Sunday, August 4, 2019 ● The Gazette 1B

SPORTS
CHIPPING FOR THE PIN STATE BASEBALL

Lynx fall short of Class 2A title

David Harmantas/Freelance
Bryan Luedtke hits from the rough
during the 86th Iowa Open on Satur-
day at Blue Top Ridge Golf Course in
Riverside. More photos, 3B; results,
10B.
North Linn upended “I love all my team-
mates.”
by Van Meter, 6-0 Boge, David Seber and
Jake Hilmer were the
By Jeff Johnson, The Gazette Lynx’s three seniors and
won an astounding 191
DES MOINES — No, it games in their five-year
didn’t end the way they careers. That included
wanted it to. But that four trips to the state
will never diminish all tournament.
they accomplished. The trio were just
Not by a long shot. as lethal in basketball,
These guys were special. helping their school to
“I wouldn’t trade its first state champion-
these last five years for ship this past season.
anything,” North Linn’s They were a major part
Trevor Boge said, after of why this particular
his team’s 6-0 loss to Van baseball team got as
Meter in Saturday af- far as it did this season.
ternoon’s Class 2A state Let’s just say few expect- Cliff Jette/The Gazette
championship baseball The North Linn Lynx gather on the field following their 6-0 loss to Van Meter in the
game at Principal Park. ;; CLASS 2A, PAGE 4B Class 2A championship game Saturday at Principal Park in Des Moines.

SIDELINE

XAVIER BACK ON TOP

NBA

Marble signs deals

with Golden State
Former Iowa basketball
player Devyn Marble will be
going to training camp with
the NBA’s Golden State War-
riors this fall.
Emiliano Carchia, reporter
for international basketball
website Sportando, reported
Saturday that Marble signed
an Exhibit 10 contract with the
Warriors, and Marble retweet-
ed that Saturday afternoon.
An Exhibit 10 contract is a
non-guaranteed, minimum-
salary deal. Exhibit 10 attach-
ments allow players to earn a
bonus of $5,000 to $50,000 in the
event that they are waived by
the NBA team, then sign a deal
with that franchise’s G League
affiliate and remain with that
affiliate for 60 days.
Marble was a second-round
draft pick of the Denver Nug-
gets in 2014, then was traded
to the Orlando Magic. He ap-
peared in 44 games over two
seasons with Orlando. He
spent the last three seasons
playing in Europe, most re-
cently with Trento in Italy,
where he averaged 13.3 points.
Marble is a 6-foot-6 guard
who played at Iowa from 2010
to 2014.
— Mike Hlas, The Gazette

GOLF

Ault, Schrimper tied

for lead of C.R. Amateur
CEDAR RAPIDS — Kevin
Ault and Ryan Schrimper lead Cliff Jette/The Gazette
the Cedar Rapids Amateur af- The Cedar Rapids Xavier Saints celebrate their 8-1 victory over DeWitt Central in the Class 3A championship game Saturday at Principal Park in Des
ter two rounds. Moines.
Ault (69), the 2017 winner,
and Schrimper (67), a former
Mount Mercy golfer, both sit Saints add to title haul, tian was tired, out of breath top-ranked Saints defeated Bastian fired a complete
at 9-under after Saturday’s and buried among a mass of No. 3 DeWitt Central, 8-1, for game four-hitter, tallying 12
round at Ellis Golf Course.
claim second baseball title teammates. the Class 3A state baseball strikeouts, and the Saints
Ryan Schlueter (67), assis- He may have even taken a tournament title Saturday at rapped 12 hits to capture
tant golf coach at Mount Mer- By K.J. Pilcher, The Gazette cleat or two to the head, but Principal Park. “For a state their second state baseball
cy, is a shot back at 8-under, it was well worth it. championship, are you kid- championship and first since
and Justin Pansegrau (70), the DES MOINES — Cedar “It’s a lot of fun,” Bastian ding me? I’d take anything.
winner in 2015 and 2016, is at Rapids Xavier’s Bryson Bas- said of the dogpile after the I’d take a bullet.” ;; CLASS 3A, PAGE 4B
6-under. They are the final
foursome teeing off today at
Ellis.
MIKE HLAS I THE GAZETTE
Dickerman opens big

C.R. graybeards vital cogs on ISU’s O-line

lead in Senior Open
CEDAR RAPIDS — Rob
Dickerman surged into the
lead of the Cedar Rapids

Senior Open on Saturday at
Gardner Golf Course.
Dickerman carded a 68 in
the second round to open up a
3-shot lead over the field going
into the final round today at
Ellis Golf Course.
The only other player under
par after two rounds is Todd
Hingtgen, at 3-under.
Spence in the lead
of Iowa City Amateur
IOWA CITY — Recent Iowa
City West grad Kyle Spence
carded a 73 Saturday at Fink-
bine Golf Course, but main-
tained his lead in the Iowa
City Men’s Amateur.
Spence sits at 5-under after
two rounds.
A
MES — It’s a bit ironic
that Matt Campbell’s
football reputation
began by building good of-
fensive lines, but that’s the
area that has progressed
the slowest as he enters his
fourth year as Iowa State’s
coach.
“I do know there’s no
shortcut to building an of-
fensive line,” Campbell said
at his team’s Media Day on
Thursday. “If you look at
our first offensive lines, Year
1 and Year 2, we were trying
to bridge it together, piece it
together.”
Iowa State lost two im-
pact players to the NFL
last spring in running back
David Montgomery and
play. It’s got to be five guys
communicating as one to be
successful.”
What separated Iowa State
from Iowa in the Cyclones’
13-3 loss in Iowa City last
year, more than anything,
was the offensive line play.
ISU’s O-line was stymied in
what was its season-opener,
and immediately moved
pieces around after that
game. The Cyclones went on
to average 30.9 points over
their final nine games.
Now, for the first time
entering a season in Camp-
bell’s four years here, the
Matthew Putney/Freelance
offensive line is viewed as an
Iowa State offensive linemen Julian Good-Jones (left) and Bryce Meeker asset.
poses for a photo during football media day Thursday in Ames. Both are “We’re finally to the point
from Cedar Rapids and enter the 2019 season with 58 starts between them where there are some guys
© 2019 The Gazette

One shot back is Ned Cart-
er, a former Kirkwood and
Mount Mercy golfer, and Chad
McCarty, who has won the
event eight times.
The Gazette
receiver Hakeem Butler.
The program may make up
for that in something less
flashy, which is consistency
and perhaps more from its
offensive line.
on the Cyclone offensive line. who have played together,”
Campbell said. “There is
“At Iowa State it’s not a learned skill. It’s a craft. veteran-ness, cohesiveness.”
snap your fingers and have a You’ve got to work in the Not only are four senior
great offensive line,” Camp- weight room, work at how
bell said. “Offensive play is you eat, work at how you ;; HLAS, PAGE 2B
4B The Gazette ● Sunday, August 4, 2019

STATE BASEBALL
CLASS 1A

Alburnett can’t stop Newman 3-peat

Alburnett pitcher Sam Hulk reacts as Mason City Newman wins the Class 1A
championship game Saturday at Principal Park in Des Moines.

Pirates cap memorable season as runners-up

By K.J. Pilcher, The Gazette Cliff Jette photos/The Gazette
done today,” Alburnett Coach
Ryan Stensland said. “We just Mason City Newman’s Jack Maznio (18) reacts after sliding past Alburnett pitcher Kale Rose (7) to score a run during the
DES MOINES — Alburnett need to execute better, but Class 1A championship game at Principal Park in Des Moines.
baseball has enjoyed a fun ride we’re so proud of these guys
this season. for what they’ve accomplished the second thanks to a leadoff But Newman starter Doug Fitzgerald, who will continue
The Pirates tallied 34 this season.” double from Jacob Schutt and Taylor buckled down immedi- his career at Kirkwood, belted
victories, reached the state “One game doesn’t define a the first of two RBI singles ately getting a strikeout, pop- a two-run home run over
baseball tournament for the season. Hopefully, it will give from Kyle Armour in as many out and flyout to strand two the wall in left to make it 5-1.
second time in school his- us some motivation to get back innings. and end the threat. Newman added four runs on
tory and made its first final here again.” Alburnett (34-6) had its Parker and Stallman sand- one hit and five walks in the
appearance. Unfortunately, Many of the Pirates contin- chances to exchange blow for wiched Shane Neighbor’s one- fifth. Newman closed it with
the journey hit a roadblock in ued a successful season that blow with the Knights and al- out walk, loading the bases in a couple walks and scored the
perennial power Mason City included a runner-up perfor- most did. the fourth trailing 3-1. A fluke final run when Merritt McCa-
Newman. mance in their state basketball The bottom of the order base running mistake caught rdle was hit by a pitch with the
Second-seeded Alburnett debut. put the Pirates on the board. Stallman between first and bases loaded.
earned its first state runner- “It was a heck of a season Austin Stallman reached on second. After a brief stalemate “I don’t know how many
up finish after an 11-1 loss in for these guys,” senior Keaton a leadoff walk. Sam Fulk fol- between runners and fielders, walks we gave up today,”
six innings to top-ranked New- Parker said. “The underclass- lowed with a double, putting Parker broke for home and Stensland said. “We gave up
man in the Class 1A champi- men stepped up. We really runners on second and third was thrown out. Alburnett some free bases. We didn’t ex-
onship game Saturday at Prin- played as a team. I’m really with none out. Kale Rose came was turned away when sec- ecute ourselves on the bases.
cipal Park. The Knights (38-3) happy for the team (and) that to the plate and delivered ond baseman Jack McGuire That is probably the difference
won their third straight title we made it here.” Alburnett’s lone RBI with a snagged Sam Fulk’s hard liner. in the game.”
and eighth overall. Newman was too much for single to right, cutting the defi- After that, the Knights l Comments: (319) 368-8679;
“We couldn’t quite get it Alburnett, scoring twice in cit to 2-1. began to pull away. Josh kj.pilcher@thegazette.com

Class 2A/Lynx seniors

finish unparalleled run
;; FROM PAGE 1B
ed 40 wins and a championship
game appearance.
“At the start, we didn’t re-
ally think we’d be here at all,”
Seber said. “I did not expect
us to be in the champion-
ship game. Not at all. But we
worked hard, and we got here.
It’s kind of hard saying good-
bye to all of these people, espe-
cially those other two seniors.”
“With the group we had last
year, we just had a lot of ques-
tion marks,” Hilmer added.
“Then moving up a class, too.
I don’t think a lot of people in
our own community said ‘Well,
we’re going to go to the state
title game.’ Maybe it was an
outside thought. But for this
Cliff Jette photos/The Gazette
group to accomplish what we
Cedar Rapids Xavier’s Garrett Ries (right) holds up the trophy as the Saints celebrate their 8-1 victory over DeWitt did ... This has been a fantastic
Central in the Class 3A championship game Saturday at Principal Park in Des Moines. season. I think we outkicked
our coverage. Sure, we would
seventh.
“He just had the better day
today,” Seber said.
“You’re not going to win any
games scoring zero runs,” said
Boge, the starting and losing
pitcher. “We had seven hits,
but we could just never string
them together. They had hits
at crucial times, and we didn’t.
That’s all it was.”
Van Meter (34-3), which won
its second state baseball title,
scored a pair of unearned runs
in the top of the first, then add-
ed three gamebreakers in the
fourth. North Linn’s defense
could have made a couple of
plays in that inning that ended
up being scored hits.
Another unearned run
capped the scoring in the sixth.
Hilmer set the nation’s
all-time career hits record
recently and finished one of
the best baseball-basketball ca-

Class 3A/Xavier puts bow

have loved one more win. But reers this area will ever see by
it’s been a great season. So singling through the left side
much to be proud of.” with two outs in the bottom of
North Linn (40-6) didn’t play the seventh.

on dominant 41-2 season

its best game here and ran How very appropriate.
into a pitcher who might have “I’ll spend the next few
given them an inch but not hours looking back at the last
certainly any more than that. five years,” he said. “I’ll prob-
Anthony Pottorff threw a com- ably focus on the good times.
;; FROM PAGE 1B was really feeling good and with an RBI single. Xavier plete game, allowing seven hits That’ll cheer myself up, help
hitting my spots and the cor- was 4-for-4 with a walk after but never a big one. build me up a little bit.”
2006. Xavier finished with a ners,” Bastian said. “(Catch- Sabers’ starter Lucas Bixby The Lynx stranded the bases
program-best 41-2 record. er) Garrett (Ries) does a great retired the first two batters. loaded in the third inning and l Comments: (319) 398-8259;
“They’re unbelievable,” job behind the plate. We Skala also added an infield two on in both the fourth and jeff.johnson@thegazette.com
Xavier Coach Dan Halter work together really well, so RBI single in the third, giving
said. “It’s just crazy.” that’s a lot of help from him.” Xavier a 4-1 lead and answer-
The Saints’ seniors cap From Bastian’s perfor- ing an RBI double from Cen-
their athletic career with a mance on the mound to tral’s Garrett Finley in the
hefty title-trophy haul. Some the errorless defense and top half. He used his speed
were a part of two state foot- the timely hits, Xavier was to touch the bag before the
ball titles and contributed to clutch. The Saints were 7-for- pitcher, who was covering on
two state basketball crowns. 12 with two outs and 5-for-12 the grounder to first.
Now, there is one for baseball. with runners in scoring posi- Xavier continued the hit
“It’s been a blessing to tion, matching the number of barrage with three hits in the
grow up with them,” Quinn hits they had in the previous fourth, including an RBI dou-
Schulte said. “We were able two rounds combined. ble from Schulte and an RBI
to come back and get the job The approach helped them triple from Ries. The Saints
done one last time. No better take a three-run lead in the added two more in the fifth.
feeling.” first. Kyle Moeder ignited a All but one starter reached
Bastian was solid, improv- rally, hustling to turn a hit base and seven Saints scored
ing to 11-0 and notching his to right center into a double. at least one run.
second victory of the tour- After a walk to Ries, Nick “The strength of this team
nament. He earned the win Banowetz beat out an infield was the unit,” Halter said.
against ADM in the quarter- single and Moeder hurried “We’ve got some really good
© 2019 The Gazette

finals and finished with 22 home for the first run when players, but the depth is what
total strikeouts in his two the throw skipped by the first makes this a championship
appearances. baseman. team. Everybody contributes.”
He retired the last nine Bastian helped his own Cliff Jette/The Gazette
batters and 14 of the last 15. cause with an RBI single to l Comments: (319) 368-8679; North Linn’s Jake Hilmer heads to first base after getting a hit against Van Meter
“Once I got in a rhythm, I left and Nate Skala followed kj.pilcher@thegazette.com in the Class 2A championship game at Principal Park in Des Moines.