5 Gazette area Iowa high school baseball games to watch in Week 6

Conference races are shaping up and teams are in midseason form. Here are five Iowa high school baseball games to watch for the upcoming week.

Monday: Iowa City Liberty at Linn-Mar

The Lightning are ranked eighth and the Lions received votes in the latest Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association poll. Liberty is 17-7 overall and leads the Mississippi Valley Conference Mississippi Division with a 13-5 conference mark, coming off two losses to top-ranked Cedar Rapids Kennedy. The pitchers continued their strong efforts this season, limiting the state’s top offense to just six total runs. The Lightning have a 2.45 earned-run average. Mason Waterbury leads the staff without allowing a single run in 31 innings pitched. He is 6-0 with 38 strikeouts to nine walks. Opponents are hitting a mere .117 against him and just .180 against the team. Ryan Schmierer leads Liberty with 27 hits and is tied with Evan Schmierer with a team-high 14 RBIs.

Interestingly, Linn-Mar has won eight straight games but its last two losses also came to Kennedy. The Lions have climbed to 16-6 overall and 10-6 in the MVC Valley. During the hot stretch, Linn-Mar has averaged more than 10 runs a game, increasing its season average to 8.5 runs per contest. Jackson Mishler paces Linn-Mar with 30 hits and 26 RBIs. Jaxon Kramer isn’t far behind with 26 hits and 20 RBIs. All-stater Dylan Muszynski and freshman Charlie Sarsfield have 25 hits apiece for a lineup that hits .339 overall.

Monday: Benton Community at Solon

The Wamac foes will face off at Solon Recreation and Nature Area Field. The Bobcats are 20-6 overall and are tied for the Wamac West lead with Grinnell at 10-4 in the conference. They score 8.8 runs a game, while the Spartans come in at 7.3 per game. Benton has won five straight games, compiling 45 runs in the last three. Carson Nolan is batting .403 with a team-best 31 hits. Eli Patterson is batting .409 and Drew Fillenworth has 26 RBIs to lead the Bobcats. Fillenworth also powers the pitching staff with a 4-1 record, throwing 29 2/3 innings.

Class 3A No. 6 Solon is 15-7 overall and 9-4 in the conference. The Spartans are third in the Wamac East behind No. 3 Marion and a half-game back of No. 10 Center Point-Urbana. Solon rebounded from a three-game losing streak to Grinnell and Williamsburg with a dominant 17-6 victory over Winterset. Solon’s Brett White remains one of the top hitters in the state. He is batting .444 with a .593 on-base percentage. His 28 hits, nine doubles, eight home runs, 34 runs, 24 RBIs and 23 walks are team highs. Nolan Seagren and Gehrig Turner have 25 hits apiece for the Spartans. Vince Steinbrech (4-0) and Jackson Link (3-1) have been strengths for Solon’s pitching staff.

Tuesday: Lansing Kee at South Winneshiek

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The varsity doubleheader will determine the Upper Iowa Conference leader. The Kee Hawks are 17-5 overall and 9-1 in UIC play. The Warriors are 10-7 but have a 7-1 record in the conference. The two teams were also side-by-side in the IHSBCA rankings. Lansing Kee was ninth last week, while South Winn was 10th. Both have suffered some setbacks. Lansing Kee enters the game after getting swept by Moravia. South Winn has lost three straight to Decorah, Ottumwa and 2A No. 3 Dyersville Beckman.

The Warriors hold an offensive edge, scoring eight runs a game and batting .314 as a team to Lansing Kee’s 6.3 and .273. The Kee Hawks have an advantage in pitching. They only allow 2.7 runs a game and own a 1.43 earned-run average, while the Warriors are at 3.4 and 2.76. According to Bound, South Winn has won the last eight meetings, including a 7-2 victory on May 30. Lansing Kee’s last win in the series was an 11-0 triumph on June 9, 2022.

Wednesday: Western Dubuque vs. Mount Vernon, Center Point-Urbana (at Mount Mercy)

This seems like a fun, non-conference twinbill for 3A No. 1 Bobcats on a neutral field at Plaster Athletic Complex. Two-time defending state champion Western Dubuque will play Mount Vernon at 5 p.m., followed by a game against 3A No. 10 CPU. The Bobcats are 15-6 and coming off a doubleheader split with No. 4 Dubuque Wahlert on Friday. It was the fourth time in the last six doubleheaders they earned a split. Jake Goodman, Tanner Anderson and Colin McDermott all have 25 hits apiece and McDermott’s 27 RBIs is a team best. Brett Harris has five wins on the mound to lead Western Dubuque.

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CPU is in the thick of a monster schedule. It has lost four in a row, including both games in a doubleheader with Marion and a non-conference game with Wahlert. The Stormin’ Pointers (14-5) also play every day this week. They open against Williamsburg, have Monticello on Tuesday and face Solon on Thursday. Thomas Taylor has been impressive at the plate for CPU. He is batting .462 with 30 hits this season. Bryer Wiley has logged the most innings pitched at 26 2/3, posting a 4-2 record and tallying 38 strikeouts.

Mount Vernon is 9-10 overall and has notched quality wins over CPU, Solon, Iowa City Regina and Williamsburg. Jase Jaspers has 22 hits and 16 RBIs to lead the Mustangs. Teammate Mikey Ryan is close behind at 20 and 14.

Thursday: Dyersville Beckman at Anamosa

A rematch of the substate final last season that Beckman won 8-2. Both teams are ranked — Beckman is third and Anamosa is seventh. They are also the top two teams in the River Valley Conference North Division, so a lot is riding on the doubleheader. Beckman is 13-4 with a 6-2 mark in the RVC. Anamosa comes in at 13-5 and 5-2. The Blazers have won 13 of the last 14 in this series. Anamosa’s last win over Beckman came in 2015.

Anamosa’s pitching has been very good this season, allowing just 2.8 runs per game. The Blue Raiders have a 2.31 team ERA and have struck out 135 batters in 115 innings. Jackson Watters (2-1) and Jack Sellnau (3-1) rank among the team leaders. Sellnau has 41 strikeouts in 26 innings and a 1.62 ERA. Watters has fanned 29 in 24 innings with a 2.33 ERA.

Beckman defeated South Winn after splitting a doubleheader with rival and RVC North power Cascade last week. Elite all-state performer Luke Sigwarth powers the Blazers with 27 hits and 26 runs, batting .509 with a .639 on-base percentage. Drew Thier has 25 hits and a team-high 21 RBIs for Beckman.

Comments: kj.pilcher@thegazette.com