As it happened: Southeast Polk bests West again in 4A championship

DES MOINES – Third-seeded Iowa City West's title hopes were denied by Southeast Polk for a second straight season.

Fifth-seeded Southeast Polk became just the ninth large school program to win consecutive titles and first since West Des Moines Valley won four straight from 2003-06, beating West, 6-2, in the finals of the Class 4A state tournament Saturday night at Principal Park.

West (34-12) was the state runner-up last season, matching their feat of consecutive second-place finishes in 2009 and 2010.

FULL STORY

Below is the play-by-play, as it happened.

FINAL: Southeast Polk 6, Iowa City West 2

Bottom 7thLohaus - Flyout to center, 1 out.0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 left

Aller - Strikeout, 2 out.

Delaney - Groundout to 1st

Top 7thOno-Fullard in to pitch.Nelson - Hit by pitch.0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 2 left

McLaughlin - Walk.

Hauser - Wild pitch. Runners advance to 2nd and 3rd. Flyout to left, 1 out. Runners don't tag.

Henry - Groundout to 2nd, 2 out. Runners can't advance.

Neff - Groundout to 3rd. West is fired up about that one. Last chance coming up.

Bottom 6thMcCafferey - Bloop single to center0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 left

Martin - Shallow flyout to right, 2B Gjersvik makes the catch, 1 out.

Disterhoft - Groundout to pitcher on a tough bouncer, 2 out.

Scott - Groundout to 3rd. Great play by Hauser as the grounder hops up near his shoulder, and he's able to recover.

Top 6thHauser - Single to right.

Henry - Hauser steals 2nd, aided by a pitch in the dirt. RBI double into the gap. Insurance for SEP.

Neff - Pop-out to short, 1 out.

Shannon - Strikeout on a ball in the dirt, but Wiskus hesitated and threw to 2nd. All runners safe.

Martin - Flyout to right, 2 out. Hauser tags to 3rd.

Mound conference. West badly needs an out here if it wants a chance to come back.

Hassman - Walk. Bases loaded.

That will do it for Barnes, who was very good after coming in in a tough situation. Zach McLean gets the call.

Hamilton - First pitch, fielder's choice to 3rd.1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 3 left

Bottom 5thAller - Strikeout, 1 out. Yet another called strike three that West didn't like.0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 left

Delaney - Four-pitch walk.

Ono-Fullard - Infield single. Two on.

Wiskus - 5-4-3 double play. Massive play in this game.

Top 5thHamilton - Flyout to center, 1 out. Much like Henry in the last inning, CF Delaney lost it in the lights, but is able to recover.0 runs, 0 hit, 0 errors, 0 left

Nelson - Groundout to 3rd, 2 out.

McLaughlin - Groundout to pitcher.

After West's first 1-2-3 inning, its crowd is back into it. Top of the order coming up in the next inning. You get the sense this might be the Trojans' chance to come back.

Bottom 4thMartin - Groundout to pitcher, 1 out.1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 left

Disterhoft - Groundout to 2nd, 2 out.

Scott - Walk. Trojans have a two-out baserunner.

Lohaus - Deep fly to center is lost in the lights by CF Henry, allowing a run to score. But the inning ends when Lohaus slides past the bag at 3rd.

Top 4thNeff - Pop-out to the mound, 1 out. 3B Ono-Fullard came in to make the play.0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 left

Shannon - Shallow pop-out to short, 2 out.

Martin - Single to left.

Hassman - Strikeout. Barnes has been very good in 1 2/3 innings thus far.

Bottom 3rdOno-Fullard - Groundout to short, 1 out.0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 left

Wiskus - Groundout to short, 2 out.

McCafferey - Flyout to center. First 1-2-3 inning tonight.

In between innings, Sturtz emerges from the dugout with ice on his head. Being taken to the clubhouse. 

Top 3rdNelson - Groundout to 2nd, 1 out.

McLaughlin - Line drive drills Sturtz around the head area. Immediately goes down. Very scary scene.

Sturtz sitting up now. Still being attended to on the mound.

Sturtz able to walk off the field. Scary play, but hopefully he's OK.

Nate Barnes will take over on the mound when play resumes.

Hauser - Strikeout, 2 out. Nice start to Barnes' outing, especially all things considered.0 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 1 left

Henry - Slow grounder down the first-base line is grabbed by Barnes, but his throw is high. McLaughlin's courtesy runner tries to take third on the play and is thrown out.

Bottom 2ndScott - First-pitch, line-drive single to center.0 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 left

Lohaus - Groundout to 3rd on a slow roller, 1 out. Scott to 2nd.

Aller - Strikeout, 2 out. Another called strike on a breaking ball.

Delaney - Groundout to 1st. Delaney has wheels, but McLaughlin got to 1st a foot before him.

Top 2ndHenry - Triple to the right-field wall. McCafferey misjudged it.

Neff - Wild pitch scores Neff. 5-1. Shannon walks on four pitches

Shannon - Attempted bunt results in a foul pop-out, 1 out.

Martin - Line drive single to left. Shannon hustles to 3rd, Hassman to 2nd on the throw.

That's it for Austin Miller. Short, 1 1/3 inning start. Shane Sturtz comes out of the bullpen in relief.

Hassman - Weak groundout to the pitcher, 2 out. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 left

Hamilton - Fly out to right. Sturtz limits the damage.

Bottom 1stDelaney - Error on 3B Hauser, throwing high to 1st on a lined shot. Delaney moves to 2nd.1 run, 2 hits, 1 error, 2 left

Ono-Fullard - Strikeout, 1 out. McLaughlin had him fooled on a 3-2 breaking ball.

Wiskus - Groundout to 3rd, 2 out. Solid throw this time by Hauser after a nice backhand 

McCafferey - RBI bloop single to right. West is on the board.

Martin - Single down the RF line. McCafferey to 3rd. Could be a huge two-out rally.

Disterhoft - Strikeout. Called strike on a 3-2 breaking ball. West can only get one back.

Top 1stNeff - Single to right center. Bobble by McCafferey allows Neff to get to 2nd.4 runs, 5 hits, 2 errors, 2 left

Shannon - Bunt single. Neff advances to 3rd.

Martin - RBI single. Runners now at 2nd and 3rd. 1-0.

Hassman - Deep two-RBI double to the left center wall. Already 3-0 SEP. Still no outs.

Hamilton - Groundout to 2nd, 1 out. Hassman advances to 3rd.

Nelson - RBI single to right past a drawn-in infield. 4-0 SEP.

McLaughlin - Ground ball flies under Ono-Fallard's glove at third. Runners at 1st and 2nd.

Hauser - Flyout to center. Running basket catch to Delaney. Nelson tags to 3rd.

Henry - McLaughlin caught stealing at 2nd to end the inning. But the damage is done.

Lineups

Southeast Polk1. SS Tim Neff

2. LF Cam Shannon

3. C Austin Martin

4. DH Cole Hassman

5. 1B Zach Hamilton

6. RF Jake Nelson

7. P Thomas McLaughlin

8. 3B Cole Hauser

9. CF Sam Henry

2B Nathan Gjersvik

Iowa City West1. CF Kevin Delaney

2. 3B Izaya Ono-Fullard

3. C Spencer Wiskus

4. RF Connor McCafferey

5. 2B Oliver Martin

6. 1B Nate Disterhoft

7. LF Joe Scott

8. SS Tanner Lohaus

9. DH Alex Aller

P Austin Miller

The pitching matchup: Austin Miller (9-2, 2.51 ERA) goes for West against Southeast Polk's Thomas McLaughlin (7-2, 0.54 ERA).

First pitch is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. West is the home team.

Fans here are hoping for a good game to cap this year's tournament. All three championship games today have ended via the 10-run rule in the fifth inning. In Class 1A, Mason City Newman beat Pleasantville 10-0, Clear Lake bested Waterloo Columbus 11-1 in Class 2A and Waverly-Shell Rock won its first state title with an 11-1 victory over Harlan in Class 3A.