DES MOINES — Remsen St. Mary’s avenged two regular season losses to War Eagle Conference rival West Sioux Saturday afternoon, claiming the Class 1A State baseball title at Principal Park in Des Moines, 8-5. It was the Hawks fourth State championship but their first in 31 years since winning three straight titles in 1983, 1984 and 1985. It was a see-saw battle Saturday but five Falcon errors proved too much for West Sioux to overcome. After a two-run double by St. Mary’s designated hitter Brett Galles in the second inning staked Jacob Wesselmann and the Hawks to a 2-0 lead, West Sioux tallied four times in the third inning for a 4-2 advantage. Jake Lynott tied the game with a two-run triple and then back-to-back RBI singles by Porter Hummel and Justin Negaard put the Falcons in the drivers seat. Momentum quickly swung back the other way when West Sioux committed four errors in the fourth inning leading to five unearned runs and St. Mary’s went back in front 7-4. The Falcons would commit five errors on the day. West Sioux closed to within 7-5 with a run in the bottom of the fourth after Wesselmann loaded the bases with no outs and had to give way to reliever Connor Clark. Clark walked in a run before getting an inning-ending pop out. That would be as close as the Falcons would get as Clark threw four innings of one-hit shutout relief to earn a save and earn a victory for staff ace Jacob Wessellman, who improved to 12-and-2. The loss would be pinned on senior Porter Hummel, his first in 13 decisions. Hummel relieved starter Tucker Vander Feen in the fourth inning after the first two batters reached base for the Hawks. Hummel fell victim to the shoddy defensive inning and gave up the final three runs in that five-run inning. Connor Clark’s sixth inning RBI single completed the scoring for St. Mary’s. R.J. Staab led a ten-hit St. Mary’s attack with three hits and a RBI to finish 6-for-10 with three RBI’s at the State tournament. Remsen St. Mary’s finishes the season at 33-and-5, winning 24 of their final 25 games. Co-head coach Dean Harpenau, who celebrated his 50th birthday while in Des Moines Wednesday, was the winning pitcher in the 1985 State title game for the Hawks and Saturday in son Brady completed his high school career with a State title. Number-three West Sioux, the W-E-C champions this summer, finished at 27-and-3 with the loss.
