West gets revenge, another shot at redemption

DES MOINES - There is a recurring theme with Iowa City West's postseason trek.

The Trojans had to avenge a loss just to return to the state tournament.

They faced another shot at revenge and capitalized, earning one more chance to rectify a past result.

Third-seeded West overturned regular-season losses, knocking off No. 2 Cedar Rapids Kennedy, 5-2, Friday night in the semifinals of the Class 4A state baseball tournament at Principal Park. The Trojans (34-11) reached their second straight state championship game, forcing a rematch with defending state champ Southeast Polk (32-13).

Joe Scott's two-run single in the seventh secured the Trojans' fourth appearance in the state finals. They earned runner-up finishes in 2009, 2010 and last year.

'It means a lot,” West's senior center fielder Kevin DeLaney said. 'We're coming in (for) redemption. We're going to redeem ourselves.”

The Trojans have progressed along with the season, gaining experience and overcoming injuries. It isn't the same team from the start of the season. They have some added motivation.

'Whatever little sayings you have to have, ours is a little redemption,” Stumpff said. 'Our guys want to finish the job a little bit. It's out there. Whatever it takes to keep them working hard (Saturday) in practice.”

West took control early, rallying with two outs in the second. Shane Sturtz drew a walk and stole second.

DeLaney's grounder up the middle dribbled through the legs of second baseman Sammy Lizarraga, scoring Sturtz with the first run of the game. An errant pickoff throw made its way into the bullpen down the right-field line and DeLaney bolted around the bases, sliding safely into home. Stumpff said another runner may not have made it.

'As I'm rounding second, I see Coach Stumpff waving me in,” said DeLaney, who led West with two hits. 'That is when I kept my jets going and ended up scoring.”

Another throwing error brought in Izaya Ono-Fullard, who was hit by a pitch, giving West a 3-0 edge. West struggled to score runs against Kennedy starters, getting just one off Daniels earlier this year.

'Really huge,” Stumpff said. 'To get any runs, we were feeling good.

'Those runs were big. A lot of times in games, we tell our guys it's the guy who plays clean.”

Mistakes plagued Kennedy in a quarterfinal win over Davenport North. The Cougars committed three errors overall.

'It was uncharacteristic of us,” Kennedy Coach Bret Hoyer said. 'I'd like to think we can pick it up and throw it better than what we did in that inning. It came back to bite us. It snowballed on us.”

Kennedy senior starter Zach Daniels kept the game in reach, holding West scoreless until the seventh. He battled through the rocky inning and didn't allow another hit until the sixth. The Cougars were unable to get clutch hits, stranding runners in scoring position in the first, third, fifth and seventh innings.

'I'm just real proud of Zach,” Hoyer said. 'He continued to pitch through that and executed quality and competitive pitches, giving us a chance to win the game. We just couldn't get the key hit with guys in scoring position.”

The Cougars manufactured a run from the legs of Tyler Dralle in the fourth. He reached on a single that was stopped by Oliver Martin in shallow right, advancing to second on Martin's bad throw. He tagged and advanced to third on Jackson Behn's fly ball, scoring on a sacrifice fly by Kyle Brewer, cutting the deficit to 3-1.

Kennedy threatened in the next inning. Henry Jacobs opened with a walk and Zach Daniels gave the Cougars two on with one out after a single. Lohaus struck out the next two batters, ending the inning.

'He was phenomenal,” DeLaney said of Lohaus. 'When you have a pitcher throwing strikes, getting ground balls (and) fly balls, it really helps the defense out, especially making plays.”

Lohaus (8-2) threw five innings, giving up an unearned run. He allowed just three hits, striking out five. Ono-Fullard, a sophomore, tossed two innings of relief for the save.

'Tanner was outstanding,” Stumpff said. '(Ono-Fullard) did a good job to close it down.”

Kennedy added a double in the seventh, hitting a one-out double and scoring on two wild pitches. The Cougars had five hits. Daniels reached bases in all four at-bats, walking for the second time in the final frame. Kennedy ended the season 30-12. The loss doesn't overshadow a strong season, finishing in the top four.

'Only one team is going to win their last game of the year,” Hoyer said. 'You have to play exceptionally well over five or six games to do that. We just came up a little bit short.”

The fifth-seeded Rams (32-13) knocked off top-seeded Waukee, 14-10, in the semifinal. Southeast Polk is trying to become just the ninth large school program to win back-to-back state titles and first since West Des Moines Valley won four straight from 2003-06. West will attempt to maintain a good postseason run.

'It's all about players, liking to play,” Stumpff said. 'They are very talented kids. You have to come in and do what you're supposed to do. ...

They are fun to be around.

'I wish I had a potion for peaking at the right time. You just hope they are playing well. Right now, we're playing well.”

l Comments: (319) 368-8679; kj.pilcher@thegazette.com