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The
Official Newspaper of Manchester and Delaware County, Iowa
Tuesday,
June 27, 2006 | |
West Delaware boys climb to top of Class 3A polls
by Ken Boesenberg
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The West Delaware boys baseball team has climbed to the top rung of the ladder in the Class 3A state baseball rankings.
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The young Hawks rattled off five straight wins last week to up the season record to a very impressive 24-2.
The week started with the Hawks traveling to Vinton where they swept the Vikings in a WaMaC Conference double header, 7-3 and 12-8.
Zach McCool picked up the pitching win in game one with some seventh inning help from Justin Gideon.
The Hawks trailed 2-0 after two innings but rallied for three runs in the top of the third to grab a one run lead.
Justin Gideon started the three run third with a single. Zach McCool drew a one out walk and BJ Hermsen reached on an error by the Viking third baseman. Jamie Vaske followed with a two out double to give the Hawks the lead.
The Hawks stretched their lead to 4-2 with a single run in the fourth on a double by Alex Boom and an RBI single by Phil Keppler.
A single run in the fifth gave the Hawks a 5-2 lead.
West Delaware added two runs in the top of the seventh inning on a double by Jamie Vaske, a single by Garrett Linderwell and a single by Phil Keppler.
Vinton scored a lone run in the home half of the seventh to make the final score 7-3 in favor of the Hawks.
Phil Keppler was the Hawks leading hitter in game one with three hits and two runs batted in. Nate Lahr and Jamie Vaske each had two hits.
In game two the Hawks banged out 17 hits in route to a 12-8 come from behind victory.
West Delaware scored the games first runs with a four run outburst in the top of the fourth inning.
After the first two batters were retired BJ Hermsen got the rally going with a sharp single. Nate Lahr followed with a single and Justin Gideon drove both Hermsen and Lahr home with a three-run home run. Doubles by Jamie Vaske and Garrett Linderwell gave the Hawks a 4-0 lead.
Vinton came right back with three runs in the home half of the third to pull to with in one run, 4-3.
The Hawks quickly answered with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth on consecutive hits by Zach McCool, Phil Keppler and BJ Hermsen to up their lead to 6-3.
Again Vinton answered the call with four runs of their own on two hits and three West Delaware errors.
The four runs gave Vinton the lead 7-6.
That lead was short lived as the Hawks stormed back with five runs in the top of the fifth to take an 11-7 lead.
Mitch Mormann got the Hawk rally started with a single. Zach McCool and Phil Keppler then each singled and BJ Hermsen blasted a double for a 9-7 Hawk lead.
A single by Jamie Vaske plated the final two runs of the inning.
Leading hitters for the Hawks in game two were Phil Keppler with three hits and two runs batted in, BJ Hermsen with three hits and two runs batted in and Justin Gideon with three hits and four runs batted in.
Zach McCool, Nate Lahr, Jamie Vaske and Mitch Mormann each had two hits for the Hawks.
On Tuesday night the Hawks hosted Class 4A Waterloo West in a JV, varsity double header.
The Hawks took the varsity game by a score of 2-0.
The Hawks managed just five hits off of West pitching but two of them were home runs.
Zach McCool gave the Hawks an early 1-0 lead in the home half of the third on a long home run to left field.
Justin Gideon made the score 2-0 with a towering home run in the fourth inning.
Those two runs were all that starting pitcher BJ Hermsen would need as he allowed West just two hits while striking out 15 batters in tossing the complete game victory.
On Wednesday afternoon the Hawks traveled to Starmont for a double header with the Stars.
West Delaware won the first game 6-2 before winning game two 13-0 in five innings.
The Hawks got off to a good start in game one with three first inning runs. Zach McCool led off with a double, with two out Nate Lahr walked, Justin Gideon doubled and Jamie Vaske singled to give the Hawks their three runs.
The Hawks added single runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to build a 6-0 lead before Starmont scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh to make the final score 6-2.
Zach McCool and Alex Boom led the Hawks in hitting with two hits each while BJ Hermsen drove in two runs.
In game two the Hawks scored a lone run in the top of the first before breaking the game open with a six run outburst in the second inning.
The Hawks scored their six runs on hits by Zach McCool, Phil Keppler, BJ Hermsen and Justin Gideon. As well they were aided by three passed balls and three Starmont errors in the inning.
Phil Keppler upped the Hawk lead to 8-0 in the fourth with a line drive home run into the wind to deep right center field.
A five run top of the fifth inning ended the game early.
The Hawks scored their five runs on singles by Alex Boom, a fielders choice by Bryce Ogee, singles by Zach McCool, Phil Keppler and Clark Butler.
Garrett Linderwell picked up the pitching victory for Hawks.
Leading hitters in game two were Zach McCool (two hits), Phil Keppler (three hits, three RBI’s), BJ Hermsen (two hits) and Justin Gideon (two hits).
This week the Hawks travel to DeWitt Central on Monday night, host Decorah for a JV, varsity double header on Wednesday night and finish the week with a trip to Waterloo Columbus for a big WaMaC Conference double header starting at 3:30 in Waterloo. |
Hawk girls go 4-0 in Ames, now 27-2
by Ken Boesenberg |
Thus far the 2006 softball season has been a very good one for the West Delaware Hawks.
They won eight straight games last week, including four in a row at the Ames Classic to run their season record to 27-2, the best on any team in Class 3A. |
At left, West Delaware’s Jenny Hood (#10) is greeted by her teammates after hitting a home run in the top of the seventh in the Hawks 1-0 win over Don Bosco last Thursday afternoon in Gilbertville. At right, Katie Murphy of West Delaware delivers a pitch during her no-hit pitching performance against Don Bosco in game one of the the Hawks double header sweep of the highly rated Dons in Gilbertville last Thursday afternoon.
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The only two losses the Hawks have suffered thus far is a pair of two run set backs to Class 4A North Scott early in the season.
West Delaware is currently ranked fourth in Class 3A. With the new rankings coming out this week and sporting that salty 27-2 record don’t be too surprised to see the Hawks join the West Delaware boys as the top team in Class 3A.
The Hawks started out the week with a pair of 3-0 WaMaC Conference wins over the visiting Vikings of Vinton/Shellsburg.
In game one the Hawks scored all three of their runs in the bottom of the second inning.
Sara Hermsen opened with a double. Renee Bockenstedt drove in Haley Klein, who was courtesy running for Hermsen, when her fly ball to center field was dropped. Bockenstedt came around to score on a double by Jenny Hood to give the Hawks a 2-0 lead.
Shay Pesek, running for Hood, was able to score the Hawks third and final run on a fielders choice.
Winning pitcher Katie Murphy tossed a two hitter against the Vikings.
In game two the Hawks scored single runs in the third, sixth and seventh innings to again win by a score of 3-0.
Sara Hermsen had two hits and a run batted in for the Hawks. Emily Prinsen also had two hits including a big run scoring triple in the seventh inning to drive in the Hawks third and final run of the game.
Senior pitcher, Megan Rolfes picked up the win as she tossed a complete game one-hitter at the visiting Vikings.
On Thursday afternoon the Hawks traveled to Gilbertville for a double header against the then fifth rated in Class A, Dons of Don Bosco.
The Hawks came home with a pair of wins, 1-0 in game one and 5-1 in game two.
Game one was a pitchers duel with neither team being able to do much offensively.
In the top of the seventh inning with one out the Hawks Jenny Hood crushed a solo home run over the left field fence to give the Hawks a 1-0 victory.
Winning pitcher, Katie Murphy tossed a no-hitter at the Dons, with the only base runner reaching on a dropped third strike in the second inning.
Renee Bockenstedt and Kayla Bries had the only other Hawk hits in game one.
In game two Megan Rolfes hurled a three-hitter as the Hawks rallied for four runs in the fourth inning to defeat the Dons, 5-1.
Kayla Bries, Ashley Hood, Katlyn Heiserman and Emily Prinsen all hit safely in the four run fourth.
Katlyn Heiserman was the Hawks leading hitter with four hits, two runs scored and a run batted in.
On Friday and Saturday the Hawks were in Ames for the Ames Classic.
They played four games against some very good competition and came home with their first ever 4-0 finish in that particular tournament.
In game one the Hawks faced 10th rated Harlan. Trailing 2-1 in the sixth inning the Hawks sent nine batters to the plate in the bottom of the sixth, scoring five runs to top the Cyclones 6-2.
The big hit of the inning was a bases loaded double by Katlyn Heiserman to drive in three runs.
Katie Murphy was the winning pitcher, allowing the Cyclones just three hits.
In game two Megan Rolfes tossed a three hitter while striking out 11 Dutchmen in the Hawks 5-0 win over Pella. Rolfes faced just 23 batters as the Hawks turned a 6-4-3 double play in the second inning.
Ashley Hood was two for four, Emily Prinsen had a double and Lindsey McDowell a double to lead the Hawks offensively.
In game three, their first game on Saturday, the Hawks played a very good Class 4A team in Ankeny.
They defeated Ankeny 1-0 by scoring in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Sara Hermsen led off the seventh with a double. Courtesy runner, Haley Klein advanced to third on a sacrifice by Renee Bockenstedt and came into score the winning run on a wild pitch by the Ankeny pitcher.
Katie Murphy was the winning pitcher, she struck out 14 batters, including striking out the sides in the first, second and seventh innings.
The Hawks last game of the Classic was against Perry.
The Hawks got the bats going early and often as they banged out 12 hits to back the two-hit pitching of senior Megan Rolfes for a 10-0 six inning win.
The Hawks had at least one hit in each of the six innings.
Leading the way were Ashley Hood (4 for 4), Sara Hermsen (2 for 4), Emily Prinsen (2 RBI triple in the sixth), Renee Bockenstedt (a double), Jenny Hood (2 for 3 with a double), and Kayla Bries (a double).
This week the Hawks will host Central DeWitt on Monday night, Ed-Co on Wednesday night and a very good Waterloo Columbus Sailor team on Thursday night. |
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E. Delaware - P.O. Box C - Manchester, Iowa 52057
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Manchester Press 2005-2006
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