Hawks Advance to District Finals

FACE NORTHERN UNIVERSITY OF CEDAR FALLS

A third straight Class 1A District baseball title is on the line for East Greene tonight when the Hawks take on Northern University (Cedar Falls) in the District 10 championship game Saturday at 7 p.m. at West Marshall High School in State Center.

EG rolled over Madrid 11-2 in a semifinal game in Rippey on Thursday night to advance to the title game. Wes Onken got the win, striking out 10 Madrid batters while walking just one. Onken gave up 6 hits, 2 runs and 1 earned run.

The Hawks banged out 15 hits on the evening with Tyler Cooklin going 3-5 with a single, double and a triple. Cooklin had one RBI and he scored 2 runs. Aaron Lyons was 2-4 with a triple and 3 RBIs. Onken was 3-4 with 3 doubles and 2 RBIs.

EG moves on with a 12-13 record while Madrid ends its season at 10-20.

EYE ON GJ SAYS: The Hawks will have their hands full tonight with Northern University, a school affiliated with the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls. Northern U. is 22-8 and has been ranked in the Top 10 in Class 1A all season. Northern U. got by North Tama (Traer) at Traer in the opening round of district play, 3-2. North Tama was also ranked in the Top 10 this season.

But East Greene is shooting for its third straight trip to the substate. Two years ago, the Hawks won their district and then beat Grandview Park Baptist (Des Moines) to advance to the 1A state tournament. Last year, the Hawks upset Coon Rapids-Bayard on the Crusaders’ field in Coon Rapids in the district semifinal round and then scored an even bigger upset over unbeaten and fourth-ranked Elk Horn-Kimballton/Exira in the district finals. EG fell to Ar-We-Va by one run in the substate game.

So, with two district titles and a substate championship to their credit, the Hawks are tournament-tested. And the pitchers are hitting their stride while the bats are finally warming up. If the Hawks can keep their field errors in check and not waste scoring opportunities (miscues and too many runners left on base have been weak areas all season), they can keep advancing in the post-season. They have the talent, they just need to keep fine-tuning the execution.

FOUR FOM LEAGUE ADVANCE: The Rolling Hills Conference is having a very good showing in the post-season. Orient-Macksburg, Adair-Casey and Walnut have all advanced to the district finals along with EG, so the conference has four teams still in contention.

Orient-Macksburg advanced to substate last year, so their success this year is no flook. OM beat East Union (Afton), 7-2, on Thursday and will move on to face Corning in the District 13 championship. Adair-Casey thumped league rival CAM (Anita) 16-6 and will now take on Walnut at Riverside (Oakland) in the District 15 championship. Walnut, which finished third in the Rolling Hills, beat co-champion Elk Horn-Kimballton/Exira, 2-1, to advance to the championship game. The win snapped EHKE’s 12-game winning streak.

If the Hawks get by Northern University, they will advance to the Substate 5 championship in Marshalltown at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, July 19, to face the winner of District 9 championship game between English Valleys (North English) and BGM (Brooklyn) tonight at HLV (Victor).

The OM-Corning winner will meet the Bedford-Nishnabotna winner in Substate 7 championship. Since Walnut is taking on league foe Adair-Casey, that guarantees one Rolling Hills team a spot in the substate. The Walnut-AC winner takes on either Coon Rapids-Bayard or West Harrison.

CRB beat Glidden-Ralston of the Rolling Hills in the semifinals. The Crusaders racked up another West Central Conference title this year and have been ranked in the Top 10 all year. Look for CRB to get by West Harrison and for Walnut to beat Adair-Casey with two facing off in the Substate 8 game in Denison on Tuesday.

SEVEN OF NINE WC TEAMS ARE OUT: CRB is one of two West Central Conference teams left in contention. The RH went 2-1 versus the West Central with EG beating Madrid and CAM taking out Guthrie Center, with CRB getting a win over Glidden-Ralston. The West Central’s other 1A team, Earlham, fell to top-ranked Martensdale-St. Mary’s in the district semifinals.

Van Meter is one of five 2A teams in the West Central. The Bulldogs will face North Polk in a district championship tonight. Van Meter beat league foes Panorama in the first round and West Central Valley in the semifinals. West Central Valley had advanced with a win over conference member Woodward-Granger in the first round.

North Polk sidelined Des Moines Christian, the other 2A team in the conference, in the first round.