Iowa City West slugs its way past Davenport West in substate baseball final

IOWA CITY – Iowa City West powered up and is powering on to a familiar site.

A trio of home runs helped the Trojans return to the state tournament.

Izaya Ono-Fullard belted an opposite-field grand slam, ending the third-ranked Trojans' 11-1 victory in five innings over Davenport West for the Class 4A Substate 6 title Wednesday night at Iowa City West. The Trojans advance to the state baseball tournament, where they will face Cedar Rapids Washington in a quarterfinal at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Principal Park in Des Moines.

After a 35-minute rain delay, the Trojans stepped to the plate in the bottom of the fifth. They drew three straight walks that led to Ono-Fullard's game-ending shot.

'It felt really good,” Ono-Fullard said. 'It's good to get back and get another chance to win state. It feels really good to get back.”

Connor McCaffery said he was expecting the big blast. The Trojans (31-8) began their celebration as soon as Ono-Fullard hit home plate.

'We all ran out and that was fun,” said McCaffery. 'It hasn't set in yet, but I am really excited to get back to Principal.”

The Trojans rank among 4A offensive leaders and they battered Falcons' ace Clayton Nettleton, who had previously held opponents to a .133 batting average. The Trojans finished with 11 hits, including three home runs, and all but one came off Nettleton.

'That's kind of what we do,” Ono-Fullard said. 'We put together hits all up and down our lineup. We have guys on our bench that can hit.”

Trojans Coach Charlie Stumpff wasn't expecting the barrage of hits against a quality starter and told assistant coach Tom Cronk that starter Braden Houston better keep runs at three or less.

'He kept his end so they only had one,” Stumpff said. 'Against someone like that, you hope to scratch a couple out and play good enough defense.

'The guys had good approaches and saw the ball well. The park was really lively and it doesn't break my heart when the park is lively for us.”

The Trojans' power came early. Tony Comellas hit a solo home run over the left-center field fence in the second, making it 1-0.

'Baseball is weird because you don't feel the momentum,” said Stumpff, comparing it to other sports. 'Those things in the dugout with the guys, there is just a buzz in there ... nothing like a home run. That's the beautiful thing.”

Connor McCaffery added to the lead the following inning. McCaffery, an Iowa recruit, hit an offspeed pitch over the fence in center, scoring Ono-Fullard, who was plunked by Nettleton.

'It was 1-2 so I shortened my swing a little bit,” McCaffery said. 'I didn't want to take a long swing like my first two hacks that I just missed. I was looking breaking ball. I knew I got it and barreled it up.”

Comellas scored again, coming in on a Braden Houston single and giving the Trojans a 4-0 lead.

The Trojans added three more runs in the fourth with a McCaffery RBI single, an RBI groundout by Jason Strunk and a wild pitch.

The Falcons (22-15) had their chances, but couldn't get a timely hit against Houston, who recorded two of his six strikeouts to leave two runners in scoring position in the second. He also stranded the bases loaded in the fifth.

'He's consummate pitcher,” Stumpff said of Houston. 'He's got quick enough velocity, 80-81 is good stuff. His changeup is off the charts that he'll throw anytime. He has a curveball to complement them.”

The Falcons touched him for one run in the fourth. Ryan McKown and Noah McCreary hit consecutive doubles to lead off the fourth, bringing in McKown to briefly pull within 4-1.

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