Defending champ Western Dubuque rolls in its Class 3A state baseball tournament quarterfinal

IOWA CITY — It started a little wonky for the Western Dubuque Bobcats.

The first pitch of Monday night’s Class 3A state baseball tournament quarterfinal at Banks Field hit Harlan’s leadoff batter. Nothing came of it.

Then a throwing error and a little dink infield hit past the pitcher and in front of the second baseman put Harlan runners at first and second with none out in the top of the second.

That’s when Western Dubuque Coach Casey Bryant called a mound meeting, with pitcher Isaac Then, catcher Tanner Anderson and all four infielders involved. Bryant spoke to those six for a while, then departed back to the dugout.

Whatever the coach said, it seemed to calm everyone down and get them refocused. Then pitched around the second-inning trouble, Western Dubuque’s hitters went to work doing what they’ve done all season, and the Bobcats eventually eased to a 10-0 victory.

The game ended via 10-run mercy rule in the bottom of the fifth. The defending champs are into Wednesday’s semifinals opposite No. 6 Dubuque Wahlert, which beat Ballard, 11-1 in five innings.

“Get aggressive and get after the baseball,” Bryant said. “There were a couple of groundballs there that didn’t leave the infield, and they got baserunners. So I just told them ‘Hey, get locked in, be aggressive and go after the ball.’ If we’re going to make mistakes, make sure they are aggressive ones.”

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Photos: Western Dubuque vs. Harlan in state baseball quarterfinals

“You know, it’s baseball. Some things don’t go your way,” said Western Dubuque’s Colton McIlrath. “We were ready to play, but I thought we came out flat, and that’s what it came down to. Our first baseman didn’t go after a ball, Isaac hit the first batter. That’s not how you want to start the game. But you’ve got to overcome that stuff, and that’s what we had to do.”

That’s what they did. Western Dubuque didn’t earn the No. 1 seed in this tournament just because it won it all last season.

The Bobcats improved their record to 34-9 here and have played a predominantly Class 4A schedule as a member of the Mississippi Valley Conference. They’re obviously a high-quality club that was simply too much for eighth-seeded Harlan (22-15).

They scored three runs each in the second and third innings and two each in the fourth and fifth. McIlrath and Connor Maiers had two hits apiece, with Maiers scoring three times and McIlrath twice, also driving in a run.

Eight of the nine guys in the WD lineup had at least one hit. The exception was Hunter Quagliano, and he walked and was hit by a pitch, scoring once and picking up an RBI.

“We’ve got confidence in every guy on this team,” Maiers said. “The starters, the guys who run the bases (as courtesy runners), we’ve got the utmost confidence in. We just know that guys are going to do the job they need to do.”

Then picked up the pitching win, giving up three singles and striking out seven. He threw just 67 pitches, which is important for the rest of the week.

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