5 Gazette area Iowa high school baseball games to watch for Week 4 of 2025: Mississipi Valley Conference leaders battle

Division leads are at stake in the Mississippi Valley Conference. Another big Upper Iowa Conference matchup occurs. Tri-Rivers Conference has a battled between division leaders and Dyersville Beckman visits the Quad Cities. Here is a look at some notable games this week.

MONDAY: CEDAR RAPIDS PRAIRIE AT IOWA CITY HIGH

This could be the marquee matchup of the season, thus far. Class 4A fourth-ranked Prairie leads the MVC Valley with a 12-0 conference record and is 15-0 overall. City High, ranked No. 5 in 4A, is 8-2 against MVC foes with an 11-3 overall mark. The Hawks lead the series, 19-12, since 2009. They have been impressive, outscoring their opponents by a combined 152-46, and rank second among all classes in run differential. Prairie leads the state with 164 hits and are third in runs. Prairie can put a lot of pressure on defenses, leading 4A with a .389 batting average and 80 stolen bases. Five Hawks have 19 hits or more, including 29 from Tait Tierney and 22 apiece from Kamren Francois and Michael Day. Francois paces the team with 25 runs with Tierney right behind at 24. Collin McClintock has a whopping 29 RBIs for the Hawks, who are led by Jordan Woodhouse (3-0, 1.94 earned-run percentage), Alex Meyer (3-0, 1.87) and Maddux Mueller (3-0, 3.97). Tierney also has a 2-0 record and 0.42 ERA. City High has won 10 of its last 11 games, coming off an 11-3 victory over Solon. The Little Hawks are powered by pitching, posting a 1.16 team ERA and allowing only 1.6 runs a game. Opponents are only hitting .157 against City High. Nicholas Meredith is 3-0 with a 0.58 ERA, Jaxton Schroeder has 28 strikeouts with a 1.45 in 19 1/3 innings and Adam Bowman is 2-0 with a 0.48 ERA and 23 strikeouts. Drake Obermueller is also 2-0 and leads the Little Hawks with 20 hits. Paxton Bell has four homers and a team-high 11 RBIs.

MONDAY: CEDAR RAPIDS KENNEDY AT IOWA CITY LIBERTY

Not to be outdone, the Cougars and Lightning are the top two teams in the MVC Mississippi. Kennedy, the defending 4A state champions, are 11-6 overall and 6-4 in the conference, while Liberty is 11-3 and 8-2 in the MVC. Both teams received votes in last week’s Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association rankings. The Cougars swept last year’s doubleheader and own a 6-4-1 edge in the series that began in 2019. Kennedy has won its last five games. Liberty has a three-game win streak, beating Clear Creek Amana, 5-4, on Saturday and swept 3A No. 3 Western Dubuque on Friday. The Cougars have reclaimed some of its pop from last season, tying for fourth in 4A with eight home runs. Ty Donels is power Kennedy at the plate and on the mound. He has four home runs, two triples and team-bests in runs (22), RBIs (17) and total bases (38). Donels is also 4-0 with a 1.85 ERA in 22 2/3 innings. Colton Duerling is batting .444 with 24 hits and five doubles. Liberty has an ace up its sleeve in starter Mason Waterbury. He has been just as dominant and efficient as a year ago. Waterbury is 2-0 and hasn’t allowed a run in 14 innings. He has 18 strikeouts with just one walk and three hits allowed, holding foes to a .064 batting average. The most eye-popping stat from Waterbury’s early performances. He has only thrown 137 pitches, which equates to 9.8 pitches per inning. Liberty is fifth in 4A with a .326 team batting average. Pryor Reiners leads the Lightning with 19 hits, while Waterbury has driven in a team-high 14 RBIs.

TUESDAY: MFL MARMAC AT SOUTH WINNESHIEK

Lansing Kee may have an advantage over both teams but the battle near the top of the Upper Iowa Conference standings continues. MFL is second in the conference with a 4-1 mark, one back of Kee. South Winneshiek is 3-2 and still in contention. The teams are on different trajectories. South Winn has won three straight, while the Bulldogs have lost three in a row. Braiden Todd leads the Warriors with 12 hits with four extra-base hits, including two home runs and batting .544. He has scored eight runs and driven in seven. William Timp has a team-high 10 RBIs for the Warriors. South Winn is coming off a 5-0 shutout of Edgewood-Colesburg, receiving a five-inning, 12-strikeout performance from eighth-grader Hayden Tieskoetter. MFL only allows 2.9 runs per game. Parker Kuehl has two wins with a 1.15 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 18 1/3 innings. Ben Krambeer is batting .400 with a team-best 12 hits and 10 RBIs. The Bulldogs won two of three meetings a year ago and three of the last five, but South Winn owns a 31-6 advantage that dates back to 2010.

BELLEVUE MARQUETTE AT EAST BUCHANAN

East Buchanan has reclaimed the success from last season, jumping to an 8-1 start. The Buccaneers sit atop the Tri-Rivers Conference West Division with a 5-1 conference mark. Marquette is 11-1 overall and leads the TRC East at 6-0. The Defenders have won five straight in the series and haven’t lost to East Buchanan since 2019. Both teams are averaging 10.1 runs per game but the Buccaneers have a slight edge in runs allowed (2.0-2.6). East Buchanan pitchers have combined for a 1.09 ERA, fanning 87 batters in just 58 innings. Opponents hit a mere .085. The Buccaneers lead the state, giving up just 21 hits and ranks second among all classes with 18 runs allowed. East Buchanan’s Will Hansen is 3-0 with 38 strikeouts and hasn’t given up an earned run in 14 1/3 innings. Keenan Pals hasn’t allowed an earned run and allowed only two hits in 13 2/3 innings. Brady Van Scoyoc is 1-0 and struck out 20 in 13 innings. Pals also leads the Buccaneers with 12 hits and 13 RBIs. Marquette is coming off a loss to Durant but defeated 2A No. 4 Northeast, 10-4, and swept Lisbon. The Defenders’ Cameron Casel is batting .486 with 17 hits, 12 runs and 12 RBIs.

SATURDAY: DYERSVILLE BECKMAN AT BETTENDORF TOURNAMENT

Dyersville Beckman received votes in the IHSBCA poll last week and Bettendorf cracked the top-10 in 4A. The two programs will play each other and Davenport Assumption at the Bettendorf Tournament that also includes Dubuque Hempstead. The games cap a busy week for the Blazers, who are 6-4 overall after an 8-3 and 6-4 sweep of 2A No. 4 Northeast. Beckman opens the week with 3A teams – Waverly-Shell Rock on Monday and No. 10 Cedar Rapids Xavier on Tuesday. The River Valley Conference North leaders will try to improve their 5-0 conference mark against Maquoketa on Thursday. Joe Engler leads Beckman with 14 hits, including five doubles and two home runs, and 15 RBIs. Dylan Recker has two wins without an earned run and tallied 20 strikeouts in 13 1/3 innings for the Blazers.

Comments: kj.pilcher@thegazette.com