Home Sports Dean Harpenau Earns Trio of Awards at IHSBCA Clinic

Dean Harpenau Earns Trio of Awards at IHSBCA Clinic

Harpenau celebrates during the Class 1A District Final against Gehlen Catholic. *Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Fisch*

Remsen St. Mary’s baseball head coach Dean Harpenau led the Hawks to an unbeaten regular season and a state runner-up finish this past season. On Saturday, Harpenau was rewarded for his hard work earning three prestigious awards.

Harpenau was named the 2022 Class 1A Northwest District Coach of the Year, the 2022 Class 1A State Co-Coach of the Year, and the NFHS Iowa High School Baseball Coach of the Year.

Harpenau’s team went 35-1 during the 2022 season and earned the program’s seventh consecutive trip to the state baseball tournament. The Hawks finished the season with five players on all-state teams with three on the first team. Harpenau’s team finished with the second best batting average (.396), the best pitching staff ERA (0.75), the best fielding percentage (.975), and the fewest errors (25) in the entire state. The St. Mary’s baseball team’s only loss of the season came in the state championship game by one run to New London. It was the Hawks’ seventh appearance in the summer state title game and 11th overall including their four trips to the fall title games in the 1980s.

Both the District and Co-Coach of the Year awards were presented to Harpenau by the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association (IHSBCA). The IHSBCA was founded in September of 1968 to promote the game of baseball while honoring players, coaches and contributors.