Iowa High School Baseball: Dyersville Beckman starts to find groove under new head coach

Dyersville Beckman has found more success in the last week.

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The Blazers have persevered the overlap of spring sports, sharing athletes with soccer and golf programs, for the first couple weeks of the season.

As the focus shifted solely to baseball, Class 2A fifth-ranked Beckman has won four straight and five of their last six games. Beckman has improved to 9-6 overall and is 6-0 to sit atop the River Valley Conference North standings with rival Cascade.

“We’re battling through it,” Beckman first-year head coach Ryan Mabe said. “I don’t think we’ve played our best ball, yet. We’re starting to find our groove a little bit still.”

For Mabe, the opportunity to lead the program he played for and follow in the footsteps of the late Tom Jenk Jr. and Jenk’s longtime assistant, Fred Martin, seemed surreal at first. The 2008 graduate was a sophomore basketball coach and varsity assistant for Beckman when he had a surprising exchange with Martin, who was officiating a lower-level basketball contest.

During halftime of a game, Mabe asked Martin how long he was going to coach. Mabe said Martin responded, “Until you’re ready.”

Mabe followed up about a month later, asking if he was serious. Martin assured him he was and the wheels started in motion. He joined the baseball staff as an assistant last season, assuming more duties as the summer progressed.

Jenk won five state titles, reached state 17 times and posted 1,088 career victories.

“I hope to be able to carry on that legacy and put my own thing on it,” Mabe said. “I’m not going to be Tom Jenk. The tradition is set and it’s more about keeping that bar high and not lowering it.”

Interestingly, Mabe met his wife while he played for the Blazers and she was a stat keeper. After a sweep of Monticello where Luke Sigwarth’s 2-run home run walked off an 8-6 victory in Game 1 and the Blazers trailed in the fifth until a 4-1 comeback win in the nightcap, they were still in disbelief he was leading the baseball power.

“She was like, ‘Are you really that coach?’ and I said I guess,” Mabe said. “I’m getting in a rhythm and a daily routine with everything. It’s getting to not be such a big deal anymore.”

He has tried to make his mark on players on and off the field. The Blazers receive daily devotions via a text group and emphasize playing for things bigger than the individual, like faith, family, teammates and the Beckman baseball tradition.

“Obviously, it’s a big task,” Mabe said. “I try to make an impact in different ways beyond baseball.”

Beckman hasn’t skipped a beat with graduation of key players from last year’s state semifinal team, a new coach and a transition from the Wamac to the RVC.

Defense has been the bread and butter early, as the pitching staff begins to iron out behind ace Nate Offerman. The offense is developing with Luke Sigwarth leading the team with 22 hits and a .512 batting average. Luke Schieltz is batting at a .324 clip with a .559 on-base percentage.

“The last few games we’ve done a good job, fielding and throwing the ball,” Mabe said. “We’re doing a good job. We’re not going to strike out a lot of guys, so we have to play defense.

“The guys are working at it. The best ball is in front of us yet, but we’re starting to find our stride.”

MUSZYNSKI SWIPES LINN-MAR RECORD

Linn-Mar’s Dylan Muszynski has terrorized opponents when he runs the base paths. The sophomore has 22 stolen bases in 24 attempts, leading ranks third in the state and first in Class 4A.

Muszynski signed his name in the record book thanks to his thievery. He stole seven bases in a 9-3 victory over Class 3A No. 10 West Delaware on May 31, breaking the old single-game record of five by Cal Dart in 1971. Muszynski is tied for fourth in state history for stolen bases in a game.

Linn-Mar Coach Kyle Rodenkirk compared Muszynski’s baserunning to former Lion and current Iowa Hawkeye Coy Sarsfield, who scored the winning run in a regional elimination game against North Carolina.

“We’re aggressive,” Rodenkirk said after a doubleheader sweep of Iowa City West. “You can’t steal first base, so that’s the biggest thing. We just like to put pressure on defenses and that’s kind of our style of play.”

Muszynski owns a .412 on-base percentage with 16 hits and 12 walks. He has also reached on eight errors.

The state record is 11 set by Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire’s Dalton Young, who stole 11 bases against Storm Lake St. Mary’s in 2021.

REGINA, SOLON TOPPLE RANKED FOES

Iowa City Regina and Solon both knocked off highly-ranked foes Tuesday night. The Spartans, who split with 3A No. 6 Marion on Monday, defeated 2A No. 1 Mid-Prairie, 7-6, Tuesday at Solon Recreation and Nature Area.

Solon’s Gehrig Turner walked in the bottom of the seventh and scored on an errant throw for the winning run. Turner and Brett White scored twice apiece. Nolan Seagren had three RBIs for the Spartans (9-8).

Regina (8-8) handed 1A No. 4 Lisbon its first loss of the season. The Regals broke open a tied game with a 10-run fifth inning. Danny Gavin went 4-for-4 with two runs and an RBI and Jack Tierney and Drew Streb added two hits and two RBIs each for Regina, which pounded 14 total hits. Jack Clark and Colin Baker also had two RBIs and Alex Paul scored three times for the Regals. Lisbon is 9-1.