AKRON — Akron-Westfield's Natalie Nielsen flirted with a no-hitter Monday night in the 1A Regional finals at Akron before settling on a five-hitter in a 9-2 victory over Gehlen Catholic. Nielsen held the Lady Jays without a hit for 5 2/3 innings before surrendering five hits in the final two innings and gave up a pair of earned runs. Alayna Mullinix had a two-run single in the first inning to key a three-run opening frame and A-W added six more runs in the third. Natalie Nielsen helped her own cause with a three-run single in the sixth with Jaden Harris' RBI triple and Megan Meinen's RBI single closing out the scoring in a ten-batter inning. Two Gehlen errors in the middle of the sixth inning fueled the Westerners knock out punch. Akron-Westfield improves to 17-2 and will make their 15th State tournament appearance next Tuesday at 7:30 against Clarksville in Fort Dodge. Gehlen ends the season at 11-9.
CLASS 1A REGIONAL FINALS
(region 1)
#7-Akron-Westfield 9, Gehlen Catholic 2
Underwood 8, #5-West Monona 4
Ridge View 5, #8-West Lyon 0
#15-Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley 16, #12-Spirit Lake 10
#3-Humboldt 3, M-O-C/Floyd Valley 0
CLASS 3A SUB-STATE SEMIFINALS
(sub-state 1)
#2-Sergeant Bluff-Luton 5, Spencer 4
#10-M-O-C/Floyd Valley 3, Storm Lake 0
#5-Sioux City East 10, Fort Dodge 0
SERGEANT BLUFF — Freshman Lizzie Koonce worked out of two bases-loaded jams to give up just one run and pitched Le Mars to a 4-1 upset of No. 9 Sergeant Bluff-Luton Tuesday night in the 4A Regional finals at Sergeant Bluff, earning the Lady Bulldogs a trip to State tournament next week in Fort Dodge. The Warriors opened the bottom of the first inning with two walks and a hit to load the bases with no outs. Koonce proceeded to strike out the next three batters to escape without giving up any runs. S-B-L loaded the bases again in the sixth with one out but managed to score just one run. The Bulldogs struck for three runs in the third inning on a RBI single by Maggie Allen and a RBI groundout by Brooke Haage. A third unearned run scored on a error. The Bulldogs tacked on another run on a throwing error in the fifth. Both teams finished with five hits but five Sergeant Bluff-Luton errors did them in. The Lady Bulldogs played errorless softball. Le Mars improves to 14-5 for the season and play top-rated Carlisle (18-3) in a 3 o'clock quarterfinal on Monday at the Harlan Rogers Sports Complex.
Le Mars (14-5) 4, #9-Sergeant Bluff-Luton (17-5) 1
#1-Fort Dodge 12, Sioux City North 0
CLASS 1A SUB-STATE FINALS
#2-Remsen St. Mary's (19-0) 2, Newell-Fonda 0
#8-Kingsley-Pierson (15-1) 9, Logan-Magnolia 5
West Lyon 3, Unity Christian 0
#2-Sergeant Bluff-Luton 6, #10-M-O-C/Floyd Valley 1
#1-Johnston 6, #5-Sioux City East 5, 8 innings
N-Y Yankees 4, Washington 1, called in the 6th inning by rain
San Francisco at L-A Dodgers 8, San Francisco 1
DES MOINES — No. 8 Kingsley-Pierson opened the 2020 State baseball tournament in Des Moines Friday by stunning the top-seed, No. 1 Martensdale-St. Marys, 3-2 in eight innings. The Blue Devils took advantage of four K-P errors in the second inning to plate a pair of runs. The 2-0 advantage stood until the sixth when the Panthers tied it at 2-2 on RBI hits by Emerson Pratt and Malakie Christopherson. The Panthers took advantage of a two-out error that extended the inning and then proceeded to collect three straight singles. Both teams threatened in the seventh. Martensdale-St. Mary's loaded the bases in the seventh inning before freshman Beau Bubke came on to shut down the threat. K-P worked a one out walk in the eighth inning and Malakie Christopherson followed with a single to put runners at first and third. Matthew Christopherson then hit a fly ball to right field that was deep enough to score the runner from third base. Bubke then closed the game out in the bottom of the eighth to earn the win. Kingsley-Pierson improves to 16-2 and will play in the semifinals next Thursday at 10:30 against Don Bosco (18-1). Martendsdale-St. Mary's ends the year at 26-2.
#8-Kingsley-Pierson 3, #1-Martensdale-St. Marys 2, eight innings
#7-Don Bosco 3, #4-South Winneshiek 1
Cincinnati 7, Detroit 1
Texas 1, Colorado 0
Toronto 6, Tampa Bay 4
Cleveland 2, Kansas City 0
Boston 13, Baltimore 2
Minnesota 10, Chicago White Sox 5
N-Y Mets 1, Atlanta 0
Chicago Cubs 3, Milwaukee 0
Miami 5, Philadelphia 2
St. Louis 5, Pittsburgh 4
L-A Dodgers 9, San Francisco 1
SATURDAY RESULTS – July 25
DES MOINES — Second-ranked Remsen St. Mary's took advantage of five errors in the first three innings by Burlington Notre Dame to build an early 7-1 lead Saturday afternoon and the Hawks routed the Nikes 11-1 in five innings to advance to the semifinals at the 1A State baseball tournament in Des Moines. Levi Waldschmitt hit a bases-loaded triple into the left field corner in the fifth inning and then scored on a wild pitch to end the game on the 'Ten-run Rule'. Blaine Harpenau ran his record to 8-0 for the season, throwing a three-hitter with five strikeouts, but needing to survive five walks. Harpenau had a two-run single in the second inning to extend a 2-1 lead to 4-1. Xavier Galles had a pair of doubles to pace a five-hit St. Mary's offensive attack that was fueled by not only five Notre Dame errors but seven walks and three hit-batters. Remsen St. Mary's (20-0) plays Mason City Newman (18-5) in the semifinals at 1:30 next Thursday at Principal Park. The two tradition-rich programs have combined for 37 State appearances and have collectively won 12 summer titles.
#6-Mason City Newman 6, #3-Council Bluffs St. Albert 5
#2-Remsen St. Mary's 11, Burlington Notre Dame 1, five innings
NOTE: postgame comments from Skylar Waldschmitt, Blaine Harpenau, Xavier Galles and coach Dean Harpenau are on the KLEM Saturday Podcast
(high school football revised plans for 2020)
To better prepare for the 2020 varsity football season, the IHSAA developed a revised schedule plan which allows for member school adjustments due to COVID-19. Football remains the only Iowa high school sport with regular season schedules and postseason qualifying managed by the IHSAA. The revised plan considers flexibility for school return concerns, geography, postseason qualifying, transportation, and possible COVID-19 cases as rationale for changing previously announced varsity football schedules.
The first practice (August 10) and first competition (August 27) dates are currently unchanged in this revision, as are the weeks for state semifinals (November 13-15) and finals (November 20-21).
This revised plan was approved by the Board of Control on Friday. The IHSAA plans to release further fall season and sport-specific guidance next week. Team schedules will be compiled and released when available.
2020 Scheduling Plan
REGULAR SEASON: A seven-week regular season will be conducted. Teams will have the option of scheduling five, six, or seven games within those seven weeks.
POSTSEASON: All teams in all classes will qualify for the postseason. Brackets will consist of six rounds for each classification. The IHSAA will determine postseason pairings with geography, quality, and team availability as primary considerations. This is intended to be a one-time measure for postseason formatting.
OPTIONAL DATES: Week 1 and Week 2 will be optional game dates. Opponents, locations, and participation may determined by member schools in 11-player football.
RPI FORMULA: With all teams allowed entry into the postseason, the Ratings Percentage Index will not be utilized in 2020 to determine at-large berths or seeding.
DISTRICT GAMES: Teams in Classes 3A, 2A, 1A, and A will play their scheduled district games in the previously established order. This change means the prior Week 5 becomes Week 3, Week 6 becomes Week 4, etc., in this revised plan.
CLASS 4A: Participating schools will schedule their own regular season games. The previously announced group format and success model will not be implemented in 2020. The IHSAA encourages conferences to collaborate in creating their schedules.
EIGHT-PLAYER: Teams will play Week 3 through Week 9 of their previously announced schedules in what is now Week 1 through Week 7. Due to the number of teams in the classification, Eight-Player has opponents scheduled on the optional dates of Week 1 and Week 2. Teams in Eight-Player may opt out of those contests, but may not change opponents or locations unless an agreement is reached with all participating teams and the IHSAA.
MISSING GAMES: Due to the potential of positive COVID-19 cases forcing players and teams to miss games in the 2020 regular season, the revised plan does not penalize teams with a loss or forfeit due to state, county, or local health department determinations. A missed game due to COVID-19 will be considered a "no contest" and will not be made up. Teams may work with the IHSAA and new possible opponents should they have open dates due to scheduled opponents missing games.
OUT OF STATE GAMES: Teams with scheduled games against out of state opponents may attempt to reschedule those contests during the optional Week 1 or Week 2.
TEAM PARTICIPATION: Providing for start dates as currently scheduled, the IHSAA requests member schools state their intent to participate in football's regular season and postseason by August 17.
Colorado 3, Texas 2
Washington 9m, N-Y Yankees 2
Baltimore 7, Boston 2
Chicago White Sox 10, Minnesota 3
Tampa Bay 4, Toronto 1
L-A Angels 4, Oakland 1
Kansas City 3, Cleveland 2, 10 innings
Milwaukee 8, Chicago Cubs 3
Philadelphia 7, Miami 1
San Francisco 5, L-A Dodgers 4
SUNDAY SCHEDULE – July 26
N-Y Yankees 3, Washington 2
Tampa Bay 6, Toronto 5, 10 innings
Seattle 7, Houston 6
Miami 11, Philadelphia 6
Pittsburgh 5, St. Louis 1
Arizona 4, San Diego 3
Atlanta 14, N-Y Mets 1
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