Lynnville-Sully baseball locks up another state tournament berth

SULLY — Jack Bowlin pitched in 10 games last season and got the final two outs in the state championship game.

But Bowlin is a fixture in the Hawks’ batting order for the first time in his career this summer, and he’s taking advantage of his opportunity.

Bowlin collected two more hits and drove in two runs to help the Class 1A No. 3 Lynnville-Sully baseball team cruise past Wayne, 16-1, in the District 11 semifinals on July 8.

“I like to see the ball deep and put it in play,” said Bowlin, who leads the Hawks with 32 hits and is batting .400 in his first season as a full-time starter. “I’m not trying to hit it too hard. I want to find a gap. I didn’t find the barrel very much tonight, but I found a way to get on base and drove in some runs, too.”

Bowlin got the Hawks on the board in the first inning when he delivered a two-out RBI double that scored Ethan Dunsbergen, who scored four runs as a courtesy runner for Carson Maston.

Maston doubled in the first and singled in the second, third and fourth to complete a four-hit night. He’s moved into the team lead with a .423 batting average. Maston also has a team-best 10 doubles and 46 total bases.

Wayne scored first in the game. The Falcons scored an unearned run against Maston in the top of the first. Braden Werts drew a one-out walk and then scored on an L-S error.

That was the only run against Maston, who allowed no earned runs, one hit and two walks in his four-inning complete game. He fanned six and now has 111 strikeouts in 56 innings this summer.

“After the first inning, I thought it was all right. It wasn’t great tonight by any means,” Maston said. “I wasn’t efficient enough early in counts and early in the game, but I got better as the game went on.”

Maston (9-0) was slated to be cut off at 90 pitches so he was still available for the district championship game a few days later. But he got through four frames in only 65 pitches.

“(Maston) is pitching just fine. He’s hard on himself,” L-S head baseball coach Scott Alberts said. “I would like him to paint corners a little better than he is, but he’s throwing really well.

“We went into the game with a plan to not call as much movement. I didn’t want to do it until we got through the order one time for sure. We minimized that because that’s his strength and we are working real hard with him on being more confident with his fastball. We need the fastball to set the table for everything else.”

The Hawks (25-2) added on to their lead with a six-run second.

Brody Borg opened the frame with a single and then went to second on an error. He went to third on a sacrifice bunt by Gavin Olea and scored on another Wayne error. Back-to-back RBIs by Matthew Mintle and JD Richards pushed the margin to 4-1.

The inning also featured RBI hits by Terran Gosselink and Lannon Montgomery and Bowlin delivered an RBI ground out to second.

The Hawks sent 10 batters to the plate in the second, eight hit in the third and all nine L-S players in the lineup batted in the fourth.

Olea got hit by a pitch to open the third, Gavin Fisk reached on an infield single and Mintle loaded the bases with his second hit of the day.

Richards delivered an RBI single to extend the lead to 7-1, and the Hawks tacked on three more to improve their margin to 10-1.

“I like the way we made adjustments. We didn’t make adjustments in a game last week, but we made them much quicker today,” Alberts said. “They threw a lefty at us. That’s a different look, and he wasn’t throwing as hard as we see sometimes. They did a good job being patient. They were seeing pitches deep and making really good contact. They squared the ball up really well tonight.”

Olea was hit by another pitch with one out in the fourth and then Fisk was hit by a pitch.

With two outs, Richards, Maston and Montgomery all delivered RBI hits and Bowlin reached on an error. Montgomery’s single ended the game early due to the 15-run mercy rule.

Maston led the Hawks with four hits, one double and one RBI. Richards totaled three hits, three runs, three RBIs and one steal, Bowlin tallied two hits, one double, two RBIs and two steals and Montgomery posted two hits and two RBIs.

“I’m just trying to do damage at the plate,” Maston said. “I don’t want to over swing or do too much. I just want to put a good swing on it and get as many barrels as I can. I’m seeing a lot more fastballs after I got moved down in the lineup, and I like that pitch.”

Montgomery leads the Hawks with 38 RBIs and Richards has a team-best 20 steals.

Mintle contributed two hits, two runs, two steals and one RBI, Fisk added one hit, three runs and two steals and he was hit by one pitch and Gosselink chipped in one hit, one run, one RBI and one steal.

Borg got the other hit, Olea was hit by two pitches and Dunsbergen scored four runs as a courtesy runner. Jordan Dunsbergen, Wyatt Mathis and Colton Alberts all scored one run as pinch runners.

West led the Falcons (7-13) with two walks and one run and Maddux Moore got Wayne’s only hit.

Maston labored through the first inning. Werts walked and scored one an error and Moore singled with two outs to put a pair of runners on base.

Maston had a 1-2-3 inning in the fourth, but Wayne’s No. 9 hitter Bryer Hoover reached on an error in the second. Werts led off the third with a walk but was stranded on third base after a strikeout and back-to-back ground outs to second.

Coach Alberts was hoping his squad would go through the playoffs without allowing a run. He’ll have to settle for not giving up an earned run now.

“I didn’t want to give up a single run in the playoffs,” Coach Alberts said. “Our defense is strong enough we can do that. But you can’t give a team free bases.”

Notes: Montgomery and Maston have started every L-S game for each of the past three seasons. Montgomery has 122 career varsity starts in five seasons, while Maston has made 110 starts in his career. … Wayne had just 11 players on its roster.

Lynnville-Sully 10, North Mahaska 1

SULLY — The Hawks allowed another unearned run in the first and committed two more errors in the field, but Lynnville-Sully used an eight-run fourth to down rival North Mahaska in the 1A District 11 championship game on July 12.

Lynnville-Sully countered the Warhawks with two runs in the first inning, and the hosts never trailed again during a 10-1 victory.

The Hawks swept the season series 3-0 and outscored North Mahaska 37-5 in those contests.

It was the 13th straight win for L-S against the Warhawks, who are 19-19 in the series since 2009.

“There’s a little of bit of pressure because we have to come out and perform like we know we can, but we feel like we are good enough so it’s more fun than pressure to me,” Bowlin said. “We know we can make another run.”

Bowlin, Montgomery and Mintle all had two hits to lead the Hawks at the plate.

The Hawks out-hit North Mahaska 11-5 and North Mahaska (14-10) committed seven errors.

Montgomery added two runs, two RBIs and one steal, Bowlin totaled two RBIs and one steal and Mintle scored one run.

Borg registered one hit, one RBI and two walks, Olea doubled and had two RBIs and Fisk finished with one hit and one run and was hit by one pitch.

Maston was hit by two pitches and scored one run, Richards collected one hit and one run and Gosselink was hit by one pitch and had one hit.

Richards leads the Hawks with 33 runs, Gosselink has been hit by a team-most 14 pitches and Maston posts a team-best .584 on-base percentage.

Ethan Dunsbergen and Jordan Dunsbergen both scored one run as courtesy runners and Mathis and Colton Alberts scored one run as pinch runners.

“There have been plenty of new faces contributing to this team,” Maston said. “They have all done a fantastic job. We have high expectations for all of our players, and we keep pushing to meet those expectations. The new faces have definitely made an impact and accepted their role to help the team.”

Maston started on the mound and was pulled at 65 pitches. He allowed one unearned run on three hits and one hit batter and struck out eight in 3 2/3 innings. His ERA lowered to 1.10.

Trace Carlson (2-1) earned the pitching win after surrendering no earned runs on two hits and one walk.

He struck out three in 3 1/3 innings and now has a .53 ERA in his 26 2/3 innings.

“(Carlson) has been our strike thrower this year,” Maston said. “He’s a competitor and all he wants to do is win. He’s going to go out and put us in a winnable position.”

Jack Kelderman led North Mahaska with two hits and allowed two unearned runs in 2 2/3 innings on the mound.

Warhawk pitchers walked two and hit four batters in the loss.

Lynnville-Sully 6, Ankeny Christian Academy 2

NEWTON — The Hawks are headed back to the state tournament. And they’ll have the opportunity to defend their 1A championship next week after downing Ankeny Christian Academy, 6-2, in the 1A Substate 6 championship game on Tuesday.

Lynnville-Sully once again rallied from an early hole and committed zero errors in the come-from-behind win. The Eagles were plagued by three errors, and the Hawks had a 7-5 advantage in hits.

“Some people think it’s easy to do,” Coach Alberts said about advancing to the state tournament. “It’s extremely hard. Anything can happen. We do so much to prepare the guys, but it’s a game of inches.

“It’s humbling to be in this spot. To see them finish the way they have is awesome. But we’re not done yet.”

The Eagles led 2-0 after scoring twice in the second. L-S plated three runs in the third to take the lead for good and added three in the fifth to close out the win.

The Hawks will be playing in their third straight state tournament. They lost 1-0 in the semifinals two seasons ago but hoisted the championship trophy last summer.

Lynnville-Sully’s three seniors accounted for five of the team’s seven hits. Gosselink finished with two hits, two runs and one RBI. His third triple of the season drove in one of the three runs in the fifth.

Montgomery added two hits, two RBIs, one walk and one steal and Maston hit an RBI double in the fifth, was hit by a pitch and walked once. Montgomery collected one RBI in each of the three-run innings.

“The emotions are pretty surreal since it’s been three years in a row making it to state,” Montgomery said. “I’ve been playing with (Maston) my entire life and with (Gosselink) throughout high school. We play really well together, and this team is special from top to bottom.”

Richards totaled one hit and one run, Borg had the other hit and Ethan Dunsbergen scored two runs. Olea walked once, Mintle scored one run and Bowlin contributed one RBI on a ground out in the third.

Maston was the winning pitcher after allowing two earned runs on four hits and four walks in five innings. He struck out 11 batters on 97 pitches.

Carlson tossed the final two innings and allowed one hit with one strikeout. He got through the sixth and seventh in just 23 pitches.

The Hawks scored their sixth straight win over Ankeny Christian. It was the second straight win over the Eagles in a substate championship game and they won 11-1 in the regular season matchup on May 31.

“Getting to state was the goal at the beginning of the season,” Gosselink said. “I truly believe our team is never out of any game. We will always try to claw back and win. It’s truly great to know that we get to play in Carroll again.”

Tyson Fincham led the Eagles (15-11) with two hits and one RBI and Lucas Erickson allowed one earned run on seven hits and three walks in six innings.

Lynnville-Sully takes a nine-game win streak into the state tournament. The Hawks play East Buchanan at Merchants Park at 4:30 p.m. on Monday in Carroll.

The Buccaneers are unranked but upset No. 5 North Linn, 5-4, in their substate title game. They also knocked off No. 8 Don Bosco, 5-4.

“They’re young, athletic and on a hot streak right now,” Coach Alberts said. “Sometimes, that’s what it takes. We don’t want to look ahead at all. We’re taking it one game at a time. We’re not going to overlook anyone.”

The 1A tournament in Carroll will not feature five teams ranked in the top 10 of the final coaches’ poll. No. 2 Sigourney, No. 4 Coon Rapids-Bayard and No. 10 Mason City Newman Catholic also were upset in their postseason brackets.

Lynnville-Sully defeated top-ranked Remsen-St. Marys in last year’s championship game. The two teams have played each other in the last two state tournaments.

Remsen-St. Marys will be the No. 1 seed, while the rest of the 1A field includes No. 6 Saint Ansgar, No. 7 Martensdale-St. Marys, No. 9 Kee and unranked Logan-Magnolia and Hillcrest Academy.

“It’s a new team. It’s a new set of guys. It’s a new set of goals,” Coach Alberts said. “Our goal is still to be back in that championship, but there are so many things that have to happen before now and then so our message is one game at a time.”