L-S baseball clinches state berth in walk-off fashion

PELLA — Lynnville-Sully head baseball coach Scott Alberts predicted at the end of last year’s state tournament season that his program would not be one-and-done.

But if the Hawks wanted to make it back to Carroll for the Class 1A state tournament, it was going to take stories like senior Davis Utech to get them there.

Utech was a part-time player on last year’s state tournament squad but started 28 games this summer. And when his number was called in the bottom of the ninth inning of a scoreless game in the 1A Substate 7 championship game, Utech delivered in a big way.

His double set the tone for the inning and Carson Maston’s two-out, two-strike RBI single was ultimately the difference in the Hawks’ 1-0 victory over Ankeny Christian Academy.

“It feels awesome. It was a team win. It took all of us,” said senior Corder Noun Harder, who tallied his team-best 45th hit of the season in the win. “Carson stepped up big for us. Davis got the big double. It was a team win, and it feels awesome.”

Maston came up with game-winning hit in extra innings and also dominated for five innings on the mound. He came on in relief for Lucas Sieck and got the win after allowing no runs, two hits and one walk.

Maston (8-0) struck out 12, needed just 79 pitches to complete five innings and lowered his earned run average to 1.14.

“The curve ball and slider were both working well. It kept their hitters off balance,” Maston said. “It feels great. There’s nothing better than a walk-off to go to state. There were moments we could have been better, but a win’s a win.”

The Hawks clinched their second straight berth into the 1A state tournament. They’ll open play against South Iowa Cedar League rival and eighth-ranked Sigourney at 1:30 p.m. on Monday at Merchants Park in Carroll.

Lynnville-Sully scored in its final at-bat to defeat the Savages, 4-3, in walk-off fashion in their one meeting earlier this season.

“It feels awesome. The kids had so much grit tonight,” Alberts said. “We played tough defense and the pitching was outstanding.”

Sieck started on the mound and allowed no runs, three hits and one walk. He took the no decision, used 65 pitches and lowered his ERA to 1.30.

In two games against ACA this summer, Maston and Sieck combined to allow no runs, seven hits and seven walks and struck out 21 in 16 innings.

It was the Hawks’ fourth straight win over the Eagles, which retired at 18-9.

Lynnville-Sully (26-3) will take an eight-game win streak into the state tournament. Five of those wins came by shutout.

Neither team had a hit after the first inning and the Hawks went at least three frames without a hit against Eli Christensen, who came into the game 7-2 with an ERA of 1.71.

The Hawks were out-hit 5-3, but two of Lynnville-Sully’s hits came in the deciding ninth inning.

Utech, who struck out in his other two at-bats, finally got a pitch he was looking for and laced it for a double.

“He threw me an inside fastball belt high,” Utech said. “We had seen him earlier this year and hit him better that day. He threw a heck of a game. He was locating the curve ball and kept us off balance. It was a great performance by him. I knew I could hit his fastball. I just had to see it.”

Maston said he also saw a fastball on his game-winning hit. Alberts said Maston lives for that moment.

“He’s an outstanding baseball player,” Alberts said. “There’s not a more perfect guy up at the plate in that situation. I had all the trust and faith in the world in him.”

The Hawks committed just one error in the win. They used solid defense to get out of a few jams early in the contest, too.

In the first inning, Landon Curtis doubled with one out and moved to third on a wild pitch. But L-S senior shortstop Blake Van Wyk threw him out at home on a fielder’s choice. Sieck got another ground ball to Maston at first to end the inning.

In the third, Lucas Erickson walked and then Christensen singled. Both runners moved up a base after the Hawks’ only error of the contest.

Noun Harder then stayed in front of a Sieck pitch in the dirt to keep the runners where they were. The senior pitcher then got out of the jam with a short fly ball to Terran Gosselink in right and a ground ball to Van Wyk at shortstop.

“Our veterans played like veterans today and that was great to see,” Alberts said. “That play to Blake, we were in a defense that his ball should have went to one. We were going to give up the run. He took a look at it, knew he had time and made an absolute perfect throw home. I just told him a minute ago that that play was huge.

“Corder played so well behind the plate and Davis came up with the big hit to get us going.”

Noun Harder finished with one hit and one walk, Maston delivered one hit and drove in his 28th run and Utech’s double was his fifth of the summer.

CJ Nikkel drew his team-best 23rd walk of the season and Matthew Mintle scored his 27th run of the summer.

“I have played baseball for a long time,” Utech said. “This was one of the hardest games I’ve played in my life. This is an amazing team. It feels amazing to punch our ticket with this much of a dogfight.”