On Saturday, Remsen St. Mary’s claimed the district title with a 6-0 win over Gehlen Catholic at home.
The offensive output was limited to one half inning in the Remsen St. Mary’s victory. The Hawks and Jays remained off the scoreboard through the first two and a half innings until Remsen St. Mary’s got things rolling in the bottom half of the third. The Hawks scored six runs while sending 11 hitters to the plate in that frame. Blaine Harpenau opened up the scoring by driving in Levi Waldschmitt on a double to right center field. Harpenau was thrown out trying to stretch the double into a triple. That made it look like the Jays would work out of it. The Hawks then exploded for five runs with two outs, and they were the only runs needed in the win.
Remsen St. Mary’s Head Coach Dean Harpenau says that, while the six runs were nice to score in the third, he would have liked to have seen some more consistent offense throughout the game.
Blaine Harpenau was solid once again on the mound for the Hawks. He went four innings, allowed two hits, no runs, and struck out 11 in his start. His 11 strikeouts move his career total to 519 which is the 20th best career total in the history of Iowa high school baseball. Coach Harpenau says that the key to Blaine’s success on Saturday came from his ability to get great movement from his breaking ball.
The Hawks improve to 25-3 on the year and move on to the Substate final in Class 1A where they will matchup with Newell-Fonda. The Mustangs and Hawks met up earlier this season on July 2nd with Remsen St. Mary’s taking a 3-2 win. The Hawks committed three errors in Saturday’s win against Gehlen. Coach Harpenau says that communication will be key as well as some extra tight defense against a small ball offense.
Gehlen Catholic’s season comes to an end with a record of 18-13. The Jays graduate four seniors of this year’s team: Traegen Kramer, Zack Kraft, Derek Von Arb, and Hunter Klein. Gehlen Catholic Head Coach Kirk Kronaizl says that he will miss the seniors’ leadership on and off the field.
Remsen St. Mary’s will play Newell-Fonda on Tuesday night at 7:00 in Cherokee for a trip to state. You will be able to listen to that contest on KLEM on Tuesday.
Saturday Scores:
Baseball:
Class 1A District 2:
Newell-Fonda 7 Bishop Garrigan 2
Class 1A District 15:
#10 Tri-Center 10 Logan-Magnolia 0
Class 1A District 16:
#5 Kingsley-Pierson 11 Woodbury Central 1
Class 2A District 1:
Unity Christian 7 West Lyon 2
Class 2A District 2:
#7 Estherville Lincoln Central 7 Spirit Lake 3
Class 2A District 3:
Alta-Aurelia 11 Pocahontas Area 0
Class 2A District 4:
#2 Van Meter 11 ACGC 3
