A roster that includes seven seniors has led the Atlantic Trojans back to the State Softball Tournament after a two year hiatus. It’s been a focused goal for that senior group after falling short in the Regional Final last season. They will see that goal become reality when they step on the diamond for a 7:30 p.m. contest against Anamosa in the Quarterfinal round tonight. Head Coach Terry Hinzmann said this is a motivated group.

The match-up against the Blue Raiders shapes up on paper to be a pitchers dual. Senior Olivia Engler comes in with a 22-5 record and 1.22 ERA for the Trojans. She’ll face off against a talented sophomore, Emily Watters for Anamosa. Watters has a 21-6 record and holds a 0.86 ERA. Coach Hinzmann said it should be a great battle.

Every team hopes to be playing their best ball at the end of the season and for Atlantic that really seems to be the case. Coach Hinzmann said everyone has seemed to be very focused down the stretch run.

We’ll have coverage of the Trojans (33-5) vs. Anamosa Blue Raiders (32-9) on KJAN tonight with pregame starting at 6:30 p.m.

The 2021 State Softball Tournament begins today in Fort Dodge. Here is a look at today’s Quarterfinal round schedule.

CLASS 1A

#1 Newell-Fonda (35-4) vs. #8 North Butler (20-5) 11:00 a.m.
#4 Southeast Warren (28-8) vs. #5 Sigourney (25-8) 11:30 a.m.
#2 Wayne (23-4) vs. #7 Remsen St. Mary’s (21-4) 1:00 p.m.
#3 Lisbon (35-8) vs. #6 Clarksville (23-4) 1:30 p.m.

CLASS 2A

#1 Wilton (28-3) vs. #8 Pella Christian (17-18) 3:00 p.m.
#4 Earlham (32-9) vs. #5 North Union (29-4) 3:30 p.m.
#2 North Linn (39-6) vs. #7 Iowa City Regina (19-12) 5:00 p.m.
#3 Central Springs (29-6) vs. #6 Underwood (26-3) 5:30 p.m.

CLASS 3A

#1 Davenport Assumption (37-3) vs. #8 Clarke (17-11) 7:00 p.m.
#4 Atlantic (33-5) vs. #5 Anamosa (32-9) 7:30 p.m.

With Jim Field.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (6.1MB)

Subscribe: RSS

The Atlantic Softball team heads to the State Tournament in Fort Dodge on Monday and the public is invited to the Atlantic High School parking lot for a sendoff. The send off will be held Monday morning at 8:20 a.m. Fans/supporters are encouraged to come out to wish the team the best and send them out of town in style.

The 33-5 Trojans face a 32-9 Anamosa team in the Quarterfinals on Monday night at 7:30 p.m. We’ll have coverage on KJAN with pregame at 6:30 p.m.

Class 1A and 2A Baseball District Finals were contested Saturday night. Winners advanced to Substate Finals next Tuesday night.

CLASS 1A

District 10: Mount Ayr 8, Martensdale-St. Marys 2
District 11: Grundy Center 5, Janesville 3
District 12: Coon Rapids-Bayard 7, Ogden 2
District 13: CAM 7, Lenox 6 -ON KJAN
District 14: St. Albert 3, Exira-EHK 2
District 15: Tri-Center 10, Logan-Magnolia 0
District 16: Kingsley-Pierson 11, Woodbury Central 1

CLASS 2A

District 3: Alta-Aurelia 11, Pocahontas Area 0 (6 inn)
District 4: Van Meter 11, ACGC 3
District 15: Clarinda 2, Underwood 1
District 16: Panorama 5, Kuemper Catholic 2

The CAM Cougars put themselves in a 6-0 hole against Lenox in the Class 1A District 13 Final on Saturday night. The Cougars made multiple mistakes in the top of the third that the Tigers took full advantage of. 4 innings later, Lane Spieker was sliding in to home on a passed ball to walk off a 7-6 win and put CAM in the Substate Final on Tuesday. Spieker said he was ready for the chance.

Spieker started the game on the mound and pitched a couple of good frames before struggling in the third. He gave up two walks, hit two batters, and committed a throwing error before he was pulled for Joe Kauffman. Kauffman ended up giving up a walk and Samson Adams picked up the only Tiger hit of the game with a 2 RBI double. The six runs that crossed the plate during the rough inning were all that the Tigers would get.

CAM started chipping away in the 4th. Lenox catcher Walon Cook tried to throw to first to pick off a base runner and the ball sailed into the outfield. That allowed the first two cougar runs to score and Cade Ticknor went on to deliver an RBI double to cut the lead in half. Ticknor said they were down for a bit in the dugout but that sequence was a big spark to pick the team back up.

The Cougars added two more in the fifth on an RBI double from Spieker, and a RBI groundout from Colby Rich. Ethan Follmann led off the sixth with a double and he made his way over to third. A passed ball allowed him to come sliding in for the tying run. Ticknor came in to pitch the 7th and set down the order for Lenox. Then Spieker made his wild trip around the bags. He drew a walk to lead off. A poor pickoff attempt sailed to the fence and he moved over to 2nd. Then Colby Rich hit a pop fly to right field and the Tigers failed to secure the catch. That allowed Spieker to head over to third. Then came the passed ball finish. Spieker said they did a good job of shaking off the poor third inning.

Ticknor said he was glad to get the opportunity to help out on the mound in a big moment.

The Cougars improved to 25-6 on the season with the dramatic win. They will now face St. Albert in the Substate 7 Final on Tuesday night in Glenwood. The Falcons advance with a comeback 3-2 win over Exira-EHK in Council Bluffs on Saturday. This will be the third time in the past five years the Cougars and Falcons have met with a trip to state on the line. We’ll have coverage on KJAN Tuesday night.

With Ric Hanson.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.5MB)

Subscribe: RSS

Class 1A and 2A Baseball District Finals are on tap on Saturday night. Winners advance to the Substate Final next Tuesday night. Here is a look at area Districts and Districts that pair with them. All games are set for 7:00 p.m. first pitches.

CLASS 1A

District 11: Grundy Center @ Janesville
District 12: Ogden @ Coon Rapids-Bayard
District 13: Lenox @ CAM -ON KJAN
District 14: Exira-EHK @ St. Albert
District 15: Logan-Magnolia @ Tri-Center
District 16: Woodbury Central @ Kingsley-Pierson

CLASS 2A

District 3: Alta-Aurelia @ Pocahontas Area
District 4: ACGC @ Van Meter
District 15: Clarinda @ Underwood
District 16: Panorama @ Kuemper Catholic

Class 3A

Substate 7
Grinnell 10, Perry 0
ADM 10, Clarke 0
Boone 8, Creston 1
Dallas Center-Grimes 6, Saydel 0

Substate 8
Gilbert 9, Greene County 0
Harlan 13, Glenwood 2
Winterset 10, Atlantic 0 (5 inn)– ON KJAN
Denison-Schleswig 8, Carroll 1

Class 4A

Substate 8
Norwalk 19, CB Thomas Jefferson 0
Waukee 10, CB Abraham Lincoln 0
Lewis Central 12, DM Hoover 2 (6 inn)

Winterset ace pitcher Justin Hackett struck out 12 of 16 he faced on Friday night and led the Huskies to a 10-0 win over Atlantic in 5 innings of play. The Huskies took command of the Substate 8 District 16 contest in the 2nd inning, erupting for six runs on six hits in the frame. That was more than enough for the TCU commit Hackett to seal a win. Hackett only gave up one hit, a Garrett Reynolds single up the middle in the third. The Huskies added 1 in the 4th and then ended the game early with 3 more in the fifth. Jensen Kalgenberg was able to squeeze in an infield hit to allow Hunter Devine to come home and invoke the 10-run rule.

Lane Nelson took the loss for Atlantic, credited with 9 runs on 9 hits with 3 strikeouts. Dayton Templeton came in to pitch the fifth and gave up the final run on two hits with 1 strikeout and a walk.  Atlantic ends their season just below .500 at 12-13.

Winterset improved to 16-10 on the season and they will host Denison-Schleswig in the District Final on Monday night at 7:00 p.m.