EG Hosts Tourneys “Under the Lights”

POST-SEASON SB, BB ACTION IN GRAND JCT. & RIPPEY

The summer ball team “spotlight” will be shining on eastern Greene County this week and next as East Greene hosts a first round game in the Class 1A Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union regional softball tournament at Dutton Field in Grand Junction and the boys baseball team hosts the first and second rounds of the Iowa Boys High School Athletic Association district baseball tournament at Walt Anderson Field in Rippey.

The girls kick things off tomorrow night when

First baseman Jolee Wessling

and the EG Hawkettes take on

Ar-We-Va in regional tourney

action Wednesday at Dutton

Park in Grand Junction.

(Photo courtesy of Shelly Juhl)

the Hawkettes host the Ar-We-Va (Westside) Rockettes in first-round softball action at 7 p.m. Admission will be charged for this game and the streets around Dutton Park will be blocked off to shift traffic through the main admission gates.

This will be the first “under the lights” EG game at Dutton Park this season.

East Greene, Madrid, Northeast Hamilton (Blairsburg) and Colo-Nesco will compete in the first two rounds of district baseball at Rippey. Madrid takes on Northeast Hamilton in a first-round game at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, July 12, with EG facing Colo-Nesco in the second-half of the first-round doubleheader at 7 p.m.

The winners of Tuesday night’s games advance to the semifinal game at 7 p.m. in Rippey on Thursday, July 14.

The Rippey semifinal winner will advance to the district finals on Saturday, July 16, at 7 p.m. at a location to be determined to face the winner of the semifinal game at North Tama (Traer). That side of the bracket has North Tama facing Northern University (Cedar Falls) on Tuesday in the first round and the winner advancing to the semifinal game on Thursday against GMG (Garwin), which drew a first-round bye.

The winner of District 10 (Rippey and Traer) will play the winner of District 9 in the substate at Marshalltown on Tuesday, July 19. That winner moves on the Class 1A State Tournament at Principal Park in Des Moines.

Teams in District 9 are Sigourney, Tri-County (Thornburg), English Valleys (North English), Keota, BGM (Brooklyn), HLV (Victor) and Belle Plaine.

The winner of the Region 7 first-round softball game in Grand Junction will advance to the quarterfinal round game in Coon Rapids on Friday, July 8. First-round action in Coon Rapids on Wednesday, July 6, has Coon Rapids-Bayard hosting Glidden-Ralston. The winner takes on Southeast Webster-Grand (Burnside) in a second round game on Thursday, July 7. The winner there advances to the quarterfinal round against the winner of Wednesday’s game in Grand Junction.

The winner advances to the semifinal round in Fonda on Monday, July 11. The Fonda bracket winner will play the semifinal winner of the Earlham bracket in the regional final in Carroll on Wednesday, July 13.

Hawkettes Beat Orient-Macksburg, 6-5

EG COMES FROM BEHIND FOR THE WIN

A double-play with one out in the top of the seventh inning preserved a come-from-behind softball win for East Greene, 6-5, over Orient-Macksburg on Thursday, June 30, in Grand Junction.

The Hawkettes trailed 4-1 going into the bottom of the sixth inning, but a combination of hits, walks and Orient-Macksburg fielding errors sparked a five-run EG rally to put the Hawkettes ahead, 6-5.

In the top of the sixth inning, an OM RBI triple drove in a run, cutting the lead to 6-5 with one out. EG pitcher Hannah Onken then got the next batter to deliver a little blooper to the pitcher’s mound which Onken threw to first baseman Jolee Wessling for the out. Wessling then fired the ball to catcher Katlynn Gannon, who tagged out the runner advancing from the third to home base, putting the cap on a nifty double play, ending the game and preserving the 6-5 win.

It was a big turnaround for the Hawkettes, who were blasted by the same OM team, 13-1, in 3 innings on June 14 in Orient.

The win snapped a six-game EG losing streak and moved the Hawkettes to 2-8 in the Rolling Hills Conference and 3-12 overall.

The Hawkettes were in action the night before, taking on Van Meter of the West Central Conference in Grand Junction, falling to the Bulldogs, 12-0 in 6 innings.

Van Meter blasted 15 hits while the Hawkettes added to their woes with 8 errors. EG had held the Bulldogs, ranked two weeks ago in the Class 1A Top 15, to a 6-0 lead through five innings, but a 6-run sixth inning doubled the score. EG was held scoreless in the bottom of the sixth, ending the game by the 10-run rule. (Van Meter fell out of the rankings issued June 24.)

East Greene got 3 hits against the Bulldogs with Emily Jacobsen rapping a solid double into centerfield. Dani Hubbard was 3-4 and had 5 stolen bases for Van Meter.

The Hawkettes travel to Coon Rapids tonight to face Coon Rapids-Bayard in an 8 p.m. tilt and then return to Dutton Field in Grand Junction on Tuesday, July 5, to take on Glidden-Ralston at 5:30 p.m. in the conference and season finale.

EG will open regional play the following night in Grand Junction against Ar-We-Va (Westside) in a first round game. Game time is 7 p.m.

East Greene Sweeps GR

HAWKS ROLL 11-2; HAWKETTES WIN BY ONE

East Greene scored a baseball-softball sweep at Glidden on Thursday, June 16, with the Hawks rolling over Glidden-Ralston, 11-2, in baseball, and the Hawkettes picking up a 9-8 softball win.

Wes Onken was on the mound for EG, striking out 14 Wildcat batters while giving up 2 hits, 2 runs, 1 earned run and walking 5 in 6 innings of work. Reed Ostrander pitched one inning to help shut down the Wildcats, giving up 1 hit.

The Hawks had their bats working with 11 hits against GR. Ostrander hit a 3-run homer run and Tyler Cooklin had three hits in four trips to the plate. Onken went 2-3 with a double, and Tory Beger and Alex Gordon each had a double.

The Wildcats’ offense came from Zack Rohrbeck with 2 hits and Nate Christian with one hit and 2 RBIs.

The win over GR moved the Hawks to 2-3 in the Rolling Hills and 6-5 overall. GR evened its league mark at 3-3.

Hannah Onken got the win on the mound for the Hawkettes. She gave up 9 hits, 8 runs, 6 earned runs, and 7 walks, while striking out 6 GR batters.

East Greene had one of its best offensive nights of the season. Hannah Gunn had 3 hits, including a double and 2 RBIs. Jolee Wessling had 2 hits with Bailey Godwin, Katlynn Gannon, Molly Neese and Onken with 1 hit each. Godwin, Neese, Kinney and Onken each had an RBI.

The Hawkettes got on base with 9 walks from the GR pitcher, and heads-up play resulted in four stolen bases.

It was the first Rolling Hills Conference softball win for EG. The Hawkettes are now 1-4 in the league and 2-6 overall. Glidden-Ralston fell to 1-4 in the conference.

HAWKS FALL IN AR-WE-VA CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

EG had a good showing in the Ar-We-Va Tournament on Saturday, June 11, with a 4-3 win over East Sac, a Class 2A school, which put them in the championship game against Newell-Fonda, which had advanced with an 11-7 win over host Ar-We-Va, a finalist in last year’s Class 1A state tournament.

Newell-Fonda got by the Hawks in the championship game, 10-7, to improve to 3-13 for the season. East Sac drubbed Ar-We-Va 15-2 in 4 innings in the consolation game to move its season mark to 10-4. Ar-We-Va started the season with a win but has since lost 10 straight games.

EG was rained out Monday, June 13, at home against Walnut. On Tuesday, the Hawks fell to Orient-Macksburg on the road, 4-3.

Rolling Hills Baseball
Through Thursday, June 16:
Iowa Christian/Ankeny Christian 5-1
Walnut 5-2
Orient-Macksburg 3-2
Exira/Elk Horn-Kimballton 3-2
Glidden-Ralston 3-3
East Greene 2-3
Adair-Casey 1-6
CAM (Anita) 0-4

Rolling Hills Softball
Through Thurs., June 16:
Walnut 5-0
Elk Horn-Kimballton/Exira 3-1
CAM (Anita) 3-2
dair-Casey 2-3
Orient-Macksburg 2-3
Glidden-Ralston 1-4
East Greene 1-4

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 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).

REGIONAL SOFTBALL

Hawkette’s Season Ends at CRB

Coon Rapids-Bayard ended the Hawkettes’ season in the opening round of the regional softball tournament in Coon Rapids last night, 11-4.

CRB’s freshman pitcher Marissa Spoo picked up the win, giving up five hits and striking out five EG batters. The Hawkettes gave up 5 hits and 5 walks and allowed the Crusaders to steal base seven times. EG finished the year at 4-19.

CRB (17-12) advances to the quarterfinal round Friday night, taking on Glidden Ralston (22-7). In other Region 4 games, Earlham (27-8) eliminated CAM 12-0 in Anita and Exira (12-6) beat Adair Casey. Earlham and Exira square off Friday in Anita.

In the lower bracket of Region 4, Madrid (16-17) beat Colo-Nesco in Madrid, and Van Meter downed Grandview Park Baptist 3-0 in Van Meter. Madrid takes on Van Meter (10-19) in quarterfinal action Friday in Madrid.

TONIGHT’S CLASS 2A SCORES: Three of the four West Central Conference teams competing in Class 2A were sidelined in opening round regional action tonight (Thursday) with West Central Valley seeing its game at Nodaway Valley rained out until tomorrow. Two other area 2A teams, however, advanced on to the quarterfinal round. Jefferson-Scranton beat Prairie Valley and Ogden sidelined Gilbert.

Bondurant-Farrar 2, Des Moines Christian 0
North Polk 9, Panorama 0
Woodward-Granger 12, Guthrie Center 0
Jefferson-Scranton 5, Prairie Valley 1
Ogden 5, Gilbert 3

EYE ON GJ SAYS: No big surprises with the WC 2A teams, as they each faced formidable opponents. North Polk pitcher Sammy Snygg had 12 strikeouts in the win over Panorama, giving her a career record 2,178 strikeouts. Snygg, a senior, broke the old mark held by Jen Bice of Woodward-Granger who notched 2,175 strikeouts in her high school softball pitching career from 1995 to 1999.

J-S and Ogden got off to good starts. J-S will take on the winner of South Hamilton and Fort Dodge, which was postponed by rain from Thursday to Friday, in the quarterfinals, now scheduled for Saturday at 7 p.m. at Rogers Complex in Fort Dodge, site of the state tournament. Ogden takes on South Hardin in Roland at 7 p.m. on Friday. The winner of that game advances to the regional semifinal in Fort Dodge on Monday to take on the winner of the J-S and South Hamilton or St. Ed’s game. The Fort Dodge semifinal winner will take on the Humboldt semifinal winner in the regional final on Wednesday, July 15, at 7:30 p.m., also in Fort Dodge. All Fort Dodge games will be at Rogers.

The 1A teams in the West Central had an excellent opening night, going 3-0 against competition from other leagues. The league went to 2-0 against the Heart of Iowa-Small and 1-0 against the Rolling Hills. With CRB’s win over EG and Glidden-Ralston’s bye, the league has five teams still in play after round one. However, four of them face off against each other in the quarterfinals

TOURNEY ACTION

Hawkettes Meet CRB in Regional

East Greene fell to Glidden-Ralston in its final regular season softball game, 10-0, in 5 innings at Glidden Monday night.

Wildcat ace Hallie Schon limited the Hawkettes to 1 hit while striking out 8 and walking just one. Ashley Thorpe took the loss, giving up 5 hits and 10 walks.

East Greene ended the regular season 4-18 and 2-16 in the West Central Conference. GR beat Panorama in a make-up game last night to end its last year in the conference as runner-up to Earlham with a 13-5 record.

West Central Conference
FINAL STANDINGS
Earlham 15-3
Glidden-Ralston 13-5
Des Moines Christian 10-7
Madrid 10-7
Van Meter 9-8
Guthrie Center 8-10
Panorama 8-10
West Central Valley 7-10
Coon Rapids-Bayard 5-11
East Greene 2-16

REGIONAL PREVIEW: EG heads to Coon Rapids tonight to take on Coon Rapids-Bayard in opening round regional Class 1A action. EG dropped a close game to the Crusaders 12-11 on its last trip to Coon Rapids on June 9. Last week, the two teams tangled again in Grand Junction, but CRB got the better of the Hawkettes, 12-3.

It’s a new season tonight though and the Hawkettes will be out to redeem their earlier losses. CRB finished just ahead of EG in the conference race at 5-11 but the Crusaders fared better in non-conference play as their overall season mark is 16-12.

EG and CRB face off at 7:30 p.m. as the nightcap in a doubleheader. Exira faces Adair-Casey in the first game at 6 p.m. Those two teams are in the lower half of the Coon Rapids bracket and the winner will advance to play the winner of the Earlham-CAM game tonight in Anita in the quarterfinals on Friday, also in Anita. Both of those games are at 7 p.m.

The EG-CRB winner takes on Glidden-Ralston, which got a first round bye, in a quarterfinal game at Coon Rapids, also on Friday. Winners of the games in Anita and Coon Rapids will meet in the regional semifinals on Monday at 7 p.m in Coon Rapids. The winner of that game will face the winner of the lower half of the Region 4 bracket in the final in Ames next Wednesday (June 15) at 7 p.m. with winner advancing to the 1A State Tournament in Fort Dodge.

EYE ON GJ SAYS: Earlham and Glidden-Ralston look to have the upper hand in the Coon Rapids half of the bracket. GR ended the season at 22-7 and finished just behind Earlham in the always tough West Central. GR was ranked as high as seventh earlier this season. Earlham (26-8) should have an easy time in its half of the CR bracket opposite three teams from the Rolling Hills, which is not as competitive as the West Central which has a mix of 1A and 2A teams. The RH is all 1A teams. Exira won the RH at 9-1, just ahead of CAM and Orient-Macksburg, both at 7-3. Exira is 11-6 overall, CAM is 12-8 and Adair-Casey is 2-22.

West Central opponents Madrid and Van Meter are the in the lower half of the regional bracket. Madrid (15-17) opens at home against Colo-Nesco while Van Meter (9-19) hosts Grandview Park Baptist. The winners of those two games will face off Friday at Madrid, with the winner advancing to the semifinal round against the winner of the Sully quarterfinal game. Lynnville-Sully will be the favorite, hosting the first three rounds on its home diamond. Lynnville-Sully hosts BGM (Brooklyn) in round one and the winner will take on the GMG (Garwin)-North Tama (Traer) winner on Friday in Sully. Lynnville-Sully (20-7) is ranked 15th in Class 1A.

In Class 2A, conference opponents Des Moines Christian (13-19) and West Central Valley (15-12) are in the upper bracket of Region 8 and Panorama and Guthrie Center are in the region’s lower bracket. They all face stiff competition. DMC takes on Bondurant-Farrar (28-3), the No. 4 ranked team in Class 2A, Thursday night in Bondurant. West Central Valley travels to Greenfield to face Nodaway Valley (23-9) on its home diamond. The winner of those two games will advance to the quarterfinal at Bondurant on Friday. The winner Friday advances to the upper bracket semifinal in Truro, facing either Wayne (Corydon), Mount Ayr, Central Decatur or I-35 (Truro).

Panorama (13-16) travels to Alleman on Thursday to face North Polk (26-6), which tied for the Heart of Iowa-Large title with Bondurant-Farrar at 17-1. North Polk, ranked No. 3 in Class 2A, won the 2A state championship last year over Solon 4-2 and finished the season 40-4. North Polk has made 15 state tournament appearances and has been to state the last four seasons straight, also winning a title in 2006 and finishing third in 2007.

Guthrie Center takes on another area softball power, Woodward-Granger (20-9) at Woodward on Thursday. The winner advances to the quarterfinal in Alleman on Friday against the North Polk-Panorama winner. The Friday winner moves on to the semifinal game in Greenfield on Monday. Teams on the opposite side of the Greenfield (lower) bracket are Shenandoah, Clarinda, Griswold and Red Oak. The regional final is Wednesday, July 15, at Adel.

Also in Class 2A on Thursday, Jefferson-Scranton (14-13) opens regional play at Farnhamville against Prairie Valley (14-16) while Ogden (14-13) hosts Gilbert (5-15). Class 3A opens regional action on Saturday. Perry (1-27) travels to Carroll and Boone (21-8) hosts Nevada. The winners advance to the semifinal round at Boone on Monday with the regional final on Wednesday at Dallas Center.