A Cherry on top: Iowa City West’s Kyle Cherry opens baseball postseason with complete game shutout over Cedar Rapids Prairie

CEDAR RAPIDS — Iowa City West’s Kyle Cherry is very soft-spoken.

His demeanor is the antithesis of demonstrative and arrogant. The junior lefty prefers to let his actions do all the talking.

“I like to be respectful,” Cherry said. “I just want to be a baseball player.

“I just lock in. Sometimes I don’t talk very much but that’s just what happens.”

His latest results rung loud and clear. Cherry pitched a complete-game shutout, receiving an error-free performance from the defense and sufficient run support to defeat Cedar Rapids Prairie, 3-0, in a Class 4A Substate 7 first-round baseball game Friday night at Prairie.

“We got a whole lot from Kyle Cherry,” West Coach Charlie Stumpff said. “He’s been solid for two straight years. It’s a big park and Kyle will throw to the big park. We got a lot of put outs in the outfield and he’ll do that.

“We battled at the plate and he throws the ball real well. We found a way to scratch enough out there.”

Thirteen of his 21 outs were caught in the air and eight were from groundballs and his lone strikeout. Cherry has faith in the fielders behind him and they responded without a miscue.

“My confidence goes through the roof,” Cherry said. “I can believe in my teammates to make plays. That is what helps us win.”

Despite leading the Trojans in wins and innings pitched, Cherry (6-4) did not pitch in the Mississippi Valley Conference doubleheader during the regular season. He allowed only two baserunners — both walks to Tait Tierney — through the first three innings, retiring eight straight batters. Cherry said he felt good when he started pregame warm-ups in the bullpen.

Stumpff, who praised West assistant Jamie O’Meara for the pitch calls, said Cherry was able to throw three different pitches for strikes, keeping the Hawks off balance with his change-up and fastball.

“I usually just put it right over the plate,” Cherry said. “I hit my spots. They hit groundballs, pop flies and my team on the field did all the work.”

Prairie threatened in three of the final four innings. Maddux Mueller doubled with two outs in the fourth for the Hawks’ first hit and Collin McClintock followed with a single. Cherry induced a pop out to end the inning.

Prairie put two on base in the sixth and seventh, bringing the tying run to the plate in the final frame. Shortstop Kyle Henkenius fielded a groundball for the final out.

Cherry was poised, stranding six runners over the final four innings. He showed progress from last week’s game against Iowa City Liberty, when he wasn’t able to close strong. What a difference a week makes.

“I think he got mentally tougher,” Stumpff said. “Here’s what I’ve got to do. It’s my game and he finished that thing. I think just growing from last week was huge. That’s what we’re supposed to do a little bit. You hope they do. It doesn’t always happen. He did great.”

West (19-21-1) received all the offense it needed in the third. Nathan Heenan singled and reached second on an errant pick-off attempt. Declan Bunn’s single to left moved Heenan to third. Gerik Fish reached on a squeeze bunt that plated Heenan for a 1-0 lead.

Heenan played a role in the two-run fifth. He reached on an error and moved to second on Bunn’s groundout. Heenan stole third and scampered home when the throw sailed into left field. Fish singled and scored on Jacob Koch’s double later in the inning.

“Heenan can run. Everything worked out there,” Stumpff said. “You get another run so you can keep pushing the envelope once you get a little house money. The guys just executed.

“(Former Cedar Rapids Washington and Coe) Coach (Harold ‘Pinky’) Primrose would be very happy.”

West will play at Davenport Central (24-13) on Monday in the substate semifinals, beginning at 7 p.m.

Prairie closed the season with a 23-12 record.

Friday’s Class 4A substate scores

Substate 3

Johnston 10, Des Moines North 0

Southeast Polk 6, Cedar Rapids Washington 4

Cedar Falls 5, Mason City 1

Substate 5

Cedar Rapids Kennedy 11, Waterloo West 1

North Scott 7, Muscatine 5

Dubuque Senior 5, Dubuque Hempstead 4

Substate 6

Linn-Mar 6, Cedar Rapids Jefferson 0

Waukee Northwest 14, Des Moines Lincoln 1

Ottumwa 3, Norwalk 2

Substate 7

Iowa City High 9, Clinton 0

Iowa City West 3, C.R. Prairie 0

Davenport Central 6, Bettendorf 0

Substate 8

Iowa City Liberty 2, Waterloo East 0

Davenport North 4, Burlington 1

Pleasant Valley 10, Davenport West 1

Friday’s Class 3A substate scores

Substate 3

Western Dubuque 10, Charles City 0

Independence 7, Decorah 5

Center Point-Urbana 5, Hampton-Dumont-CAL 1

Waverly-Shell Rock 6, Clear Lake 2

Substate 4

Dubuque Wahlert 3, Maquoketa 1

Mount Vernon 4, West Delaware 2

Solon 14, Vinton-Shellsburg 0

Clear Creek Amana 3, Williamsburg 0

Substate 5

Central DeWitt 10, Washington (Iowa) 2

Mount Pleasant 4, Fort Madison 2

Davenport Assumption 15, Davis County 0

Fairfield 13, Keokuk 1

Substate 6

Marion 11, South Tama 1

Cedar Rapids Xavier 2, Nevada 0

Saydel 1, Oskaloosa 0

Gilbert 2, Benton Community 1

Comments: kj.pilcher@thegazette.com