January 30, 2025

Lynnville-Sully’s Alberts wins IHSBCA Class 1A Coach of the Year

Head Hawk wins honor after guiding program to first state baseball title since 1988

By Troy Hyde
Scott Alberts

Lynnville-Sully head baseball coach Scott Alberts was recognized as the Class 1A Coach of the Year by the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association at its annual banquet recently. (Submitted Photo)

Lynnville-Sully’s baseball rise to the Class 1A state championship took some time.

The Hawks won 10 games three seasons in a row starting in 2018, the summer Scott Alberts took over as head coach.

But in just seven seasons, Alberts guided Lynnville-Sully to its first state championship since 1988.

And for his efforts, Alberts was recently named the 1A Coach of the Year by the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association. He was the 1A Southeast District Coach of the Year before that.

“These kind of awards do not happen in a silo,” Alberts said. “There are a thousand contributing factors that lead to recognition like this. First, we have an amazing coaching staff that consists of Stacey Alberts and Conner Maston.”

L-S Baseball team

Lynnville-Sully head baseball coach Scott Alberts and the fifth-ranked Hawks clinched a spot in this week's state tournament with a 1-0, nine-inning win over Ankeny Christian Academy last summer. (Photo by Randy Taylor)

The Hawks finished the 2024 season 29-3. They outscored their opponents 13-1 at the state tournament and got redemption against Remsen St. Mary’s in the championship game.

Remsen St. Mary’s eliminated Lynnville-Sully, 1-0, in the state semifinals the season before. The Hawks were 29-2 that summer.

Before that, Alberts guided the Hawks to records of 18-11, 10-8, 10-21 and 10-13.

“Stacey and I have coached at Lynnville-Sully CSD for nearly 20 years,” Scott Alberts said. “We started on the softball field where Stacey was the head coach and I was the assistant and now we are on the baseball field in reversed roles.

“Stacey is an elite level coach who brings unmeasurable value to our program. Conner Maston returned home from college to spend the summer as a volunteer assistant coach. What an amazing gift he was to this team and he’s just getting started.”

Alberts also gave credit to former assistant coaches Blaize Kuhlmann and Dustin Dunsbergen.

L-S baseball team

Lynnville-Sully head baseball coach Scott Alberts, left, chats with his team during a mound visit this past summer (Troy Hyde/Newton News)

Kuhlmann currently volunteers to work with the athletes in the offseason and Dunsbergen was the pitching coach for Scott Alberts’ first six seasons as head coach.

“(Dunsbergen) helped me cut my teeth on the baseball field when I transitioned from softball,” Scott Alberts said. “I owe a lot to our parent volunteers who assist with the offseason workouts, the athletes who put in time and commitment to be a champion and our school, administration and community who supports us in all that we do.

“I was honored and humbled to accept this award for all of those who have had a hand in where Lynnville-Sully baseball is today.”

The other three baseball coaches who earned Coach of the Year honors were Andy Vanfossan of Underwood in 2A, Wyatt Zoske of North Polk in 3A and Bret Hoyer of Cedar Rapids Kennedy in 4A.