Senior pitcher Nick Dufoe tosses complete game to help Luther top Coe in American Rivers Conference baseball tournament

CEDAR RAPIDS — Luther’s Nick Dufoe received a text early Friday.

The message was a reminder to think of the progress he’s made since last year when he was in a Des Moines hospital for a week after surgery to repair a collapsed lung.

“That brings back a lot of emotions,” Dufoe said. “A year ago, I wasn’t even here with the team.

“The text said to reflect on where you were a year ago and look back on that to see how far you’ve come, even from the first pitch this year to right now. It’s a huge blessing to be out here with my guys.”

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Dufoe produced the performance the second-seeded Norse needed, throwing a complete game in a 4-1 victory over No. 4 Coe in an elimination game in the American Rivers Conference baseball tournament Friday afternoon at Memorial Stadium. The Norse reached the final four, facing No. 5 Dubuque in another elimination game Friday night.

“Nick has been one of those kind of guys,” Luther Coach Bryan Nikkel said. “His numbers don’t indicate how good he is, but he seems to rise to the occasion every time we need him, especially today.

“We were hoping to get eight or nine out of him. For him to go all nine was huge.”

Dufoe disappeared after the postgame team meeting to visit more than 20 family members and friends on the concourse. He exchanged handshakes and hugs, posing for a large group photo. They were all celebrating his effort and the difference a year makes.

“It’s always fun to throw in Cedar Rapids,” Dufoe said. “This is where most of my family has settled down, so it’s always fun to throw in front of them. It was a good time.”

Nikkel said he and Dufoe are notorious early risers. Dufoe has a regular routine of waking, breakfast, Bible reading and quiet time before the crazy gameday starts. Nikkel saw Dufoe in the hotel lobby, but avoided the right-hander, who already showed his competitive focus.

“He was locked in and ready to rock and roll here,” Nikkel said. “I didn’t talk to him because he seemed pretty dialed in.

“He was a man on a mission. He’s one of those kids that he’s one of the nicest you’re ever going to meet in your life, but when he’s pitching you best watch out.”

Dufoe (4-3) wasn’t overpowering but was confident from the first inning. He pitched to contact, scattering eight hits and recording just three strikeouts. He was effective with just one earned run — Mitch Eckardt scoring on a Jake Brosius double in the third.

The Norse (25-18) defense helped his cause, getting a few nice plays from third baseman Noah Sebben and a game-ending double play up the middle when Coe brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth.

“My focus was making one pitch at a time and if you do that consistently through a game good things are going to happen,” Dufoe said. “I have to give all the credit to my fielders. They played really well. I couldn’t have done it without them and we got a few runs on the board.

“That’s what I’m kind of set out there to do. I’m a groundball pitcher. That’s what I do. I trust my guys to make plays and that’s exactly what they did.”

Luther tied the game in the fourth. An outfield error, single and walk loaded the bases with none out. After Nolan Schroeder earned a strikeout for the first out, Gabe Atkins’ sacrifice fly to right chased home Cullen Stamp to tie the game.

Stamp came through in the following inning. His two-out bloop single to shallow left center allowed Sebben to race around from second to give the Norse a 2-1 lead in the fifth.

Similar to the fourth, Luther capitalized on Coe errors to pad its lead in the seventh. A fielding error and an errant throw on back-to-back plays led to a run and two more in scoring position. Stamp added a sacrifice fly, driving in Sebben again and making it 4-1.

“This is kind of how we’ve won a lot of our games this year,” Nikkel said. “We maybe haven’t outslugged anybody this year. We put balls in play, a little bit of pressure, put a bunt in a good place and they struggled with it. We capitalized.”

Coe ended its season at 23-17. Brosius had three hits and Eckardt and Jack Allison added two hits apiece for the Kohawks.

The Spartans ended Luther’s run in the nightcap and advance to face top-seeded Buena Vista in an elimination game at 9:30 a.m. Saturday. No. 3 Loras waits in the championship game.

Dubuque freshman Colin Husko went 2-for-4 with a walk. He added three stolen bases, including a steal of second and home in the first to give the Spartans a 1-0 lead.

Husko doubled in the top of the ninth, giving him 62 hits this season, tying the Spartans’ single-season hits record.

Brandon Watkins had an RBI for Dubuque (28-13).

Luther made it interesting in the bottom of the ninth. Aiden Michna singled with two outs and Mark Prince belted a home run over the left field wall, pulling the Norse within 3-2. Gabe Atkins followed with his second hit of the game, but reliever Anthony Scanlon induced a flyball for the final out.

Aidan Elfering pitched 8 2/3 innings and struck out seven to earn the win for Dubuque.