Kennedy beats Mason City to climb to 4A title game

UPDATED: WITH PHOTOS by Brian RayDES MOINES - The drought is over. The 2010 state baseball champion in Class 4A will come from the Mississippi Valley Conference.From the Corridor, actually. Cedar Rapids Kennedy assured it'll be a first-time champ, too, with a 10-2 win over Mason City in a state tournament semifinal Friday night at Principal Park.The MVC hasn't won a 4A title since 1994, but it's league foes Kennedy (31-10) and Iowa City West (30-8) in Saturday night's 8 p.m. final. Both played in the same division as well, splitting their regular-season double-header."That's exciting. Cool to do," said Kennedy's Ryan Dusil. "Hopefully it's us (winning). I'm glad we could bring it back to the MVC.""Honestly, I'm glad it's (against) Charlie," Kennedy Coach Bret Hoyer said, referring to West Coach Charlie Stumpff. "He's a very good friend. If we lose to another MVC team, Charlie's one of the guys at the top of the list I'd like to see take it home. But, obviously, it's time for the Cougars to win it."The likely pitching matchup is aces Austin Christensen for Kennedy and Ryan Rumpf for West. They were matched in the first game of that June 21 twin-bill, with West winning, 4-3.It's the second straight year for West in the finals. Kennedy reached in 2006 but was mercy ruled by West Des Moines Valley."It's good and bad (that they're playing West)," said Kennedy's B.J. Cunningham. "We've played them before, and they're a really, really good team. They're really, really good hitters. Some of the best hitters in the state. And we're going to be facing Rumpf, and he's one of the best pitchers out there. So it's going to be tough."Mason City (35-7) had a 1-0 lead through four innings, getting a two-out RBI single from losing pitcher Lee Gealow (8-1) in the third. Kennedy finally got to Gealow in the fifth for two runs, including a two-out, go-ahead RBI single from Austin Christensen.Kennedy's best hitter, by far, Christensen was pitched to with an open base by a Mohawks team that intentionally walked Cedar Rapids Jefferson's Kellen Sweeney four times in their 4A substate final."I'm glad they pitched to me," said Christensen, who had a .474 batting average coming into this tournament. "Their pitcher was tough, he was pitching well against us. They were confident they could get me out. Thankfully I got the good part of the bat on the ball."The Cougars then scored eight insurance runs in the top of the seventh, as Mason City completely unraveled. The inning included five hits and four Mohawks errors.Pinch hitter Cody Bell and David Yancey had two-run doubles. Griffin Michael had an RBI double off the right-field wall."We just exploded for a bunch of hits," Cunningham said. "That's all I can say."Lefty pitcher Ryan Dusil won't blow you away with his stuff but threw strikes and let his defense do the work in a complete-game victory that improved his record to 8-1. Mason City had at least one hit in six of the seven innings but Dusil worked around the seven hits he allowed."I just tried to keep the same approach I have all season," he said. "Hit my spots, play my game. I knew they'd put the ball in play, but we have a great defense. That's the best part of our game is our defense. I knew they were backing me up, and if I threw strikes, everything would turn out."Wes King hit a seventh-inning home run off Dusil but that did nothing but change the final score. This was indeed a Kennedy night.A Mississippi Valley Conference night.Here's a short video interview with Dusil: