Patience a virtue for West in quarterfinal win over Southeast Polk

DES MOINES - It ain't cool to walk.

Guys who have patience at the plate, take pitches and work counts don't get shown on ESPN or the MLB Network. They don't get girls, since chicks dig the long ball.

So Iowa City West must have a bunch of uncool, unattached players. Not that they care since they're back in the Class 4A state tournament semifinals for the third year in a row.

“The more you see of any pitcher, the more chances you're going to get against him,” said West's Ryan Rumpf after his team's 6-3 win over Southeast Polk in a 4A quarterfinal Wednesday afternoon at steamy Principal Park.

It was take, take, take, take your base for West (32-10), which drew nine bases on balls against Southeast Polk starter Spencer Lockwood and reliever Adam Bernstorf.

Ezra Reiners had a bases-loaded walk in the fourth inning to put the Trojans ahead for good, 2-1. Spence Bonner had another an inning later, when the Trojans scored twice without a hit.

The only RBI hit West got was an Aaron Peller double in the sixth. It also produced a couple of lengthy sacrifice flies.

“They've bought into that. That's just good baseball,” West Coach Charlie Stumpff. “They have a lot of leeway, there aren't a lot of signs going on. There aren't any takes given, really, from me. It's just their approach. They've done a great job. We've seen some good pitching along the way.”

West made Chicago White Sox draft pick Dakota Freese throw 120 pitches in less than six innings in a substate opener. Iowa City High pitchers threw 165 pitches in the teams' substate final.

The Trojans rank third in Class 4A in walks and lead in stolen bases. That's winning, old school baseball, even if it's not sexy.

“I think it became more known in the substate,” Rumpf said. “We're good at making pitchers throw a lot of pitches ... That's a tremendous (compliment) to all of our hitters.”

West starting pitcher Jeremy Cronk didn't exactly have pinpoint control himself, walking three and hitting three in 5 1/3 innings, but got every out he needed. Connor Schreck and Rumpf finished up in relief.

West has been to the 4A title game the last two years and plays top-seeded West Des Moines Dowling (34-7) in a 6 p.m. semifinal Friday. The Trojans have won 19 of their last 20 games.

“When you get the first one out of the way, it's a great feeling,” Stumpff said. “Southeast Polk is a really good team, there are a lot of really good teams here. I thought our guys competed well all day. We got on top, and the guys just kept on going. A good win for us.”

Here's a quick video interview with Stumpff:

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