K.J. Pilcher

North Linn baseball coach Travis Griffith will attempt to perform a balancing act in the postseason. He will have to find the middle ground between realistic expectations and the program’s lofty aspirations.

Sigourney has enjoyed a strong baseball season, placing second in the South Iowa Cedar League, moving to No. 8 in the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association Class 1A rankings and earning the No. 1 seed in District 12.

Marion’s Grayson Kirsch was expected to be near the top of the pitching rotation this season. A knee injury prevented that from happening but he did make a return to the mound, getting a win in the Wolves’ doubleheader sweep of Williamsburg.

The weekly Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association statewide rankings has contained a large contingent of Mississippi Valley Conference teams. As the regular season winds, the MVC maintains a strong presence in the poll.

The postseason begins at the end of this week for Class 1A and 2A schools. The bigger schools still have conference and some playoff primers on the slate. Dubuque Wahlert at Cedar Rapids Kennedy and Marion at Central DeWitt are among the highlighted Iowa high school baseball games in Week 8.

Class 3A ninth-ranked Solon received quality starts from Tyler Bell and Vince Steinbrech, sweeping Clear Creek Amana, 10-2 and 9-3, in a Wamac Conference baseball doubleheader Thursday night in Tiffin.

The pairings and paths for high school baseball teams have been set by the Iowa High School Athletic Association. Small classes open postseason next week.

Iowa City Liberty’s Mason Waterbury has been nearly untouchable this season. He pitched a complete-game, one-hitter in a shutout victory over Class 4A No. 3 Iowa City High on Monday night, improving to 8-0 this year.

North Linn baseball coach Travis Griffith said this is the youngest Lynx team he has coached. After a two-week hiatus, North Linn returned to the top 10 of the Class 1A rankings released Sunday night by the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association.

This marks the last full week of the Iowa high school baseball season for all four classes. The postseason for Class 1A and 2A begins next week. An Iowa City clash and another battle between Upper Iowa Conference leaders highlight our five games to watch this week.

Cedar Rapids Xavier’s Andrew Hamlett has been a steady contributor on the mound the last three seasons. On the program’s Senior Night, he pitched a complete shutout to helps the Saints split with Dubuque Senior.

Dylan Recker was expecting a call to the mound against Anamosa. It came sooner and lasted longer than expected but he rose to the challenge, helping Dyersville Beckman to a sweep over the Blue Raiders.

Western Dubuque loaded the bases with one out and Hunter Quagliano delivered a sacrifice fly to chase home pinch runner Grant Glausser in the bottom of the seventh for a 3-2 victory over Center Point-Urbana on Wednesday night at Mount Mercy’s Plaster Athletic Complex.

Mount Vernon lost a tough substate baseball final to eventual state champion Western Dubuque last season. The Mustangs took advantage of a regular season rematch, beating the Bobcats, 6-5, Wednesday night at Mount Mercy’s Plaster Athletic Complex.

Baseball notes: South Winneshiek is contending for another Upper Iowa Conference title. North Linn Coach Travis Griffith earned his 500th career victory Monday when the Lynx swept Maquoketa Valley.