Jack Walsh pitches gem in Coe’s 7-2 victory over Luther at American Rivers Conference baseball tournament

CEDAR RAPIDS – Coe’s Jack Walsh was dependable, durable and dominant.

He also delivered the exact start the Kohawks needed to open the postseason.

Walsh pitched a complete game, scattering five hits and striking out 13 in a 7-2 victory over No. 3 Luther in the second round of the American Rivers Conference college baseball tournament Thursday night at Memorial Stadium. The second-seeded Kohawks (28-11) face No. 1 Buena Vista (30-10) on Friday at noon.

“Nine innings strong,” Coe Coach Steve Cook said of Walsh’s performance. “He commanded the game in all aspects. He was really in control of all of his pitches. His slider and changeup were working. Obviously, the fastball is his thing. We needed it.

“It was really important for Jack to have the outing to lead us.”

Not only did he have a season high in strikeouts, giving him 72 in 66 innings pitched this season, but he didn’t walk or hit a batter. Walsh said he had a smooth delivery, avoiding a jolty motion that got him into trouble in recent outings.

“I just kind of got back to myself today,” said Walsh, who recorded his third complete game and dropped his earned-run average to 2.05. “I let my arm do most of the work and tried not to overwork my whole body.”

Interestingly, Walsh said he felt slightly worried after his pregame warmup in the bullpen. He was focused on everything but it wasn’t his best. Walsh gained confidence with each inning.

“The first inning went well,” Walsh said. “Second inning was a little iffy, but then after that I found a groove and it worked.”

Luther posted the first run. Mark Prince hit a leadoff double and scored on Noah Dutler’s single in the second inning. Walsh stymied the Norse until they rallied for another run in the final frame.

Walsh threw low-and-outside initially and relocated pitches when the Norse tried to adjust. His accuracy kept hitters off balance.

“He got the strikeouts more so because he was moving the baseball ball both down and up and out and inside,” Cook said. “When you're doing that, you don't always have to trick them with off speed stuff and that's really why he was sharp today.”

Walsh (6-1) recorded eight straight outs from the end of the second to the fifth. He also retired 11 straight, starting with the last two outs in the fifth through the eighth.

Walsh even seemed to get stronger as the game progressed, fanning two batters in each of the last four innings including four straight strikeouts that bridged the seventh and eighth innings.

“He dug deep for himself,” Cook said. “But we've seen that out of him at other times, and that's why he's been our No. 1 (pitcher) and our leader.”

Coe couldn’t have asked for a better performance to start an event that places a premium on pitching depth. Teams could pay four games over the final two days but the Kohawk has all but one arm available to throw, going forward.

“He sets us up really well,” Cook said. “We've leaned into our pitching all year and we've got (Ethan) O'Donnell going tomorrow and we'll have our bullpen ready to go.”

Coe managed some run support in its last five at-bats. Jack Allison went 3-for-4 with two RBI singles. His first scored Tyce Johnson to tie the game, 1-1, in the fourth. The Kohawks grabbed the lead in the sixth, getting a leadoff triple from Jon Wille, who scored on Jake Brosius’ sacrifice fly. Austin Gomez made it 3-1 in the seventh, driving in Allison with a base hit.

“We got jobs done today,” Cook said. “The easy one for anybody to see was the bunt game when we executed it. We had some real quality at-bats where guys recognized the RBI situation, didn't try to do too much and pecked away.

“We were kind of knocking on the door a couple different times in the middle of the game until late. You stick to the game plan, trust in the percentages and percentages played in our favor at one point.”

An advantage helped Walsh when he returned to the mound.

“It’s completely different going out there with a lead,” Walsh said. “I feel like I don’t have to be perfect.”

Allison drove in the first run of a four-run eighth, padding the Kohawks’ lead. He also scored from first on a clutch three-run double from C.J. Johnson to cap the scoring.

“One of the best plays of the game was his (Allison’s) read on C.J.'s gap ball because that didn't get all the way to the wall but he scored,” Cook said. “He read that in the gap right off the bat. He doesn't do that he doesn't score on that play. Both the hit and that read that were really big.

“Hats off the C.J. for the good battle with two strikes and just good plate discipline.”

Dutler led Luther with two hits and one RBI. Gavin Scurr doubled and scored on Zack Gwost’s infield single in the ninth.

Play resumes Friday with the winner’s bracket contest between BVU and Coe. The Beavers swept the Kohawks in a three-game series to end the regular season and finish atop the A-R-C standings.

Fourth-seeded Wartburg and No. 6 Nebraska Wesleyan follow with an elimination game. Luther awaits the winner between the Knights and Prairie Wolves for an elimination game set for 6 p.m.

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