West earns comeback win in final inning

DES MOINES - Iowa City West Coach Charlie Stumpff has seen a lot of baseball in his coaching career.

He had to take some extra time to process what he witnessed from his Trojans. Stumpff had never experienced anything like what they had accomplished.

West's Nick Gallagher provided the spark and then ignited the celebration after a six-run seventh for a huge 7-6 come-from-behind win over Johnston Friday night in the Iowa High School Athletic Association Class 4A state baseball semifinal at Principal Park.

'We just never quit from Gallagher on through,” Stumpff said. 'What a fantastic bunch of guys with great characters, great hearts and any cliché you want to throw out there.”

Many were penciling Johnston in for a second straight finals appearance, but the Trojans (34-9) took an eraser to it and what seemed to be an unsurmountable five-run lead for their title game since back-to-back state runner-up finishes in 2009 and 2010.

'It's unreal,” West's Kevin Delaney said. 'I always knew we had a chance. We never give up.”

The West players may have been the only confident ones with the Dragons (23-17) leading the entire game and increasing their lead with four in the sixth.

Gallagher led off the inning by getting plunked and then moved to second when Grant Ewing reached on a catcher's interference call. A wild pitch put both in scoring position, setting up Kevin DeLaney's RBI single for the first run of the frame. DeLaney's third hit came in the span of eight straight batters to reach for West, including three straight hits and a walk.

'Kevin's been fantastic all week,” Stumpff said. 'Everybody just kept the parade going.”

Declan Doyle delivered a key hit, drilling a double to left center past left fielder Nick Stitzell, who made an impressive twisting, over-the-shoulder catch at the warning track to rob Doyle of a hit with the bases loaded to end the third. DeLaney scored with the tying run at second and the go-ahead run at the plate.

'That started the momentum,” Delaney said. 'We took off from there.”

Three straight walks tied the game and brought Gallagher back up to the plate. The man who started the rally had hoped he would have a chance to end it, but didn't think it was realistic at first. He embraced the opportunity, ripping the winning shot down the third-base line.

'We knew we weren't going to go down easily,” Gallagher said. 'We wanted to keep fighting, because this is our last time putting on the West High jersey. We're just happy we got the win.”

Little was going right for the Trojans most of the game, having some leaders make mental mistakes and Johnston fielding most of what West put in play. The Trojans continued to fight until the win.

'It seemed like it wasn't our day today,” Stumpff said. 'Somehow you have to get 21 outs and we battled all the way through that.”

The rally may have even started at the end of Johnston's half of the seventh. The Dragons appeared to have taken a 7-1 lead on a sacrifice fly that scored pinch-runner Jack Dreyer. West appealed him leaving before the catch at third. Dreyer was called out and the run was taken off the board.

Stumpff said players on the bench brought it to his attention.

'It didn't seem like a big play at the time,” Stumpff said, 'but my goodness it sure came out that way.”

The call seemed questionable, but Johnston Coach Michael Barta didn't contest the call after the game.

'It was a tossup,” Barta said. 'He definitely started his momentum a tad early.

'It's nothing you can dwell on. You have to move on. We definitely lost the game ourselves in the last inning. We have to make a couple more better pitches. We have to keep guys off base.”

The Dragons had their state title lineup depleted by graduation. They had a strong run in the postseason, knocking off a highly-ranked Urbandale squad to qualify and top-seeded Waukee in the quarterfinals.

The season was a work in progress fueled by hard work.

'My guys did a great job. Those are great teams,” Barta said. 'We ran into a really good one with Iowa City West. I'm really proud of my kids. I think they did a great job. They really came together at the end.”

Interestingly, West defeated Johnston, 11-3, in the 2009 semifinals. Stumpff moved up into a tie for 12th all-time, leading his eighth team to state. The Trojans will be looking for their first title and the first for their longtime head coach.

'We're trying to be the first team from Iowa City (West) to bring a championship back,” Gallagher said. 'Coach Stumpff deserves it. We're ready for tomorrow.”

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