Cedar Falls tops Linn-Mar in extra-inning affair

MARION - For most of the night, Linn-Mar had an answer for every Cedar Falls challenge.

The one the Lions couldn't muster was the most crucial.

Steven Skidmore's base hit scored Dakota Schiefelbein in the 11th inning, helping Cedar Falls outlast Linn-Mar, 7-6, Monday night in a Class 4A substate semifinal at Linn-Mar Baseball Complex at Oak Ridge Middle School.

Linn-Mar Coach Chad Lechner was proud of the Lions' effort.

'Both teams left their hearts out on the field,” Lechner said. 'I talked with their coach after the game and you just hate to see a team lose, because they both were deserving. Bother teams played well enough to win.”

Lechner talked to the team about momentum shifts when the game tests whether you deserve to win. The Lions' defense came through with two inning-ending double plays, thwarting Cedar Falls before the final bid.

In the ninth, Cedar Falls' Steven Skidmore singled with one out. Jace Lang, who hits third in the Tigers' order, drove a ball to deep right field. Linn-Mar's Scott Mortensen made a running catch, and with Skidmore halfway to third, made a throw that was relayed to first for the inning-ending double play.

Cedar Falls threatened with one out again in the following frame, loading the bases on two hits and an intentional walk. Relief pitcher Andrew Gassman got a ground ball and threw to catcher Brandt Ollinger, who threw to first to complete the double play.

'We had some tremendous defensive plays to keep us in the game,” Lechner said. 'We had some great at-bats. It was back and forth … we just ran out of innings.”

Cedar Falls jumped to an early lead with a three-run first. Lang smacked a two-run triple and scored on Trey Bronner's two-out single.

The Lions answered immediately, trimming the Tigers' lead to one before the second inning. Ollinger's sacrifice fly scored Gassman and Adam Bradley's base hit chased home Manny Jeffery, who had the first of three hits.

Linn-Mar took its first lead in the three-run third. Bradley added a sacrifice fly and Taylor Yoke had an RBI double. Yoke scored on a bases-loaded walk to pinch-hitter Forrest Cronin, putting the Lions up, 5-3.

The seesaw affair continued as Cedar Falls chalked up two runs in the fourth. Bronner and Brady Corson had consecutive doubles to lead off the inning and Schiefelbein's base hit brought in Corson to tie the game at five apiece.

Cedar Falls took a short-lived lead when Matt Turcotte's two-out single drove in courtesy runner, Zach Thompson, giving them a 6-5 edge in the sixth.

The Lions rallied in the bottom half, getting three straight two-out singles from Adam Stolley, Gassman and Jeffery, who plated Stolley to make it 6-6 before the scoring drought that lasted until the 11th.

The Lions close the season with a 24-12 mark. The disappointing loss doesn't overshadow what they have accomplished this year.

'This is a great senior group and great team overall,” Lechner said. 'They did a lot of good things season. They set the bar high for the future, on and off the field. I can't comment them enough.”

Cedar Falls (22-13) moves on to face Cedar Rapids Kennedy (28-11) in a substate final at Kennedy, starting at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

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