Postseason assignments released for large-school baseball programs

Baseball teams in the two biggest classes learned their postseason competition Friday.

The Iowa High School Athletic Association released postseason assignments for Class 4A and 3A prep baseball teams. Class 4A consists of eight six-team substates. Sixteen 3A districts are made up of four teams apiece with district champions facing off in a substate final. District assignments for 1A and 2A were posted last week.

The top six teams in the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association 4A rankings are in separate substates, including fourth-ranked Iowa City West and No. 5 Iowa City High.

'I thought they made a real effort to try to figure out who was ranked and playing well and split it up,” West Coach Charlie Stumpff said. 'It doesn't make it easy for anybody. I would say it was a very good effort by the state to split up the teams with the best record in the regular season.”

West will compete against Burlington, Davenport North, Davenport West, Muscatine and North Scott. The Trojans beat Davenport West this season and face Muscatine at home next week. They were 19-6 before Friday's doubleheader against Dubuque Hempstead and don't take anything for granted with the seeding process based on a point system for each victory. West has a strong chance for the top seed and home-field advantage in the playoffs.

'You want to keep playing at home,” Stumpff said. 'They respond to that.”

City High highlights a group that includes Metro tournament champion Linn-Mar, Clinton, Dubuque Senior, Pleasant Valley and Waterloo East.

Western Dubuque, which debuted in the IHSBCA rankings this week, is the highest-ranked team in the pod that includes Bettendorf, Cedar Rapids Jefferson, Cedar Rapids Washington, Davenport Central and Dubuque Hempstead.

The 4A Substate 3 field has two ranked teams. Defending state champion and eighth-ranked Cedar Rapids Prairie (14-9) and No. 9 Southeast Polk (19-9) join previously ranked Cedar Falls, annual contender Cedar Rapids Kennedy, Ottumwa and Waterloo West. Pairing the two Central Iowa teams with the Mississippi Valley Conference group was a bit of a surprise.

'It's a different looking substate,” Prairie Coach Todd Rima said. 'It's something you can't control. You play who they put in front of you. I know we have an extremely competitive substate.”

Two Metro schools were grouped together in the same district. Fifth-ranked Marion (17-5) and Cedar Rapids Xavier (8-14) will compete in 3A District 7, joining Maquoketa and Center Point-Urbana. The district champion will face the winner of District 8, consisting of Clear Creek Amana, DeWitt Central, Mount Vernon and Solon. The Mustangs and Spartans received votes in the latest IHSBCA rankings.

Third-ranked Vinton-Shelllsburg will play in District 11 with Wamac foes Benton Community and South Tama and Grinnell.

The Wamac has four ranked teams, two more that received votes and more that were previously ranked. Wamac teams are battle-tested after competitive conference schedule.

'It prepares you a lot,” Marion Coach Steve Fish said. 'Playing those teams makes us better. It's been that way for a long time.

'There are a lot of good teams in 3A.”

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