South Winneshiek produces another strong baseball campaign

South Winneshiek has reached the state baseball tournament the last two seasons.

The Warriors have followed up that with another strong campaign. They have a nice formula to continue that success.

“We’re a pitching and defense type of team and hopefully timely hitting,” South Winn Coach Alex Smith said. “Sometimes we have that timely hitting. Sometimes we don’t. We’ll see how things roll.”

The Warriors take a 24-10 record into the postseason, hosting Edgewood-Colesburg in a Class 1A District 4 first-round game Saturday night at Calmar.

The substate field includes top-ranked Mason City Newman, Saint Ansgar and Upper Iowa Conference champion Lansing Kee. The Warriors’ lone focus is on the Vikings (8-15).

“We’re in a tough district,” Warriors senior Ethan Luzum said. “We have to take it game by game. We can’t overlook anyone. We’ve got to play our best and focus on each game.

“We have a lot of guys with experience making postseason runs, so that should help us out.”

Smith compared this year’s squad to the 2019 state quarterfinal squad. The Warriors embrace any challenge, possessing the ability to beat anyone when they play clean.

“We can hang with any team in the area but we have to play great baseball,” Smith said. “It’s all about who plays well and executes. At the end of the game, you hope to come out on top.”

Luzum, a member of the two recent state teams, leads the way with a 4-1 record and is one of four pitchers with four victories on a staff with a 2.50 earned-run average. He has 61 strikeouts in 41 innings, holding opponents to a .158 batting average. He also plays shortstop and is hitting .370 with 24 RBIs.

“Ethan is so important,” Smith said. “When you have a pitcher and shortstop that does what he does and has made strides offensively, too.

“We have very good senior leadership.”

Senior center fielder Cael Kuboushek has a team-high 45 hits and 43 runs, batting .405 with a .468 on-base percentage. Five Warriors have at least 25 hits and 21 RBIs. The offense is capable.

South Winn has been tested all season. The Warriors have played all three of those potential substate foes. They have also played 2A No. 10 Dyersville Beckman, 4A ninth-ranked Ottumwa and 3A’s Waverly-Shell Rock. It will prepare them for the intensity of playoff competition.

“We may have dropped a few of those games, but I think we saw some quality arms and played quality baseball against some pretty good teams,” Luzum said. “I think that will help us.”