Wartburg’s Utley couldn’t stop playing baseball

CEDAR RAPIDS - The good ones never lose it, no matter how much rust they have to knock off to find it.

D.J. Utley is one of the good ones.

The former Cedar Rapids Prairie all-stater had two years of inactivity, more or less, not that you'd know by the way he played this season for the Wartburg Knights. The junior led the Iowa Conference in batting average, home runs, on-base percentage and slugging percentage.

'I played in the summers for the (Iowa Valley League's) Watkins Mud Hens, so I didn't really have any trouble,” Utley said, after his team's 6-1 loss Thursday to Central in the IIAC Tournament at Veterans Memorial Stadium. 'I just came in and tried to make an impact on my team. I don't know if I'm surprised by my season because that's what I tried to come out here and do.”

Utley initially concentrated solely on academics, spending a semester at Iowa State, but decided he was too hasty in bagging baseball. So he enrolled for the winter and spring at Des Moines Area Community College in Boone.

DMACC has a big-time program that regularly sends guys to Division I schools and the professional ranks, so Utley found playing time difficult to obtain his two years there.

'I missed baseball. It was as simple as that right there,” he said. 'I didn't get many at-bats at DMACC. My freshman year, I was behind an all-American, and last year I was behind a freshman that hit pretty well. Obviously it sucked sitting on the bench.”

He's not sitting on the bench any more. Utley hit .422 in 40 regular-season games, with 14 doubles, seven home runs and 37 RBIs.

'Not playing very much, obviously I didn't get recruited very much,” he said. 'But Wartburg was one of the schools that actually did recruit me out of high school, so I had some connections here. I had a couple of (former Prairie) teammates that play here, too, in Chaz Boots and Ty Mougin and Tyler Votroubek. It was a good fit. They had my major, engineering science, I came on a visit, loved it and decided to come here.”

Third-seeded Central (27-14) was the star team Thursday, winning twice to set itself up well the remainder of this three-day, double-elimination event. The Dutch won their two games by a 17-1 combined margin, including a 12-0 first-round win over Coe that lasted only seven innings via mercy rule.

Central's Robbie Rushing rivalred Utley in most IIAC offensive categories this season and had a beastly day at the plate, going 6-for-9 with four runs and five RBIs.

'I don't know. I really don't,” Rushing said, when asked if he knew the specifics of the damage he inflicted. 'It was a good day, that's all I know. The ball was coming in big, everything seemed to be in slow motion. It was great.”

Friday's action begins at 10 a.m. with a loser's bracket elimination game between Simpson (20-21) and Coe (15-24). Other games are scheduled for 1 p.m., 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Thursday's Scores

Loras 5, Simpson 4

Central 12, Coe 0 (7)

Central 6, Wartburg 1

Buena Vista 6, Loras 1

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