BGM season ends in state quarterfinal

DES MOINES - BGM needed to be at its best.

The Bears showed flashes of that potential, but just not enough of it to extend a memorable season.

Defending state champion and top-seeded Mason City Newman took an early lead and posted a 7-1 win over seventh-ranked BGM in the Iowa High School Class Athletic Association Class 1A state baseball quarterfinals Friday at Principal Park.

'We knew that coming in that we had to play sound defensively, get good pitching and get some timely hits,” BGM Coach Jerod Burns said. 'They're a good baseball team. That's why they're the No. 1 seed and why they are the defending state champions.”

BGM (25-3) suffered some jitters at the start, helping Newman grab a 3-0 edge after one. The beginning was rough. BGM's Jack Kline led off with a single but was doubled off first by a popped-up sacrifice bunt.

In the bottom of the first, Bears ace pitcher Zac Freese struggled with his control, sandwiching a hit batsman between two walks against the first three Knights batters. Freese, who has won 46 games in the last four years, had walked 18 and hit two before the quarterfinal. Newman forced six walks from Freese.

'The first inning didn't go the way I wanted it to go,” Freese said. 'I lost some confidence. I gained my composure back and did pretty well after that.”

Burns praised Freese for the way he regrouped, holding the Knights scoreless until the fifth and giving up only three earned runs. Uncharacteristically, the Bears committed five errors. The Knights capitalized on two miscues that lead to a run in the fifth and three in the three-run sixth.

'I was impressed with the way he threw,” Burns said. 'He kept them off balance. He got a lot of fly ball outs. We just didn't make plays for him when we needed to when the game was close and then it got out of hand.”

The Bears got on the board in the fourth, pulling within 3-1. Mayson Sherwood reached on a leadoff single, moving to second on an errant pickoff throw. With two outs, sophomore Tanner Jansen ripped an RBI double to left-center field. Jansen was focused to put the ball in play.

'I looked down at burns and he said to get something under my hands,” Jansen said. 'I was thinking I might as well do the job now. I put one out there ...

I was real happy about that.”

The Bears will lose an accomplished group of seniors, including Freese, Kline and Kyle Gritsch, who led the baseball team to its first state tournament and three straight substate finals. BGM will return six underclassmen with state experience. The goal is to make the state tournament the expectation and not the exception and to be successful when they qualify.

'Those are three outstanding seniors,” Jansen said. 'I wouldn't trade anything for them.

'The group we have coming back will take this whole experience and put it in the memory banks. It takes a lot of hard work and determination to get to the tournament and if we can play with that confidence next year we should have a good season next year, too.”

Joe Burgmeier led the Knights with two hits and two RBIs. Brennan Dondlinger added two RBIS and Bryce Ball scored twice for Newman. Spencer Wihlm pitched well, scattering five hits in 6 1/3.

'We have kids who have been out there before and they know once you get into it that it is just a ballgame,” Newman Coach Tony Adams said. 'You still have to play well and swing the bat. Our kids, for the most part, were pretty focused, especially early.”

The Knights (35-3) are still in contention for their fifth state baseball title. They will face fourth-seeded Don Bosco (31-3) in the semifinals Thursday at noon. The Dons beat Martensdale-St. Mary's, 2-1, getting a one-out double from Jake Hogan that scored Spencer Bruess for the winning run in the bottom of the seventh.

The 1A quarterfinals continue Saturday, including sixth-seeded Lone Tree (21-6) against No. 3-seed Le Mars Gehlen (29-3) at 1 p.m.

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