Defending state champion Johnston topples Iowa City High in battle of ranked teams

IOWA CITY — The atmosphere was everything Iowa City High Coach Brian Mitchell hoped it would be.

Competitive baseball between two of the top teams in Class 4A and plenty of energy from the bleachers to the base paths.

In the end, defending state champion and No. 4-ranked Johnston built a six-run lead and recorded a 6-3 victory over No. 3 City High in a non-conference baseball contest Monday night at Mercer Park.

The experience was a perfect primer for substate play later this week.

“Our goal, I think their goal, was to create that playoff environment, getting us ready for when things roll Friday,” Mitchell said. “That’s the environment you look for. I thought we had a lot of kids step in and they didn’t shy away from that moment.”

Johnston (31-5) has been the cream of the crop in 4A recently. The Dragons have won the last two state titles after championships in 2020 and 2017 and reaching the finals in 2021 and 2019.

They topped City High, 4-3, in May of last season and a ranked rivalry has started to form.

“They were just as intense about winning this game as we were,” said Mitchell, who has led the Little Hawks to state the last two years and three times since 2020. “We’d been looking forward to this for a while, I promise you that.”

Johnston jumped to a lead after two scoreless innings. Tyne Weeden was hit by a pitch with one out and advanced to second when a pick-off throw bounced down the right-field line. Adam Kayko smacked a double to chase in Weeden for the game’s first run.

Sam Kemmer followed with a two-run home run over the left-field fence, giving the Dragons a 3-0 lead.

Johnston added two more in the fourth. Kyler Steck and Sam Kinney reached base to lead off the inning and an unsuccessful fielder’s choice on a sacrifice bunt loaded the bases. Blake Lundholm and Weeden produced back-to-back RBI singles, increasing the lead to 5-0.

The Dragons tallied a run in the sixth with a Jack Ruddy single, error, sacrifice and a balk.

“They did things to us that we normally do to teams,” Mitchell said. “They got in a situation to bunt and we didn’t handle the bunt. I gave up some free bases with walks and stuff like that. That inning is not normally what we do and they did a really good job of taking advantage of that, for sure.”

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Photos: Iowa City High vs. Johnston baseball

City High (31-7) rallied in the bottom of the sixth, cutting the deficit in half. Jake Mitchell drew the first of his two walks, Jaxton Schroeder singled on the next at-bat and Kael Kurtz walked to load the bases with one out.

Max Waldschmidt stepped to the plate and delivered a two-out, opposite-field double to right, clearing the bases for his 18th RBIs of the season.

“That was a big at-bat for Max,” Mitchell said. “I’m really proud of him. I’m happy for him.”

The shot was one of the bright spots, along with pitching performances from Talon Young and Nick Meredith. Young relieved Schroeder in the fourth, inheriting the bases loaded with none out.

Young gave up a single to Weeden to start but struck out the next two batters and got a pop out to limit the damage. He allowed just one unearned run on two hits over three innings.

Meredith retired Johnston in order in the seventh, fanning two. He kept City High within striking distance for its final at-bat. Meredith also threw an inning in the preceding junior varsity game.

“Nick is a competitor,” Mitchell said. “He comes in there and is funky. He’s different than most teams see. He’s got a lot of different pitches with different run.”

Drew Nye drew a leadoff walk, bringing the tying run into the on-deck circle. Kemmer closed his 1 2/3 innings of relief with three straight strikeouts to end the game and secure the Dragons’ win.

City High battled to the end.

“Our team is not going to quit,” Mitchell said. “They’re not going to give in. Anything you ask of them and they’ll fight until the end.

“We had a lot of different kids had their name called today and not one shied away from the moment.”

Comments: kj.pilcher@thegazette.com