballton/Exira tonight 8-5 in the district championship game in Coon Rapids. EHKE was the state's No. 4 ranked team in 1A and undefeated in 26 games before running into "Green Machine" tonight. EHKE bows out at 26-1.

The Hawks take a 19-11 record into Tuesday's substate championship game in Denison against Ar-We-Va (Westside). The Rockets (12-13) advanced to substate with a 3-2 win over Woodbury Central in Moville. Woodbury Central bowed out with a 10-11 season record.

Hawks Bag Big Win Over CRB

ADVANCE TO DISTRICT FINALS AGAINST EHKE

A big 3-1 win over Coon Rapids-Bayard in the district baseball semifinals in Coon Rapids Thursday has sent East Greene to the district championship game tonight against fourth-ranked Elk Horn-Kimballton/Exira. Game time is 7 p.m. in Coon Rapids.

The winner advances to Tuesday night’s substate championship game in Denison to play for a spot in the Class 1A State Tournament at Principal Park in Des Moines. The Hawks advanced to State last year winning the district in Ames and the substate in Ankeny.

EG was a solid underdog in the game as they had fallen to CRB—co-champs of the West Central Conference—by a 5-2 score earlier in the season and then 17-6 in a game shortened to 6 innings by the 10-run rule last Friday in Rippey. That win gave the Crusaders a share of the conference title with Woodward-Granger as both teams ended league play with glossy 17-1 marks.

EG had compiled a less than stellar 8-9 league mark for fifth place, so the home fans at Crusader Field on Thursday night most likely thought the semifinal game with EG was a just stepping stone to a big CRB showdown with undefeated EHKE two nights later.

The Hawks had other ideas.

They struck quickly in the top of the first frame as Tom Beger walked and Aaron Lyons singled. A single by the next Hawk batter, Tyler Cooklin, scored Beger putting the Hawks up 1-0. When CRB pitcher Brett Carstens then threw three straight balls to Wes Onken, veteran Crusader Coach John Waddle pulled Carstens and put Gage Reis on the mound. Reis, in turn, threw a ball and Onken was on his way to first, loading the bases for EG.

Onken was then picked off at first, but Jessie Priest walked to load the bases again. Josh Neese struck out and Zach Dearborn hit one to the 2nd baseman who threw him out at first, ending the inning. EG stranded three base runners and squandered some scoring opportunities--a situation that hampered both teams throughout the game.

CRB got on the board in the bottom of the inning to knot the score at one. Leadoff batter Jacob Esdohr rapped a single off Cooklin and then stole second. Cooklin walked Carstens, and then Esdohr stole third, putting runners at the corners. Schwartz struck out but Carstens stole second. Tyler Boeke struck out, but then Gage Reis singled to center field sending Esdohr across the plate to knot the score at 1-1. Carstens rounded third and was headed to home plate but a terrific throw from Lyons in center field to catcher Tory Beger nailed him at the plate, snuffing out the rally and ending the inning.

Both teams got on base in the second inning and each stranded two runners. In the third inning, a single by Zach Dearborn sent Neese to third base with two outs, but a short chopper to the shortstop by Zach Beyerink ended the threat. CRB advanced a runner to second with just one out, but two quick outs left the game tied at 1-1 after three innings. At that point, EG had 5 hits and stranded 7 runners, but had scored just the 1 run. CRB had left 4 runners on base.

Reis bore down in the top of the fourth and the Hawks went down in order. The Crusaders threatened in the bottom of the inning on a walk to Michael Schwenk followed by a single from Caylor Deeth with just one out. But a great catch of a popup near the first base line by second baseman Alex Gordon and then a shot hit right to Neese at third base ended the threat.

Cooklin got things going for the Hawks in the fifth with a leadoff single up the middle. Onken’s infield popup was the first out, but a balk on Reis sent Cooklin to second base. Jessie Priest struck out for the second out of the inning, but Neese then smashed a line drive to left field which turned into an RBI double as Cooklin scored putting the Hawks up 2-1. A dribbler by Dearborn to the first baseman ended the inning.

Cooklin was firing on all cylinders in the bottom of the inning, striking out Carstens and Boeke with Schwartz lining one to Neese sandwiched between the strikeouts, putting down the Crusaders 1-2-3.

EG threatened again in the sixth as Reis walked the first batter, Ostrander, and then was taken out by Waddle and replace by Boeke. CRB had now rolled out all three of its top pitchers and Waddle, who entered the game with 507 career victories—all earned in Coon Rapids—was looking for a way to contain the Hawks. The three pitchers had an accumulated record of 19-2 and Reis was credited with two saves and Boeke one as CRB had rolled up 26 victories coming into the semifinal game with EG. Gordon then got a bunt off of Boeke and the throw from third to first was wide, leaving Gordon safe at first and advancing Ostrander to third. Pinch runner T. J. Lint came in for Gordon but second baseman Brendan McAlister turned a short chopper by Tom Beger into a double play. Ostrander was still a threat on third, but Lyons struck out, leaving another runner stranded in scoring position.

Cooklin picked up right where he left off from the fifth inning, striking out Reis and Zach Imler to open the sixth, giving him three strikeouts in a row. A walk to Schwenk was followed by a pop up from Deeth—sending the Hawks into the 7th inning with a 1-run lead and the hint of a possible upset.

Again, Cooklin came to the fore, this time slamming a double down the right field line as the leadoff batter, giving him a hit off of each of the three Crusader pitchers. Onken’s sacrifice bunt moved Cooklin to third, and Priest walked to put runners on first and third. Neese was intentionally walked which loaded the bases. Dearborn then hit a line drive single into the outfield, sending Cooklin home and the Hawks were up 3-1 with just 1 out and the bases still loaded. Ostrander then struck out and Alex Gordon lined out to the shortstop, giving the Hawks a key run but stranding three runners.

The pressure was on Cooklin, who walked the first batter, McAlister. Esdohr hit into a fielder’s choice which put him on first with one out, but Cooklin got Carstens to strike out for CRB’s second out and their chances fading. Esdohr advanced to second on a passed ball and Schwartz walked so CRB’s fortunes were improving, and then Cooklin hit Boeke with a pitch that loaded the bases.

Gage Reis came to the plate and got ahead of the count 1-0. He took a strike but then another ball had him up 2-1. Another ball made things tense for the Hawks but Reis hit a foul behind the bleachers to make it a full count, 3-2. Cooklin then got one right across the plate with Reis looking as the called strike ended the game, and EG was on its way to the district finals.

Cooklin had an amazing game, going 3-4 with an RBI and scoring 2 runs. On the mound, he threw 11 strikeouts, walked seven and held the Crusaders to just 3 hits. Carstens, Boeke and Reis allowed the Hawks 9 hits, walked 7 and struck out 6.

Dearborn had two singles and a RBI, Neese had a double and a RBI, and Lyons, Tom Beger and Dearborn each hit key singles.

EG heads to the final with an 18-11 record to face EHKE, champions of the Rolling Hills Conference. The Spartans blasted CAM (Anita), another RH member, 15-0 in 5 innings in the other district semifinal game in Adair. The win ran up EHKE’s season record to 26-0. CAM ended the year at 4-15.

CRB’s loss ended its season at 26-7.

The EG vs. EHKE winner (District 15) will face the winner of District 16 in the Substate 8 championship. Ar-We-Va (Westside) takes on Woodbury Central (Moville) tonight in Moville in the District 16 title game. Both teams are in the Western Valley Conference. Ar-We-Va (11-13) finished sixth in the Western Valley South (nine teams) at 7-9 and Woodbury Central (10-10) went 7-9 for fifth place in the Western Valley North (eight teams).

EYE ON GJ SAYS: EHKE is indeed a formidable opponent. There is no arguing with a 26-0 record and in conference play the Spartans dispensed 8 of their 12 opponents in games shortened by the 10-run rule.

But what EG brought to the diamond on Thursday night, they can bring again. EG is a defending state tournament qualifier and this same team has faced down the pressures of a championship district game and a championship substate game. EG is very familiar with the CR diamond too, having faced off there against the Crusaders every year since first joining the West Central in 1997 and in many years facing competition in the districts held at Coon Rapids.

EHKE’s pitching chores have been handled all season by three senior pitchers: Carson Smith (11-0), Travis Stevens (8-0) and Nolan Himmelberg (7-0). Himmelberg picked up his seventh win against CAM on Thursday, throwing a one-hitter. Smith got things moving for the offense, blasting a three-run homer in the top of the first. EHEK had 15 hits on the night.

Those are lofty marks, but EG shut down all three of CRB’s pitchers on Thursday who brought a collective 19-2 mark into the game. CRB and EG each play a tougher conference schedule—18 games against 1A and 2A teams while EHKE plays 12 games against 1A teams.

EG and EHKE both faced the same six teams—two in the Rolling Hills and four in the West Central. EHKE beat Earlham 4-3 and EG beat them 5-3. The Spartans downed Panorama 12-2 while EG split with the Panthers, winning 9-4 and losing 12-8. EHKE beat Guthrie Center 10-0; EG beat Guthrie 6-0 and 8-7. As noted, EG earlier lost two games to CRB but on Thursday rectified that in a big way in the semifinal matchup, 3-1. EHKE beat CRB 6-3 on June 9.

The Spartans clearly took it to the second- and third-place finishers in the Rolling Hills, thumping Iowa Christian 10-5 and 18-0 and drubbing GR 9-2 and 18-0. EG also faced those two teams in non-conference action, beating ICA 4-2 on its home field in Waukee and posting a 13-7 win over GR in Rippey in early June.

It looks like coach Dana Fink has the Hawks peaking at just the right time, as noted by their solid play against CRB. The Hawks weren’t sharp against winless Southeast Webster-Grand on Tuesday, as that game was deadlocked at 1-1 well into the later innings, but they came back strong and picked up one of their biggest wins over the Crusaders two nights later.

Area Students on ISU Dean's List

SHAW, NUNEZ LAUDED FOR ACADEMIC EFFORT

Rebecca Shaw, Grand Junction, a chemical engineering major, and Yadira Perez Nunez, Rippey, a psychology major, were named to the dean's list at Iowa State University for the 2010 spring semester.

Students on the dean's list earned at least a 3.5 grade point average while carrying a minimum of 12 credit hours for the semester.

New Arrival: Emmie Walker

BABY GIRL BORN TO PHIL WALKER, EBBAN CLAUSE

Emmie Marie Clause Walker, daughter of Philip Walker and Ebban Clause, was born June 24 in Geneva, Switzerland.

Grandparents are Reg and Mary Clause of Jefferson and Robert and Rosaleen Walker of Vaud, Switzerland. Great-grandparents are Roger and Dorothy Clause of Grand Junction.

Grow Graduates from Simpson

DEGREES CONFERRED IN MAY 22 COMMENCEMENT

Kelly Grow of Rippey graduated from Simpson College in Indianola on May 22.

Other area students conferred degrees in commencement ceremonies at Simpson include Marcy Baker and Kristin Simpson, Jefferson; Mary Richards, Jamaica; and Amanda Esdohr, Jesse Reis and Courtney Davis, Coon Rapids.

Hawkettes Fall to SWG in Regional

FIRST ROUND LOSS ENDS SEASON AT 6-15

Southeast Webster-Grand ended the Hawkettes’ softball season last Wednesday, July 7, with a 10-6 victory in the first round of regional action in Ogden.

SWG jumped out to 9-1 lead but EG came back with a big 5-run rally in the bottom of the sixth to move within three runs. But SWG added a run in the top of the 7th and EG came up empty in the bottom of the inning to end its season at 6-15.

It was the last appearance in an EG uniform for all-sport standout Malarie Gilley, who graduated in May along with teammate Heidi Kiner. Gilley closed out her EG career in fine style with a solo home run in the fourth inning. Gilley was the losing pitcher, giving up 12 hits and 5 walks while striking out three. Gilley’s homer was part of a 9-hit attack by the Hawkettes. Tia Lowe had a double and single and Emily Jacobsen had two singles.

SWG advanced to the quarterfinal round in Glidden on Friday to face Glidden-Ralston, a 2-1 winner over Ar-We-Va (Westside). GR was the only Rolling Hills Conference team to make it past the first round in regional action on Wednesday. Elk Horn-Kimballton/Exira, which rolled to the league title with a 10-0 mark and was 19-9 overall, was sidelined by AHST (Avoca), 9-5.

SWG rolled over the Wildcats 11-0 in five innings Friday, which put SWG in the semifinal round opposite Newell-Fonda, ranked second in the state. The Eagles put up a good fight but were eliminated 11-6. Newell-Fonda went on to claim the regional championship over No. 11 Alta, 6-5, advancing on the state tournament next week in Fort Dodge. Newell-Fonda was the runner-up last year to Earlham, the 2009 West Central Champion. Earlham was moved up to Class 2A this year and was eliminated 12-0 in the quarterfinal round by No. 10 Interstate 35 (Truro).

Woodward-Granger, winner of the West Central Conference, also advanced to state in 1A with a 2-0 win over Treynor that was called after 5 innings because of rain. Fourth-ranked Woodward-Granger (33-4) will face fifth-ranked Martensdale-St. Mary’s (27-6) on Monday. Like Newell-Fonda, MSt.M is also a repeater from last year’s tournament, finishing in third place.

EYE ON GJ SAYS: The folks who do the rankings at the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union (IGHSAU) really know their 1A softball! The eight teams that qualified for the state tournament were ranked 1 through 8 in the final softball poll released by the IGHSAU on July 1, a week before tourney action got underway on Wednesday, July 7. The eight teams, ranked in order, are: Akron-Westfield, Newell-Fonda, North Butler, Woodward-Granger, Martensdale-St. Mary’s, Preston, North Sentral Kossuth and Lynville-Sully. This made the first round matchups pretty simple as the teams are seeded 1 vs. 8, 4 vs. 5, 6 vs. 3, and 2 vs. 7.

Madrid and Van Meter were the only other West Central teams to make deep runs in the tourney. Van Meter advanced to the semifinal round in 1A before falling to Newman (Mason City). After disposing of Earlham, Interstate 35 went on to beat No. 13 Van Meter, 4-2, on the Bulldogs’ home diamond.

East Greene showed great improvement throughout this season, posting big wins over Des Moines Christian and sweeping both Coon Rapids-Bayard and West Central Valley, teams it had trouble with in past seasons. EG—smallest school in the West Central by far—finished in eighth place with a 5-13 record and was very close to tying Guthrie Center for seventh. EG had finished in the league cellar the last two seasons.

The Hawkettes will miss the fine contribution from Gilley and Kiner, but the showing of five eighth graders on the squad this year holds great promise for future EG softball success. The four returning juniors—Lowe, Molly Neese, Katlynn Gannon and Jasmine Kinney—and the five 8th graders—Jacobsen, Allie Stoline, Shelby Cooklin, Brooke Popp and Chelsie Wilkens—will serve as a very solid nucleus for next year’s move to the Rolling Hills.

The West Central was clearly the superior league as one team has advanced to the state tournament and two made it to the regional semifinal round while the RH was
1-5 in the opening round of the tournament, and with GR’s loss in the second round, the league went a dismal 2-6 in post season play against non-league foes. The five 1A teams in the West Central went 4-1 in the opening round, with only EG coming up with a loss. And two of the wins came over RH teams as WG rolled over Adair-Casey in three innings and CRB beat CAM (Anita). The 2A teams in the West Central went 1-2 and the other two league teams faced each other. Overall, the West Central’s tally against non-leagues foes in the post-season stands at 9-7 with WG guaranteed three more games at State.

In head-to-head competition during the regular and post-season combined, the West Central had the upper hand, winning 13 games to just two for Rolling Hills teams. And those wins were from EHKE, the league champion, over the bottom two teams in the West Central—CRB and West Central Valley (Stuart).

So look for East Greene to be very competitive in the Rolling Hills next year, which looks to be wide open as each team had some standout young players. EHKE dominated the league but loses four seniors off this year’s team. The other five teams all had losing seasons overall, and none of them reached the 10-win mark. EG just needs to develop a pitcher among its younger players and then move forward behind that pitcher in the years ahead. Hopefully, there might be some prospective pitchers off of this year’s junior high team who will be eligible to play varsity after completing the 8th grade next spring.

West Central and Rolling Hills Post-Season Results:

West Central
Thursday, July 15:
Class 1A Final Round
WG 2, Treynor 0 (ended after 5 innings, game ruled complete)

Mon., July 12:
Class 1A Semifinal Round
WG 4, Riverside (Oakland) 2
Newman (Mason City) 7, Madrid 1
Class 2A Semifinal Round
Interstate 35 4, VM 2

Fri., July 9:
Class 1A Regional Quarterfinal Round
Melcher-Dallas 9, DMC 8 (8)
Madrid 6, North Tama 4 (8)
WG 11, CRB 0
Class 2A Regional Quarterfinal Round
Interstate 35 (Truro) 12, Earlham 0
VM 8, Audubon 0

Thurs., July 8:
Class 2A Regional First Round
EAR 4, Nodaway Valley (Greenfield) 1
Audubon 17, GC 4
Interstate 35 (Truro) 12, WCV 0 (4)
VM 6, Panorama 0

Wed., July 7:
Class 1A Regional First Round
Southeast Webster-Grand 10, EG 6
CRB 3, CAM (Anita) 1
DMC 11, Grandview Park Baptist 1 (6)
Madrid 5, GMG (Garwin) 0
WG 12, Adair-Casey 0 (3)

Rolling Hills
Fri., July 9:
Class 1A Regionals, Quarterfinal Round
Southeast Webster-Grand 11, GR 0 (5)

Wed., July 7:
Class 1A Regionals, First Round
GR 2, Ar-We-Va 1
AHST (Avoca) 9, EHKE 5
Coon Rapids-Bayard 3, CAM 1
Corning 10, Orient-Macksburg 9
Riverside 10, Walnut 0 (5)
Woodward-Granger 12, Adair-Casey 0 (3)

EG Wins District Opener

HAWKS DOWN SWG; CRB IS UP NEXT

East Greene upended Southeast Webster-Grand 4-1 in Coon Rapids last night in district tourney first-round action. The Hawks advance to the semifinal round where they will face Coon Rapids-Bayard in Coon Rapids at 7 p.m. Thursday.

The Hawks had 9 hits in picking up the win, moving their season record to 17-11. SWG ended the year at 0-25.

CRB beat Glidden-Ralston 13-4 in the second half of a twin bill in Coon Rapids last night. CRB broke open a tight 3-2 game with six runs in the fourth inning. The Crusaders added four more runs in the sixth to secure the win. Tyler Boeke got the win for CRB, moving his record to 8-0 with Gage Reis pitching the last inning in relief.

CRB, co-champs of the West Central Conference, improved to 24-7. GR bowed out at 10-10.

In the other side of the District 12 bracket, Elk Horn-Kimballton/Exira, the No. 4 ranked team in Class 1A, moved its season mark to 26-0 with a 9-0 win over Adair-Casey, which made it to the state tournament last year. EHKE’s Carson Smith struck out 17 Bomber batters and gave up just 3 hits in the shutout win, which moved his season record to 11-0. It was the Spartans fourth win this season over AC, which ended the year 8-16. AC finished fifth in the seven-team Rolling Hills Conference with a 4-8 record.

EHKE will be going for its third win against CAM (Anita) in its semifinal matchup in Adair tomorrow night. The Spartans downed CAM 14-5 and 14-3 in Rolling Hills action, the second win coming last Friday in Anita. CAM finished in sixth place in the league at 3-9. The Cougars received a bye in the first round. They head into the EHKE game with a 4-14 overall season mark.

EYE ON GJ SAYS: It was last year in the semifinal round at Coon Rapids that AC soundly beat the Crusaders 8-3 to move on the district and substate championship games, where they downed Walnut 9-1 and AHST (Avoca) 6-4. CRB was hosting the first round, semifinal and final games in the district, and hosting the substate game, so with a glossy 24-6 record and having just been edged out for the league title in the West Central (tying with Earlham at 13-5 for runner-up spot with Des Moines Christian and Panorama winning the title at just one game ahead, 14-4), the Crusaders looked to be the solid favorite, although AC was 17-4 heading into that game and had finished second in the RH to Iowa Christian.

Hopefully, the Hawks can pull the same “home diamond surprise” on CRB this year. CRB has already downed the Hawks twice in their run to the league co-championship. The first win was in Coon Rapids on June 29, 5-2, with the Hawks’ Tyler Cooklin taking the loss on the mound, despite giving up just one hit and striking out 10 batters. The Hawks were hampered by Cooklin walking 8 batters and the defense committing 5 errors. Freshman Reed Ostrander and seniors Nathan Beyerink and Jessie Priest shared mound duties in the 17-6 pounding suffered by EG at home last Friday, which was ended by the 10-rule after six innings. Ostrander pitched four innings and Priest and Beyerink, primarily outfielders, pitched an inning each in relief. Combined, they gave up 10 hits, 11 walks and hit 4 batters while striking out 3.

The Hawks did rack up 7 hits in the game against CRB hurler Boeke and the defense showed improvement from June 29 game with just 2 errors. Boeke struck out 8 Hawks but walked 8, yet his teammates played error-free ball to back him up.

Hopefully the Hawks can catch the Crusaders looking past EG—a team they’ve beaten twice—to unbeaten and highly-ranked EHKE, which looks to be the likely opponent in the district final. Perhaps the earlier victories over EG and the home field advantage on Thursday and again on Saturday in the final will give them a slight bit of over-confidence.

The Hawks will need to reach deep and remember they moved on in the semifinal round last year with a win over Madrid that propelled them to wins in the final over GMG (Garwin) in Ames and then Grandview Park Baptist (Des Moines) in the substate game in Ankeny. That team started the tourney trail at 10-14 while this year’s squad racked up a higher finish in a tougher West Central as GR (3-15 in the league last year) was replaced by Woodward-Granger, the 2009 champion of Heart of Iowa-Small Conference that racked up a 20-9 overall record. WG beat EG by just one run in each of the two Hawks vs. Hawks showdowns this year in the conference. And this year’s team entered the post-season with 16 wins against 11 losses and moved up from seventh to fifth in a more competitive West Central.

Hawks Get 16th Win of Season

TAKE ON SWG IN DISTRICT OPENER TONIGHT

An extra-inning 3-2 thriller over Madrid Thursday night pushed East Greene’s season win total to 16 games, surpassing the 15-10 mark of 2008 and last year’s 14-15 record for the 2009 state tournament team. That team entered post-season play at 10-14 and then went on a four-game streak that did not end until a loss to Newman (Mason City) in the first round of the state tourney at Principal Park in Des Moines.

A steal home by Jessie Priest in the bottom of the 8th inning got the win for the Hawks. Priest went 1-2 at the plate with an RBI and a double and Wes Onken went 2-4. Onken picked up the win, giving up 6 hits, three walks and 1 wild pitch while striking out 8. The Hawks were guilty of three errors, but Aaron Lyons was one bright spot on the defense as he made a spectacular catch in right center to rob Madrid’s Eric Simmons of a potential two-run homer in the sixth.

The enthusiasm of 16 wins was tempered however with a 17-6 drubbing the following night from Coon Rapids-Bayard. The Crusaders were playing for the league championship, as was Woodward-Granger in its tilt with Des Moines Christian in Woodward. WG came out in that one, 7-6, leaving CRB and WG as West Central co-champions at 17-1.

The EG-CRB and DMC-WG matchups were actual make-up games that were rained out earlier in the season.

The loss to CRB closed out EG’s regular season with an 8-9 mark in the conference, good for fifth place. The Hawks had a tough week overall, going 1-3 with a loss to co-champ Woodward- Granger 4-3 on Tuesday and to Panorama 12-8 on Wednesday.

Des Moines Christian had already locked up third place in the conference, but was looking for momentum heading into this week’s districts. Adding further drama to Friday’s games was that this week’s district pairings could set up another round of EG-CRB and WG-DMC matchups.

EG (16-11) opens tourney play tonight at 5 p.m. in Coon Rapids against Southeast Webster (0-24) a team it beat handily in the season opener, 12-3. In the other half of the twin bill at Coon Rapids at 7 p.m., the Crusaders (23-7) take on a much improved Glidden-Ralston (10-9) squad that finished in third place in its first season in the Rolling Hills. Tuesday’s winners advance to the District semifinal round on Thursday, also to be played in Coon Rapids.

On the opposite side of the bracket in District 12, CAM (Anita) drew a bye while undefeated Elk Horn-Kimballton/Exira (21-0), ranked fourth in the state in Class 1A, takes on Adair-Casey (8-14) tonight in Adair. The winner meets CAM (4-14) in a semifinal game Thursday in Adair. Thursday night’s winners face off for the District 15 championship on Saturday in Coon Rapids.

The District 15 winner meets the District 16 winner on Tuesday, July 20, in Denison with the winner advancing to the state tournament in Des Moines. Teams in District 16 are Woodbine, Boyer Valley (Dunlap), Charter Oak-Ute, Ar-We-Va (Westside), Woodbury Central (Moville).

EHK/Exira rolled to the Rolling Hills championship with a perfect 12-0 record, with Iowa Christian (West Des Moines) in second and Glidden-Ralston in third.

Rolling Hills Final Conference Standings
(Conference record, season record)
Elk Horn-Kimballton/Exira 12–0, 24–0
Iowa Christian Academy 9–3, 11–7
Glidden-Ralston 7–5, 10–9
Walnut 5–7, 12–12
Adair-Casey 4–8, 8–14
CAM 3–9, 4–14
Orient-Macksburg 2–10, 6–13

With four of the top five spots in the West Central Conference going to Class 1A teams, the chances are high for several teams to make a deep run in the post-season.

Woodward-Granger (22-4) opens district play tonight against Madrid (5-18) on the Tigers’ home diamond at 7 p.m. following a 5 p.m. game that pits Colo-Nesco against Northeast Hamilton (Blairsburg). The winners meet in Madrid on Thursday at 7 p.m. The opposite side of the district bracket features four teams that all have state tournament potential. Martensdale-St Mary’s gets the home field advantage and heads into its opening round game against Grandview Park Baptist with an impressive 35-0 record and the No. 1 ranking in Class 1A. Grandview Park Baptist made it to state two years ago and last year advanced to the substate before bowing out to EG. DMC (14-9) takes on Iowa Christian Academy, runner-up in the Rolling Hills Conference, in the opener at St. Mary’s. The winners square off Thursday in St. Mary’s in the semifinal round. The semifinal winners from Madrid and St. Mary’s will meet for the district title in Madrid on Saturday night.

WG looks pretty solid to make it out of first two rounds, but it could be a tall order for DMC to beat both Iowa Christian and then top-ranked MStM to set up a rematch of last Friday’s game with the Hawks in the final at Madrid.

The five 2A teams in the West Central opened district tourney action Saturday night and the only win was West Central Valley over league foe Guthrie Center, 10-5. Interstate 35 (Truro) beat Earlham, 6-2; CMB (Baxter) beat Van Meter, 7-6; and Audubon beat Panorama, 9-0.

West Central Valley advances to the semifinal round where the Wildcats will take on Audubon tonight in Guthrie Center.

West Central Final Conference Standings
(Conference record, season record)
Woodward-Granger 17–1, 22–4
Coon Rapids-Bayard 17–1, 23–7
Des Moines Christian 13–4, 14–9
Earlham 9–8, 14–14
East Greene 8–9, 16–11
Van Meter 8–10, 16–14
Panorama 7–11, 8–15
West Central Valley 4–14, 7–19
Madrid 3–15, 5–18
Guthrie Center 3–15, 5–22

EYE ON GJ SAYS: The Hawks will really need to pull it all together to come anywhere close to what they pulled off last season. The deck is stacked with both Coon Rapids-Bayard, a perennial 1A baseball power, and the newly combined EHKE—undefeated and state-ranked—in District 15.

EG does get an advantage as it faces winless Southeast Webster-Grand in the opening round while CRB takes on a solid Glidden-Ralston club. GR scored a nice win over Iowa Christian early in the season, although it lost non-conference tilts to both EG and CRB. EHKE is the hands-down favorite on the Adair side of the ledger. Adair-Casey was the winner out of the district played in Coon Rapids last year and upset the home team in the semifinal round, and then advanced all the way to the state tourney along with EG. The Hawks won the Ames district and Ankeny substate.

Pitching and avoiding key mistakes on defense will be key in the district. Iowa high school baseball pitchers are limited to 16 total innings a week (Sunday through Saturday) and no more than 9 innings in any one day or two consecutive days. And after 9 innings, a pitcher must have two complete calendar days of rest. So if a pitcher is stretched to 9 innings in, say, an opening round game on Tuesday. He must rest Wednesday and Thursday, but come pitch on Saturday in the finals, but no more than 7 innings.

CRB will need to put a solid pitcher the mound in its opener against GR while East Greene can keep its top two aces, Onken (6-2) and Tyler Cooklin (4-4) in reserve for a big semifinal game—most likely against CRB—and then a final against EHKE if they should get by the Crusaders. Onken has the better record for EG, but Cooklin was on the mound when the Hawks took on the league leaders in the conference. Look for freshman pitcher Reed Ostrander (3-2) to get the start against SWG.

The Crusaders have a veritable stable of solid pitchers: Tyler Boeke (7-0), Jay Carstens (6-1), Gage Reis (5-1) and Jacob Esdohr (4-2) and three others who pitched three or fewer games. EHKE has gone all season with three pitchers, and all are undefeated: Carson Smith (10-0), Travis Stevens (8-0) and Nolan Himmelberg (6-0).

The good news for EG is that it all three pitchers for EHKE are seniors, so that should give the Hawks an advantage when they take on the Spartans in Rolling Hills action next year. And they won’t have to face CRB in home-and-away conference tilts, but hopefully the Crusaders will be on next year’s non-conference schedule as CRB and EG have made for a great rivalry over the years. Both Cooklin and Onken are juniors and Ostrander will be back for three more seasons, giving an anchor to build future Hawk pitching around.

EHKE has the edge in hitting with a .361 average while CRB is a very solid .327 and EG is .262. EG will need to shore up its fielding too, as it was guilty of 56 errors in 27 games while CRB erred 49 times in 30. EHKE committed 38 errors in 24 games, but EG and CRB were facing much better pitching and hitting in the West Central than EHKE saw in the Rolling Hills, but then again, the Spartans won just as many non-conference games, 12, as they did league matchups, and one of those non-league games was a 6-3 win over CRB on June 9.

EG Heads Down the Homestretch

14-YEAR RUN IN WEST CENTRAL IN FINAL WEEKS

East Greene is headed down the home stretch of its 14-year run in the West Central Conference as the softball and baseball seasons enter their final weeks.

When the bats and gloves are hung up for the year, the Hawks will leave the West Central behind and begin competition this fall in the Rolling Hills Conference.

Coming on the heels of last year’s march to the State 1A Baseball Tournament, the Hawks had high hopes of winning the West Central baseball crown in their final year in the league. As last week got underway, the Hawks picked up a big win against Earlham, 5-3, in Rippey. That win came after a good showing at a tournament the Hawks hosted on Saturday. EG took on two Class 2A teams and came out with a split. EG opened the tournament with a 10-4 win over East Sac County but fell to Interstate 35 (Truro) in the championship game, 7-4. EG had the same experience at I-35’s tournament earlier this season, beating another “East” (East Union of Afton) in the first game but losing in the final to the Roadrunners.

The Earlham game was significant as the Cardinals were runner-up in last year’s WC race and one of the pre-season favorites to win the 2010 crown. The loss dropped Earlham to 4-4 in the conference while putting the Hawks at 5-2, just behind co-leaders Woodward-Granger and Des Moines Christian at 7-0 and Coon Rapids-Bayard at 6-1.

However, the Hawks fell 10-9 to Van Meter the following night, June 20, to drop to 5-3 in the league. Each of the three league losses was by just one run. EG took another hit on Thursday, falling to league co-leader Des Moines Christian in Urbandale, 4-1. The Hawks did bounce back to beat Iowa Christian, 4-2, in a big game the following night on the Blazers’ home field in Waukee. That moved the Hawks overall record to 12-6. Iowa Christian is the defending Rolling Hills champion and vying with Elk Horn-Kimballton/Exira and Glidden-Ralston for this year’s title.

The win over ICA gives EG a good look at how it stacks up against RH teams as the Hawks have already beaten GR this season. EHKE leads the Rolling Hills with a perfect 9-0 mark. The Spartans, in their first year of shared baseball between EHK and Exira, are 18-0 overall and ranked 5th in Class 1A.

Rolling Hills Baseball Standings (through Wed., June 30)
Elk Horn-Kimballton/Exira 9 – 0 18–0
Iowa Christian Academy 8 – 2 9–6
Glidden-Ralston 7 – 4 9–6
Walnut 5 – 5 11–10
CAM 1 – 6 2–10
Adair-Casey 1 – 6 3–11
Orient-Macksburg 1 – 9 4–12

EG got back on the winning track this week with a win Monday over Guthrie Center but fell to Coon Rapids-Bayard Tuesday night in Coon Rapids, 5-2. CRB started the week at 8-1 in the league and on Monday won both games of a doubleheader against Des Moines Christian, which had been unbeaten in the conference, to tie with Woodward-Granger for the league lead at 10-1 and drop DMC to third place at 9-2.

DMC fell again on Tuesday, losing at Earlham to fall further behind the co-leaders at 9-3 while Earlham improved to 8-4, good for fourth place, with EG at 6-5 for fifth. In a make-up game from a rainout earlier this season, Woodward-Granger beat Madrid, 9-0, to move back up on top of the league standings at 12-1, a half-game over Coon Rapids-Bayard. DMC disposed of West Central Valley, 12-2, in a game shortened by the 10-run rule after 5 innings, moving its mark to 10-3 and keeping the Lions in the league hunt. Elsewhere in the league, CRB downed Boyer Valley (Dunlap) in a non-conference game, moving its season record to 17-4, and Van Meter nearly scored the upset of the season, putting a real scare into Class 1A top-ranked and undefeated Martensdale-St. Mary’s, before falling 6-5.

West Central Baseball Standings (through Wed., June 30)
Woodward-Granger 12–1 17–4
Coon Rapids-Bayard 11–1 17–5
Des Moines Christian 10–3 11–6
Earlham 8–4 12–8
East Greene 6–5 13–7
Van Meter 5–8 13–10
Panorama 5–8 6–11
Madrid 3–10 5–13
West Central Valley 2–11 4–16
Guthrie Center 1–12 3–18

Conference competition resumes tonight with EG hosting West Central Valley. In other key games Des Moines Christian hosts Woodward-Granger and CRB travels to Earlham for a doubleheader.

HAWKETTES GET BIG WINS OVER DMC, CRB

While the Hawks were getting their hats handed to them on the baseball fields at Des Moines Christian and Coon Rapids-Bayard, the Hawkettes notched big wins on their hosts’ softball diamonds.

EG left Urbandale with an 8-7 win over DMC last Thursday to pick up its second win in the conference. The Hawkettes are short in numbers this season with just 11 girls on the roster—leaving just two on the bench. But the team has made remarkable strides from the beginning of the season and has become a formidable competitor. Just two nights before beating DMC, which had been ranked as high as 14th in Class 1A, the Hawkettes nearly upset Van Meter before falling 5-4 to the [then] Class 2A 12th-ranked Bulldogs.

Earlier in the season, DMC had pummeled the Hawkettes 13-0 in 5 innings in Grand Junction just one night after Van Meter had rolled over EG 15-4, so the Hawkettes are clearly making big strides. And they play in a power-packed conference. Five of the 10 teams in the West Central have been ranked this season, and two are currently among the state’s leaders. Woodward-Granger (22-1) is ranked 4th in Class 1A (moving up from 5th last week) while Van Meter (20-6) is 13th in 2A. Earlham, last year’s West Central champion, went on to win the 2009 State 1A Championship and is competing in 2A this year. Des Moines Christian and Madrid have also been ranked in Class 1A.

Against DMC, the Hawkettes pounded out 8 hits with Malarie Gilley and Katlyn Gannon each going 2-4 with 2 RBIs and a double while Tia Lowe went 2-3 with 2 RBIs. Gilley was on the mound for EG and the Lions pounded her for 14 hits, including two home runs by shortstop Annette Bosman. Gilley struck out 3, walked 1 and hit one batter.

DMC’s offense was undone by its defense as the Lions logged 6 errors compared to EG’s 2. Leah Harris, daughter of DMC coach Howard Harris, took the loss, giving up 7 hits, striking out 7, and walking 2.

EG fell to Guthrie Center 5-1 on Monday night but came back the following night to get a big win over CRB in Coon Rapids in 8 innings, 6-4. EG pounded out 12 hits in the win and got big boost from 5 Crusader errors. The win gave EG the home-and-home sweep over CRB and moved them from 9th in the conference standings to 8th, dropping CRB down to the nine spot.

EG fell to Earlham 7-1 in Grand Junction in a makeup game last night but still remains a half-game ahead of CRB.

EG takes on West Central Valley, winless in 15 games in the conference, tonight in a home game that might be played as a doubleheader, since the two teams need to make up game rained out earlier this season. WCV is the last game on the EG schedule, but the Hawkettes still have a makeup game with Madrid.

WG clinched the title last night with a pounding of DMC, 14-2, in just 3 innings, and is now 16-0. Van Meter is in second at 13-3. Earlham moved into a tie for third place with Madrid and DMC at 10-5.

West Central Softball Standings (through Wed., June 30)
Woodward-Granger 16–0 25–1
Van Meter 13–3 20–6
Des Moines Christian 10–5 10–9
Madrid 10–5 14–9
Earlham 10–5 15–12
Panorama 8–8 10–12
Guthrie Center 5–12 8–15
East Greene 3–12 4–13
Coon Rapids-Bayard 3–13 7–15
West Central Valley 0–15 2–18

East Greene opens Class 1A Regional Tournament action against Southeast Webster-Grand (10-12) next Wednesday night, July 7, in Ogden. The winner moves on to the quarterfinal round at Glidden on Friday against the winner of Wednesday night’s first round game between Glidden-Ralston (3-14) and Ar-We-Va (4-11). The winner at Glidden moves on to the semifinal round at Fonda on Monday, July 12. The other half of the Fonda semifinal bracket gets underway Wednesday with Aurelia taking on St. Mary’s (Storm Lake) in Fonda. Newell-Fonda, ranked No. 2 in Class 1A, gets a first-round bye and will meet the Aurelia-St. Mary’s winner in quarterfinal game in Fonda on Wednesday.

The Fonda semifinal winner will go up against Spencer semifinal winner in the Regional final at Manson on Wednesday, July 14.

Teams in the Spencer side of the bracket are Ruthven-Ayrshire, Clay Central-Everly, Graettinger-Terril, Harris-Lake Park, Twin River Valley, West Bend-Mallard, Laurens-Marathon and Alta. First and second round games will be played at Milford, Lake Park, Algona and Alta.

Glidden-Ralston is in its first year in the Rolling Hills Conference, after nearly winning the West Central Crown last year while racking up a 13-5 league mark, just behind conference champion Earlham at 15-3. The teams met in the regional semifinals with Earlham prevailing 5-1 and advancing on to win the regional and the State 1A tournament in Fort Dodge the following week, finishing the year at 33-8. GR, with a number of seniors, finished at 23-8, one of its best seasons in school history. This year’s squad is in a rebuilding year with many newcomers. The Wildcats got off to a good start with a 2-2 mark in the Rolling Hills, just behind leader EHKE (4-0) and CAM (2-1) but the team has struggled as of late, dropping to 2-7 and last place in the six-team conference.

EG beat the Wildcats in a non-conference game Friday, June 11, in Glidden, 7-2. EHKE has clinched the Rolling Hills title with 9-0 record and one conference game remaining with Adair-Casey (2-5). EHKE is 16-6 overall and opens regional play on Wednesday at Avoca against AHST. Conference foes CAM, Adair-Casey and Walnut area also in the same region, along with Coon Rapids-Bayard and Woodward-Granger from the West Central.

Rolling Hills Softball Standings (through Wed., June 30)
Elk Horn-Kimballton/Exira 9 – 0 16–6
Walnut 5 – 4 7–14
Orient-Macksburg 4 – 4 6–13
CAM (Anita) 3 – 4 4–11
Adair-Casey 2 – 5 2–14
Glidden-Ralston 2 – 7 3–14

EYE ON GJ SAYS: EG and GR were moved “up north” in this year’s regional alignment. With Grand Junction and Glidden on Highway 30, which forms a line cutting through the middle of the state, EG and GR are the bottom border of a region that stretches all the way to the Minnesota state line. Harris is in Osceola County and Lake Park is in Dickinson County, as are Milford and Terril. Both counties border Minnesota, as does Kossuth County, where Algona is located.

The opening round will bring together East Greene and one of its longtime rivals, Southeast Webster-Grand. Before East Greene joined the West Central Conference in 1996-97, it was a member of the Coon River Valley Conference along with Southeast Webster, Paton-Churdan, Glidden-Ralston, Newell-Fonda, St. Mary’s (Storm Lake), Pomeroy-Palmer and Schaller-Crestland. Pomeroy-Palmer is now aligned with Pocahontas in sports, and Schaller-Crestland is aligned with Galva Holstein, playing as Ridge View.

East Greene and the three schools that make up Southeast Webster-Grand—Central Webster (Burnside), Dayton and Grand (Boxholm)—were charter members of the Little Central Conference that was formed in 1959-60 when East Greene, Grand and Central Webster were newly formed “community” school districts. Stratford and Churdan rounded out the 6-team league. EG and CW along with Paton-Churdan were also charter members of the first West Central Conference in 1966-67. This being the 50th anniversary of East Greene, it is interesting to note that EG will ends its girls’ athletic presence in the West Central with an old West Central and Little Central rival in the post-season.

Comparing the two, SWG has a better overall record and is the only 1A school in the Twin Lakes Conference. The other five are all 2A. SWG is currently in third place in the league at 5-3 with two games to go. Prairie Valley and East Sac are first and second. Prairie Valley was ranked 12th in Class 2A early in the season, but then fell out of the rankings.

EG plays the same number of 2A teams (5) that SWG does and in a much stronger league. EG also plays an 18-game league schedule while the Twin Lakes teams play just 10.

The Hawkettes have performed remarkably well with such a small group (11 players) in such a large conference—10 teams and half them in a higher classification. Plus, EG is the smallest of the five smaller schools.

Anything that can happen in these tournament games, so look for the Hawkettes to give the Eagles a tough time in the regional opener.

Look for the West Central overall to make a solid mark in the post-season. The five 1A schools are playing in four different regions. EG is in Region 2 (final at Manson) while Madrid is Region 3 (final at Fort Dodge). Des Moines Christian is in Region 6 (final at Pella) along with 8th-ranked Lynville-Sully. Woodward-Granger and Coon Rapids-Bayard are both in Region 8 (final at Atlantic) with each team opening the tournament at home. If both WG and CRB advance, they would play each other in a quarterfinal game in Woodward. Tenth-ranked Treynor is in the opposite side of the Region 8 bracket, so a possible WG-Treynor match-up is possible in the regional final.

In Class 2A, Earlham, Van Meter, Guthrie Center, Panorama and West Central Valley are all in Region 8 and all in the upper half of the bracket. In the opening round on Thursday, July 8, Earlham hosts Nodaway Valley (Greenfield) and West Central Valley travels to Interstate-35 (Truro). Those winners play Friday at Truro. Also on Thursday, Guthrie Center hosts Audubon and Van Meter hosts Panorama. The winners meet Friday at Van Meter. Van Meter is also the site of the Monday night semifinal match-up between Thursday’s winners. The final is on Wednesday in Creston. Van Meter is one of the favorites in the region along with I-35, ranked 10th, and Wayne (Corydon), ranked 8th. Corydon is the site of the first two rounds with the semifinal to be played in Mt. Ayr. Other teams on Wayne’s side of the bracket are
Clarinda, Red Oak, Griswold, Shenandoah, Clarke, Pleasantville and Central Decatur (Leon).