2025 Iowa high school baseball state tournament: Capsules on 7 Gazette area qualifying teams

Capsules on the seven area teams that have qualified for the Iowa high school state baseball tournament. Class 4A and 3A state tournaments will be held at Lewis & Clark Park in Sioux City. The 1A and 2A state tournaments are set for Merchants Park in Carroll.

CLASS 4A

CEDAR RAPIDS PRAIRIE HAWKS

Record: 29-9

Seed: No. 7

Coach: James Nelson (7th year, 183-72)

Tournament history: 6th appearance, first since 2022. Won the 2016 4A state title.

Leading hitters: The Hawks have five players with more than 40 hits this season. Kamren Francois leads with 55. Tait Tierney and Collin McClintock have 50 and 49, respectively. McClintock ranks among the state leaders with 53 RBIs, followed by Michael Day (41) and Maddux Mueller (40). Francois and Tierney have combined for 99 runs.

Top pitchers: Jordan Woodhouse (6-3, 3.08 earned-run average) and Tierney (6-1, 2.11) have recorded the most innings at 49 2/3 and 47 2/3 innings. Mueller is 6-0, while Alex Meyer is 5-1.

First-round opponent: Hawks play No. 2 Johnston (26-11) 4A quarterfinal at 2 p.m. Tuesday.

IOWA CITY HIGH LITTLE HAWKS

Record: 30-9

Seed: No. 3

Coach: Brian Mitchell (14th year, 336-214)

Tournament history: 10th appearance, fourth straight appearance, runner-up three times with the last in 1995.

Leading hitters: Drake Obermueller leads the Little Hawks with 51 hits, 38 runs and .415 batting average. Dominic Salibi is the lone 30/30 man, amassing 38 hits and a team-best 30 RBIs. Salibi has four home runs, one behind teammate Paxton Bell for a team with 20 total.

Top pitchers: Junior Adam Bowman is 7-1 with 1.06 ERA and 50 strikeouts in 46 1/3 innings. Obermueller (6-0, 1.60) is tied with Nicholas Meredith (6-2, 1.93) for second in wins. Jaxton Schroeder is an elite arm, despite the 4-3 record. He owns a 1.83 ERA and 61 strikeouts in 49 2/3 innings.

First-round opponent: Little Hawks open against No. 6 Waukee (25-13) in a 4A quarterfinal at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday.

IOWA CITY LIBERTY LIGHTNING

Record: 32-9

Seed: No. 5

Coach: Uby Martinez (3rd year, 80-41 at Liberty; 7th year, 120-88 overall)

Tournament history: 3rd appearance, qualified in 2022 and 2023.

Leading hitters: Four Lightning players have at least 45 hits. Evan Schmierer and Cooper Hughes pace Liberty with 48 hits apiece. Both are batting .353 and on-base percentages that are better than .450. Pryor Reiners and Dallas Miller add 47 and 45. Brayden Mayer has a team-high 39 RBIs.

Top pitchers: All-stater Mason Waterbury remains the ace. He is 4-0 with a 2.24 ERA and 42 strikeouts in 40 2/3 innings. Andrew Olthoff leads the Lightning with five wins. Brady Zimmerman is 4-1 with a 2.72 ERA.

First-round opponent: Lightning will face No. 4 Waukee Northwest (28-10) in a 4A quarterfinal at 5 p.m. Tuesday.

CLASS 2A

CASCADE COUGARS

Record: 23-12

Seed: No. 8

Coach: Roamn Hummel (16th year, 387-144)

Tournament history: 7th appearance, first since 2023.

Leading hitters: Mick Hoffman is the offensive catalyst with 40 hits and 33 runs, batting .345. Nathan Schockemoehl adds 38 and Jake Hosch has 34. Eli Fritz is the team leader with 27 RBIs. Cooper Hummel has three home runs and .487 OBP. He also has 24 RBIs.

Top pitchers: Jackson Green has seven starts, posting a 5-2 record, 1.52 ERA and 51 strikeouts in 46 innings. Hoffman is 3-0 with a 1.62 ERA with the team-best three saves. Hummel is 2-1 with 33 strikeouts in 23 1/3 innings.

First-round opponent: Cougars will take on No. 1 Underwood (24-2) in a 2A quarterfinal at 11 a.m. Tuesday.

CLASS 1A

EAST BUCHANAN BUCCANEERS

Record: 17-9

Seed: No. 7

Coach: Thomas Crawford (3rd year, 45-28)

Tournament history: 1st appearance.

Leading hitters: Five Buccaneers have tallied 22 hits or more. Keenan Pals leads the way with 32 and 24 RBIs, batting .376. Freshman Tristan Cornell is second with 26 hits and 23, followed by Brady Van Scoyoc (25 and 21) and senior Will Hansen (23). Trey Cornell has driven in 17 runs.

Top pitchers: Hansen and Van Scoyoc are the top two in innings pitch. Hansen is 5-1 with a 1.17 ERA and 82 strikeouts in 42 innings. VanScoyoc (4-3, 1.83 ERA) adds 65 strikeouts in 57 1/3 innings. Tristan Cornell has a 3-0 record and two saves..

First-round opponent: Buccaneers will play No. 2 Lynnville-Sully (24-2) in a 1A quarterfinal at 4:30 p.m. Monday.

HILLCREST ACADEMY RAVENS

Record: 17-7

Seed: No. 8

Coach: Danny Hershberger (13th year, 181-144)

Tournament history: 3rd appearance, its first since 2008 as Iowa Mennonite School. Won 1A title in 2007.

Leading hitters: Junior Rowan Miller paces the Ravens. He has a team-best 25 hits, 25 RBIs and .321 batting average. Miller also has a .432 on-base percentage. Liam Schrock provides some punch with three home runs and eight extra-base hits. Seth Ours (.457) and Schrock (.434) are the top two in OBP.

Top pitchers: Ours and Phoenix Anderson have pitched the most innings. Anderson is 6-0 with a 0.66 ERA in 42 2/3 innings. Ours is 6-1 with 1. 84 ERA and 52 strikeouts in 45 2/3 innings. Miller also has four wins and a save.

First-round opponent: Ravens will face No. 1 Remsen St. Mary’s (23-1) in a 1A quarterfinal at 11 a.m. Monday.

LANSING KEE HAWKS

Record: 32-10

Seed: No. 5

Coach: Jim Mauss (9th overall year, 311-176)

Tournament history: 21st appearance, its first since a runner-up finish in 2021. Nine state titles and eight runner-up performances.

Leading hitters: Trey Cota has a team-best 51 hits, including nine doubles, with 36 RBIs and .364 average. Carter Seitz is right behind with 50 and 35, leading the team with a .385 batting average. Brayden Darling is first with 47 RBIs and has 44 hits for a .370 average.

Top pitchers: Senior Jordan Cota is 11-2 with a 1.39 ERA. He has 72 strikeouts in a whopping 65 1/3 innings pitched. Dalton Mudderman and Trey Cota have five wins apiece. Mudderman also has three saves, 1.97 ERA and 77 strikeouts in 60 1/3 innings.

First-round opponent: Hawks take on No. 4 Martensdale-St. Marys (30-5) in a 1A quarterfinal at 1:30 p.m. Monday.

CHAMPIONSHIP PREDICTIONS

Class 4A

C.R. Prairie over Iowa City Liberty

Class 3A

Dubuque Wahlert over Sioux City Heelan

Class 2A

Pleasantville over Underwood

Class 1A

Remsen St. Mary’s over Logan-Magnolia

Comments: kj.pilcher@thegazette.com