K.J. Pilcher

You can take Seth Wing out of Winona State but the school was never out of the baseball coach’s system. When the Warriors needed a new leader for their program, many factors made it the right move for Wing to return.

Now that the 2022 Iowa high school state baseball tournaments are complete, let’s take a look back at some of the standout performances and a look ahead to next season.

Three-time defending state champion Van Meter broke open a tight contest with an eight-run sixth to beat fourth-seeded Dyersville Beckman, 9-4, in the Class 2A state baseball semifinals

Sixth-seeded Mid-Prairie jumped to an early three-run lead but No. 2 Estherville-Lincoln Central came back for a 7-4 victory in the Class 2A state baseball semifinals.

Dyersville Beckman scored in the first two innings and posted a 7-4 victory over Dike-New Hartford in the Class 2A state quarterfinals.

Collin Miller frustrated and flustered batters for six innings, striking out 10 and propelling sixth-seeded Mid-Prairie to a 3-2 victory over No. 3-seed Cascade in a Class 2A state baseball quarterfinal.

Lisbon placed the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position, but Mason City Newman escaped with 3-2 victory. Lisbon ends its season in the Class 1A state baseball quarterfinals for the second straight year.

The elements were there for South Winneshiek, but it just wasn’t enough to overcome top-ranked Remsen St. Mary’s in the Class 1A state baseball quarterfinals.

When Kingsley Pierson completed its 7-4 comeback victory against North Linn in the Class 1A state baseball quarterfinals, it marked the end of Austin Hilmer’s prep career and the conclusion of an eight-year stretch of a Hilmer leading the Lynx.

Cascade and Dyersville Beckman share a love for baseball and one of the top rivalries in the state. This year marks the second time and the first in 40 years that both reached the state tournament.

Iowa City High and Iowa City Liberty will compete in their own backyard for the Class 4A state baseball tournament, while Lisbon returns to the Class 1A state quarterfinals in Carroll.

Maddux Frese pitched eight innings of a gem and then scored the winning run in a ninth-inning rally capped by Brandon Vlcko’s single in Cedar Rapids Prairie’s 2-1 substate baseball win over Cedar Rapids Kennedy.

Dyersville Beckman topped Jesup to earn the program’s 19th state baseball tournament appearance and first since winning the Class 2A crown in 2017 in head coach Fred Martin’s last season.

Cedar Rapids Kennedy survived a rough start to the baseball season that included injuries to key players, a tough slate and a 3-8 mark when May concluded. Now, Kennedy is 26-14 with an opportunity to claim a state tournament spot Wednesday night.

Class 3A fifth-ranked Cedar Rapids Xavier’s Drew Proskovec tossed a three-hit shutout in an 8-0 victory over No. 10 North Polk.