Iowa City West takes opener against City High, increasing series win streak to 9

IOWA CITY - It looked like Iowa City West's win streak was in jeopardy early Thursday night.

The No. 3 Trojans (11-4) were taking on crosstown rival Iowa City High (10-5) at Mercer Park in Iowa City, the first game of their two-night doubleheader with the Little Hawks, and were looking for their ninth straight win in the series between the two schools.

And through three innings of play the Trojans were down 2-0. Yet a big fourth inning rallied West past the Little Hawks, giving it an easy path to the 10-3 win.

'We gave up those two runs, and (Izaya Ono-Fullard) had that error, but we knew we had to score runs to win the game,” West pitcher Tony Comellas said. 'I wasn't really too shook up about it. Then we came up and put up six runs, and that was huge.”

City jumped on the board first in the third inning, after designated hitter Joey Schnoeblen hit a two-RBI single with the bases loaded, giving the Little Hawks a 2-0 lead. Yet in the very next inning, West catcher Lucas Karwal bunted in one run for the Trojans. Quickly, a second run reached on an error, and then Connor McCaffery hit a third in on a single to right field.

Then, on the very next pitch, Comellas hit a three-run shot over the left field wall. Just like that, West was right back on top.

From then out, it was smooth sailing for the Trojans - picking up one run in the fifth and three in the seventh to give them their ninth straight win against City.

West's big night offensively - consisting of nine hits and 11 runs - was simply a product of patience behind the plate, Coach Charlie Stumpff said.

'They get it. Find something that you can hit, and if you don't expand early, a lot of time that just leads to walks,” Stumpff said. 'I think they're just looking for a pitch to hit and they're really good about waiting for their pitch to hit ... this is a good approach, and they've figured out it works very well.”

Game two of the crosstown series will take place Friday night at West High at 7 p.m. And while it was a tough outing for the Little Hawks, Coach Brian Mitchell said the biggest key to game two for his team is simply moving on.

'We call it the rock,” Mitchell said. 'You have to be able to bounce back. It is what it is. It happened. These guys believe in themselves, and it's a great opportunity (Friday night).”

l Comments: ryan.young@thegazette.com