Linn-Mar routs CVC for 20th win

TROY MILLS - Phil Katz shook hands one by one with Cedar Valley Christian baseball players Tuesday night, then asked them to gather around him. Keep in mind he was the opposing coach.

“I just told them to keep their heads high,” Katz said after his Alburnett team beat CVC in five innings, 17-3, in a Class 1A district quarterfinal at North-Linn. “I respected the way they competed, and they treated a bad situation with class. I told them ‘You'll learn a lot of lessons from this season, even though you can't see them right now.'”

Cedar Valley Christian finished 0-19. For Alburnett, it's on to a Thursday district semifinal against North-Linn, 20 wins in the books, the most in four seasons under Katz, 58, the former longtime Linn-Mar coach.

“I like it here a lot,” Katz said. “It has gone fast. It's like baseball was 20 years ago. There are days when it's a little challenging. You just don't have the talent, the numbers (as in Class 4A). And you have to do absolutely everything. But I have got great parents I'm working with. I don't know if you've seen our field, but it's pretty damn nice ... I've gotten so much more help than I got at Linn-Mar. They're just good, hard-working people.”

Katz was at Linn-Mar for 20 seasons before exiting in 2002. He then went seven years without a head coaching position before finally landing at Alburnett.

“I think the hard part was keep getting turned down for jobs,” he said.

He's 18 victories shy of 500 for his career, a milestone he said will keep him around coaching for at least a little while. Alburnett gave up three runs in the top of the first inning Tuesday but scored 17 unanswered runs.

Freshman Colton Rose (who Katz said should be an all-state pick) went 2-for-4 with four RBIs. Kean McBurney went 2-for-3 with two runs and two stolen bases.

“I had already retired here this year just because the kids weren't playing the way I wanted them to play,” Katz said with a smile. “They kind of talked me into coming back.”