5 Gazette-area Iowa high school baseball games to watch this week, including a battle of No. 8-ranked teams

Some Iowa high school baseball teams are playing their first games of the season this week after waiting for athletes to finish the track and field season. The Mississippi Valley Conference has ranked teams going head-to-head. Center Point-Urbana has started strong and heads to West Delaware on Thursday. There are rivalry games in Iowa City. Plus, Anamosa hosts Regina. Here are five notable games in the Gazette area this week.

Wednesday: Cedar Rapids Prairie at Dubuque Wahlert

This game is for the birds. Both teams are ranked eighth in their respective classes — the Hawks in Class 4A and the Golden Eagles in 3A. This is also a doubleheader that will have an impact on the MVC Mississippi Division race. Prairie owns a 16-10 advantage in the series, dating back to 2010, and has won last six meetings. Wahlert’s last win in the series came in 2020.

Prairie is 2-2, splitting with Linn-Mar and 4A No. 3 Iowa City High. The Hawks’ pitching staff is solid and has a 3.09 earned run average. The Hawks’ position players are young. Maddux Mueller is batting .625 with five hits in the opening week and Shraden Lechtenberg has five RBIs for Prairie.

Wahlert swept Cedar Rapids Washington, split with rival Dubuque Hempstead and is coming off an 11-2 win over North Scott. The Golden Eagles are scoring 7.2 runs per game. Alex Kirman has eight hits with a .533 batting average, while Foti Rigopoulos has six RBIs to pace Wahlert.

Wednesday: Cedar Rapids Xavier at Cedar Falls

Speaking of MVC Mississippi battles, the Saints and the 4A No. 9 Tigers are two other contenders in a very competitive division that also includes Iowa City Liberty. The Saints opened the season at 3-2 and Cedar Falls is 2-2 after the first week.

Xavier swept Waterloo West, split with Iowa City West and then gave 3A No. 6 Marion a battle in an 11-10 loss. The Tigers lost to City High, split with Linn-Mar and beat Waterloo East, 14-2.

The key matchup will be the Saints’ offense against the Tigers’ pitching. Xavier has scored 10.8 runs per game and Cedar Falls has allowed 3.8 runs per contest. Andrew Hamlett has nine hits, including three doubles with seven runs and seven RBIs and Preston Lang has seven hits and eight RBIs for the Saints, who received votes in the preseason 3A poll. Cedar Falls foes are hitting just .231 against it and the Tigers have a team earned-run average of 2.15.

Thursday: Center Point-Urbana at West Delaware

The Stormin’ Pointers opened the season with two wins, 7-6 over Waverly-Shell Rock and a 21-6 trouncing of Washington. West Delaware lost to third-ranked and defending 2A state champion Dyersville Beckman, 11-8. The Hawks have won the last three meetings, sweeping last year’s doubleheader. Eight of their last 11 meetings have been decided by three runs or less.

Thomas Taylor is batting .714 with five hits to lead CPU, which has held opposing batters to a .154 batting average. Jack Cantwell led the Hawks with two hits, three RBIs and a run in their opener.

Friday: Iowa City West at Iowa City High

The rivalry between West and City High has been fun in all sports, including baseball. On paper, City High has a huge edge. The Little Hawks are 4-1 and ranked third in 4A. The Trojans have a modest 1-3 record. Throw records out the press-box window. Two of West’s losses have been by one run and the Trojans’ lone win came against Xavier, so they are capable.

City High’s pitching and defense have stymied the opposition. Three Little Hawk pitchers combined for a no-hitter in a win over Prairie. They have allowed just nine total runs in five games, holding teams to two or less in the four victories. Owen Hicks hasn’t allowed an earned run in 7 1/3 innings pitched and has struck out eight for City High. Jake Mitchell is batting .353 with a team-high six hits for the Little Hawks.

West’s Declan Bunn is hitting .500 with five hits through Week 1. Gerik Fish added four hits and three RBIs for the Trojans. The two teams split last season with City High sweeping both games in 2022. They also split in 2020 and 2021.

Friday: Iowa City Regina at Anamosa

Anamosa was a win away from making the 2A state tournament last season, falling in a substate final to eventual state champion Beckman. The Blue Raiders return a lot of experience and finally open their season this week. Anamosa received votes in the 2A preseason poll and has high expectations accompanying the start of the season.

Iowa City Regina is always competitive. The Regals split their first two games, beating Clear Creek Amana and falling 10-7 to 3A No. 7 Davenport Assumption. Regina’s Jack Clark has four hits and four runs, batting at a .571 clip. Clark also earned the win against the Clippers. Will Litton has three hits and two RBIs for the Regals, who have won two of the last three against Anamosa.

Comments: kj.pilcher@thegazette.com