SC North's McArdle throws 1-hitter to beat IC West, 4-0

DES MOINES - He came up one pitch shy of history, but Dean McArdle insisted he didn't care. He still got a piece of the history he wanted most.

The Sioux City North pitcher threw one of the most dominating games the state baseball tournament has seen in a while, giving up just Ryan Rumpf's line-drive double with two outs in the seventh inning as North beat Iowa City West, 4-0, for the Class 4A title Saturday night at Principal Park.

McArdle (7-1) walked two, both on 3-2 pitches, and struck out 12 to give his school its first state baseball championship. He would have been just the fourth pitcher to record a no-hitter in a title game, the third to do it over seven innings.

"I hung a curveball," McArdle said of Rumpf's hit. "I should have thrown a fastball there. They always say stick to your strengths on the last pitch in key situations. So I should have thrown a fastball. But who cares whether it's a no-hitter or not? I just wanted to win state. State champions. There's only one team that can say that."

Not a big kid at a listed 5-foot-11, McArdle will baseball at Stanford beginning this fall. He missed mound time earlier this season with a strained elbow, but proved to everyone how healthy he is now, winning two games here and saving another.

West (30-16) had little chance Saturday night against his high-80s fastball, curve and changeup, all of which he commanded very well. Sophomore Rumpf had the two best at-bats against him, flying deep to center in the second inning and rifling a 1-2 pitch into left-center for West's only hit.

Appropriately on this night, McArdle struck out Eric White swinging to end the game.

"I had taken two meaty hacks at his fastball, so I knew he wasn't going to throw it again," Rumpf said of his hit. "I just sat on the breaking pitch and tried to make hard contact."

"Nobody wants to be the team that gets no-hit," said West's Josh DeBoer.

Rumpf (7-4) gave his team everything he had on the mound, throwing a complete-game eight-hitter on two days rest. He had to be kicking himself for North's three-run third inning, considering he hit two Stars, both of whom ended up scoring.

"I gave it all," Rumpf said. "I threw a lot of pitches Wednesday (in a quarterfinal win over Cedar Rapids Washington), so that's the best I could do."

North (36-7) added an insurance run in the top of the seventh inning for the final margin. Not that McArdle needed any insurance.

He was just that good.

"It's the best (performance) we've seen this year, and on a very short list of what I've seen the last 20 years of coaching," said West Coach Charlie Stumpff. "He had great command, great stuff, great poise. He got stronger as the game went on. Once he got the lead, he did what all great pitcher do, and just took it."

"Our team just played great defense and hit the ball," McArdle said modestly. "You don't need to do more than that to win a championship."

Though it helps to have a pitcher the caliber of McArdle.