July 14, 2025

Baxter baseball ends historic season following loss to ACA in district title game

Bolts limited to one hit against Eagles

By Troy Hyde
Hayden Burdess

Baxter sophomore Hayden Burdess puts the ball in play against Ankeny Christian Academy on Saturday. The Bolts lost the district championship game, 6-0, but finished their season with a school-record 17 wins. (Photo by Randy Taylor) (Randy Taylor)

SULLY — The best baseball season in Baxter Bolts history ended on Saturday in the Class 1A District 12 championship game.

The Bolts were limited to one hit against Ankeny Christian Academy starting pitcher Landon Curtis, and the Eagles advanced to the Substate 6 championship game following a 6-0 win at Lynnville-Sully High School.

Nolan Hill

Baxter sophomore Nolan Hill, right, gets the stop sign at third base from Bolts head baseball coach Jeremy Moffit during the district championship game in Sully on Saturday. (Photo by Randy Taylor) (Randy Taylor)

The Eagles scored twice in the second to take the lead for good and then added three in the fifth and one in the seventh to advance to the substate championship game for the second straight season.

Ankeny Christian gets a rematch against Lynnville-Sully, which defeated the Eagles, 1-0, in nine innings in last year’s state-qualifying matchup.

The Hawks drubbed Ankeny Christian 11-1 earlier this season. They’ll play Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Newton.

The Bolts were plagued by five errors, and Jace Bottorff had the lone hit. He doubled in his final prep game.

Hayden Burdess walked and stole one base, Cael Wishman and Colton Moffit both walked once and Cody Spurgeon was hit by a pitch.

Spurgeon was hit by a school record 16 pitches this summer and sported a team-best .523 on-base percentage.

Baxter finalized its season at 17-7. The 17 wins set a new program record. The previous record was 10 set each of the past two seasons.

The loss also snapped Baxter’s six-game winning streak. ACA is 4-0 against the Bolts since 2020.

Tyson Fincham led the Eagles (15-10) with three hits, while Curtis fanned 10 and allowed one hit and three walks in seven innings. He used 103 pitches and will not be available in the substate championship game.

Cael Wishman

Baxter junior Cael Wishman tags out a runner from Ankeny Christian Academy at the plate during the Bolts' 6-0 loss in the district championship on Saturday. (Photo by Randy Taylor) (Randy Taylor)

Andrew Mora, Braley Miller and Conner Crosby all had two hits at the plate.

Moffit (9-2) took the loss for Baxter after allowing five runs — two earned — on eight hits, two walks and one hit batter in five innings. He struck out eight and ended his season with an earned run average of .90. Moffit fanned 119 batters in 70 1/3 innings, which currently leads the class.

Wishman tossed the final two frames and surrendered one unearned run on one hit and two walks. He struck out six and finished his season with 72 strikeouts in 36 2/3 innings.