High school baseball notes: Experienced players help Sigourney post another strong start

Sigourney Coach Lee Crawford had an epiphany before the school’s state baseball debut.

He was sitting on a bucket, filling out the lineup card while the team conducted pre-game practice at Carroll Kuemper’s athletic facility. Crawford watched as about 10-12 junior varsity kids were fielding groundball after groundball with no desire to quit.

The realization set in on how crucial that extra time was to development. Something that Bob Howard, the Hall of Fame coach that led Sigourney-Keota to three state titles, capitalized on to annually reload.

“I’m like this is going to pay off,” Crawford said. “That was a realization. Otherwise, we could have been done July 8 th. Here we are on July 22 nd still playing baseball and they’re fielding all these ground balls and hitting in the cage. I was like this is only going to make us better for next year.”

Crawford’s analysis was correct. Sigourney has picked up where it led off after last season’s state quarterfinal appearance. The Savages are ranked fourth in Class 1A with a 5-0 mark, entering Wednesday’s game against North Mahaska.

“We have a fairly veteran group with only two new starters out there,” Crawford said. “We’re trying to mix some freshmen in (because) we have a good freshman/sophomore class. It’s pushing a lot of things for us.”

Crawford was impressed when practice started and the team were able to work on things pushed back to the second week of the season. Their knowledge and experience has helped them hit the ground running and refine on various parts of the game.

“It’s a veteran group,” Crawford said. “I like our mix.”

Team has a handful of seniors, three juniors and the rest are underclassmen, but Sigourney returned all but two starters. All-stater Reid Molyneux and third baseman Jake Moore graduated and left some big cleats to fill but their guidance would be tough to match.

“They had been captains for two years, which really helped us in the postseason, and they were very good leaders overall.” Crawford said. “We knew we could replace most of the stuff on the field.

“We just had to replace their leadership and we’ve been really pushing our four captains – Cole McKay, Brady Clark, Isaac Bruns and Caden Clarahan – as far as setting the tone for practices and pre-game. Trying to get them to take those roles control of the team.”

Clarahan, McKay and Bruns were the top returning batters, while Clarahan, his brother, Chase Clarahan, and Solon Yates were among the notable pitchers back from a year ago.

Caden, a first-team all-stater, leads the offense with .714 batting average and .778 on-base percentage. He also has 10 hits and 13 RBIs. Cole McKay has scored 11 runs and driven in 11, going 9-for-9 in stolen bases. Chase has made strides offensively, hitting at a .500 clip and matched Caden and McKay with two home runs apiece. Sigourney was second among all teams in the state with nine home runs.

Chase leads the team with a 2-0 mark, striking out 14 without an earned run in 8 2/3 innings pitched. Caden and Landon Conrad are both 1-0. Conrad has 10 strikeouts in six innings, helping the ream post a 0.84 ERA.

“As far as our team goes, we rely on pitching and defense,” Crawford said. “I think our kids have been working hard on the hitting portion.”

Sigourney made history last season, reaching the 1A state tournament. They handed eventual state champion Lynnville-Sully its closest state contest, falling 2-0 in the first round. Crawford has been reminded just how close they were and repeat state trips are not guaranteed.

“We felt we left a lot on the table,” Crawford said. “We have that experience, trying to get back there, and that’s not easy. We have a good group. We’re excited for the rest of the season. We’ll see what happens.”

STARMONT SWEEPS NORTH LINN

Starmont posted notable victories Monday, sweeping 1A No. 3 North Linn, 15-5 and 2-0, in Arlington. The Stars are 5-2 overall and 3-1 in the Tri-Rivers Conference West Division.

In the opener, Wyatt Opitz pitched six innings to earn the win. Elliott Francois had three hits and three RBIs to lead the Stars. Starmont’s Hudson Pophem and Jax Tommasin had two hits apiece, while Cayden Baumgartner added three RBIs.

Francois pitched 4 2/3 innings for the win and teamed with Cayden Baumgartner on the shutout in the nightcap. Nick Willfong had two hits and scored a run and Opitz and Francois each drove in a run.

ONLY 4 UNBEATEN TEAMS REMAIN

We are only a couple weeks into the season and only four unbeaten Gazette-area teams reached Wednesday with unbeaten records.

Cedar Rapids Prairie, ranked No. 4 in 4A, improved to 10-0 Monday with a sweep at 3A No. 1 Dubuque Wahlert, 18-7 and 13-4. MFL MarMac, an Upper Iowa Conference contender, opened the season 5-0.

In 1A, in addition to Sigourney, Hillcrest Academy is unbeaten but has only played two games so far this season.

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