5 Gazette area Iowa high school baseball games to watch in Week 8, including a clash of Mississippi Valley Conference leaders and start of district play

The postseason begins at the end of this week for Class 1A and 2A schools. The bigger schools still have conference and some playoff primers on the slate. Dubuque Wahlert at Cedar Rapids Kennedy and Marion at Central DeWitt are among the highlighted games this week.

MONDAY: DUBUQUE WAHLERT AT CEDAR RAPIDS KENNEDY

A battle between Mississippi Valley Conference division leaders and ranked programs. Kennedy sits atop the MVC Valley Division, while Wahlert is tied with Iowa City Liberty for first in the MVC Mississippi. The Cougars are ranked No. 1 in 4A and the top seed in Substate 5. The third-ranked Golden Eagles are also a No. 1 seed in 3A Substate 4. Kennedy’s offense has continued to stockpile runs all season, averaging 10.2 runs over 31 games. They lead the state in home runs (40), RBIs (274), total bases (500) and slugging percentage (.611). Kennedy is third in runs (315) and doubles (69) and tied for second with 206-run differential. Nolan Grawe is first in the state with 12 home runs and teammate Grant Mather is fifth at nine. Grawe also leads the state with 95 total bases and is fourth with 44 RBIs. Mather leads the pitching staff with seven wins and 44 strikeouts in 40 1/3 innings. Both teams have a similar earned-run average – Kennedy at 3.12 and Wahlert at 3.15. The Golden Eagles are led by Will Specht, who has 41 hits, 38 runs and a .380 batting average. Foti Rigopoulos has a team-high 25 RBIs for Wahlert. Kennedy has won the last three in the series, including a doubleheader sweep last season.

MONDAY: MID-PRAIRIE AT SIGOURNEY

The Golden Hawks were a 2A state tournament team in 2022 and opened the season ranked by the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association. They still receive votes and are a No. 2-seed in 2A District 10. Sigourney is ranked 10 th in 1A with a 17-2 record. Sigourney is the top seed in District 12, looking for its first state tournament berth. Sigourney scores more than 10 runs per game. Caden Clarahan leads the team with 31 hits and 34 RBIs. He is batting .585 with seven doubles and five home runs. Clarahan is also 4-1 on the mound with 48 strikeouts and a 1.50 ERA. Freshman pitcher Chase Clarahan is 5-0 for Sigourney. He leads the team with 32 1/3 innings pitched, tallying 42 strikeouts and posting a 2.81 ERA. Mid-Prairie is paced by Tatem Telfer. The two-way standout has a team-best 32 hits and 27 RBIs. Telfer is 5-1 with a 1.95 ERA, fanning 70 batters in 28 2/3 innings. Sigourney has won 10 straight games this season. The Golden Hawks have won four of their last five. Mid-Prairie won the last meeting, 21-6, in 2015.

TUESDAY: MARION AND CENTRAL DEWITT

The Wolves are ranked second. The Sabers are ranked sixth. Both are top seeds in their respective 3A Substates – Central in 3A 5 and Marion in 3A 6. The Wolves are 25-4 and have been steady all season long. They average 9.9 runs per game, holding opponents to 2.8 per contest. Marion is tied with Kennedy with a 206-run differential. The Wolves have overcome injuries but have won four of their last five. Isaiah Scott leads Marion with 42 hits, batting .462 with 50 runs, 30 RBIs and 10 doubles. Grayson Kirsch is back and has a team-high 34 RBIs. Marion pitchers have combined for a 2.34 ERA. Andrew Ahmann and Coda Johnson are tied for the team lead in wins with five. Ahmann has 38 strikeouts in 30 innings. Isaac Scott is 4-0 with a 1.75 ERA for Marion, which has won the last four meetings dating back to the 2020 postseason. The Sabers have dropped to 18-11, losing five straight and six of their last seven.

WEDNESDAY: CEDAR RAPIDS PRAIRIE, IOWA CITY HIGH AT WAUKEE NORTHWEST CLASSIC

Are you in the mood for some pre-holiday fireworks? The Northwest Classic consists of a powder keg field. Four 4A teams that are ranked or received votes, including No. 3 City High (30-6), No. 4 Ankeny Centennial (22-9) and No. 9 Northwest (21-12). Prairie (21-11) was ranked as high as sixth but have been just outside the top-10 the last three polls. Both City High and Prairie open with Centennial and finish with Northwest. This marks the first meeting between City High and Centennial and it promises to be a pitcher’s duel. The Little Hawks give up 2.0 runs a game with a 1.68 ERA and the Jaguars allow 3.6 with 2.54 ERA. Centennial is led by all-stater and University of Iowa signee Joey Oakie. He has struck out 66 batters in 34 innings, recording a 1.44 ERA and a 0.85 WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched). He also leads the Jaguars with 28 RBIs. City High has three batters with more than 30 hits. Drake Obermueller has 35, Jake Mitchell has 34 and Jaxton Schroeder adds 33. Schroeder and Mitchell are a combined 10-0 on the mound as well.

Prairie has won four of its last five games. Kamren Francois powers the Hawks offense with 36 hits. Shraden Lechtenberg has a team-high 21 RBIs. Pitching remains the strength for Prairie. Tait Tierney and Kam Volz have combined for nine wins, helping Prairie post a 3.27 team ERA. Northwest has a team batting average of just .278. The Wolves’ Chuck Berdovich is 5-0 with 46 strikeouts in 31 1/3 innings and 2.01 ERA. Both teams have won four of their last five games. Prairie beat Northwest 1-0 last year. City High is 2-0 all-time against Northwest.

SATURDAY: CLASS 1A AND 2A DISTRICTS BEGIN

At this time next week, seasons will be over for some 1A and 2A programs. Seven to eight teams make up the 1A districts. Brackets in 2A consist of six teams with the top-two seeds receiving a bye into the semifinals that will be held July 9. Among the area hosts in 1A are East Buchanan, North Linn, Keota, Sigourney, Hillcrest Academy, North Tama, South Winneshiek and Lansing Kee. The are first-round hosts are Cascade, Jesup and Waukon.

Comments: kj.pilcher@thegazette.com