Iowa high school baseball substate finals: Close-knit North Linn plays for another state bid

TROY MILLS — North Linn baseball players spend a lot of time together during the summer.

The Lynx are at the diamond most days for practices, batting practice and 30 games in less than two months. But that’s not enough for the Lynx, whose strong bond extends into their free time.

“We’re all buddies,” Lynx senior Jarin Peyton said. “I think that is something good we have going on. We all like to get together and golf whenever we can. Everybody is friends and there’s not a bad guy on our team.”

Unity and camaraderie have played a part in North Linn’s success this year, ending the regular season ranked sixth and reaching the Class 1A Substate 3 final against South Winneshiek Tuesday night in Waverly, beginning at 7.

“This team enjoys each other, and they do a lot together outside of baseball,” North Linn Coach Travis Griffith said. “They are together constantly.

“Four really good seniors lead by example. The biggest thing we miss is one leader to get on other kids, but this group really doesn’t need much of that. They’re all self-motivated athletes. They kind of take care of themselves.”

Relationships made an impact on the field. They pick up, encourage and push one another when pressure arises in competition.

“If someone has a bad at-bat or play, we’re all close enough we can tell them,” Peyton said. “Hopefully get them back into the game and focused on the next one.”

The Lynx aren’t just tight in person. They are close statistically as well. Griffith noted that the Lynx top three pitchers — Mason Bechen, Cael Bridgewater and Corbin Woods — had the exact number of innings pitched and almost the same earned-run average. Woods leads the Lynx with six wins and a 0.92 ERA, while Bridgewater and Bechen each have five wins and an ERA under 3.0.

Griffith also noted that North Linn’s top eight hitters were within .080 of one another. Woods (.434), Bechen (.427) and Peyton (.411) lead the offense in average and seven Lynx have between 32 and 38 hits.

“If you look at our scores, it’s someone different every night that comes up with a big game and it’s been that way all year,” Griffith said. “The Bechen kid is our best player. There’s no doubt about that, but we’ve had a lot of different people step up in big moments and different games. It’s just kind of the expectation. If all of them click at the same time, it would be nice.

“We’re pretty well-balanced. It’s nice your seventh, eighth and ninth batters contribute, getting on base to set the table for the top.”

North Linn (26-4) opened with a bye and handled North Tama, 11-3. The Lynx outlasted East Buchanan, 4-2, in the district finals.

“We’ve done what we’ve needed to do,” Peyton said. “We have still had a couple errors here and there. We can put together a couple better at-bats. Get runners in when we can … So far, we’ve been pretty consistent.”

Both the Lynx and Warriors (23-11) were state quarterfinalists in Carroll a year ago. One streak will end, while the other continues. Griffith said he sees a resemblance in the two teams.

“I think it’s a good matchup,” Griffith said. “Both teams have all-state caliber pitchers but both are burnt, so it’s going to be a battle of the No. 2 and 3 pitchers.

“South Winneshiek is very similar to us.”

Other 1A substate finals include Hillcrest Academy (21-4) at No. 8 Burlington Notre Dame (25-6) and No. 9 Lisbon against Garwin GMG (11-14) at Solon. The Lions will attempt to earn their third straight state berth.

In 2A, No. 2 Mid-Prairie, No. 7 Cascade (23-8) and No. 3 Dyersville Beckman will try to return to the state tournament. The Golden Hawks (27-6) take on Van Buren County (25-3) at Ottumwa. The Cougars (23-8) have MFL MarMac (20-11) at Robinson-Dresser Park in Cedar Falls. Beckman (21-9) will battle Anamosa (19-12) in Manchester. Williamsburg (19-19), coming off a win over top-seeded Pleasantville, faces eighth-ranked West Marshall (27-6) in Pella.

Substate champions in 1A and 2A advance to the state tournament July 17-21 at Carroll.

Tuesday’s Iowa high school baseball substate finals

All times 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted

CLASS 2A

Forest City (19-7) vs. West Lyon (23-2) at Estherville, 6 p.m.

No. 6 Carroll Kuemper (25-10) vs. Woodward-Granger (19-5) at Boone

No. 7 Cascade (23-8) vs. MFL MarMac (20-11) at Cedar Falls

No. 3 Dyersville Beckman (21-9) vs. Anamosa (19-12) at Manchester

No. 2 Mid-Prairie (27-6) vs. Van Buren County (25-3) at Ottumwa

No. 1 Van Meter (25-9) vs. Pella Christian (17-16) at Ankeny

No. 8 West Marshall (27-6) vs. Williamsburg (19-19) at Pella

No. 5 Underwood (22-3) vs. Clarinda (16-9) at Denison

CLASS 1A

No. 2 Kingsley-Pierson (26-2) vs. Newell-Fonda (23-5) at Cherokee

No. 1 Mason City Newman (31-4) vs. Saint Ansgar (25-7) at Mason City

No. 6 North Linn (26-4) vs. South Winneshiek (23-11) at Waverly

Garwin GMG (11-14) vs. No. 9 Lisbon (24-4) at Solon

No. 8 Burlington Notre Dame (25-6) vs. Hillcrest Academy (21-4) at Community Field, Burlington

No. 4 Lynnville-Sully (27-1) vs. Lenox (20-7) at Bondurant

No. 3 Remsen St. Mary’s (28-2) vs. Woodbury Central (18-5) at Holstein

No. 7 West Harrison (23-3) vs. No. 10 Le Mars Gehlen (22-5) at Sioux City East

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