BGM begins road for elusive state berth

BGM has been one win shy of its first state baseball tournament appearance each of the last two years.

The Bears are determined to claim that elusive berth, but expect to face a challenging field.

'We still have a really tough road,” BGM Coach Jerod Burns said. 'There are no easy draws this point of the season.

'We will have to play well.”

Seventh-ranked BGM hosts familiar foe HLV in an Iowa High School Athletic Association Class 1A District 6 semifinal Thursday in Brooklyn, starting at 7 p.m. The Bears opened the postseason with a forfeit win over Meskwaki Settlement, which didn't have enough players, while HLV knocked off GMG, 5-4.

BGM had 26 wins and reached the substate final the last two years. The Bears (22-2) wrapped up a perfect South Iowa Cedar League schedule, defending their title. They have not played in a week, but hope they resume strong play.

'I think we ended the regular season on the right foot,” said Burns, whose team was eliminated last year by state semifinalist Van Meter. 'We ended up going 20-0 in our conference and that was the goal we set out to accomplish. Now, it's time to turn the page and set our sights on a different goal.”

BGM swept the Warriors (6-15) in two regular season games, winning by a combined 21-1 total. HLV has won two straight games.

'They are playing really well right now,” Burns said. 'They beat the (higher) seed and did it in pretty impressive fashion.”

Burns will go with all-state ace Zac Freese. The senior pitcher has posted monster numbers and has been a workhorse for the Bears the last three seasons. Burns considers Freese the go-to guy on the mound.

'My philosophy has been I'm going to go with the best available that I've got every night,” said Burns, noting Freese trains to stay in good condition to pitch a lot of innings. 'Zac is the best available.”

Freese is 12-0 this season with a 0.55 earned-run average. He has held opposing batters to a .190 batting average and struck out 84 in less than 64 innings. Freese makes a living off his competitive nature, nibbling the plate corners and has strong command of the strike zone.

'He locates really well,” Burns said. 'He's not an overpowering guy. He can strike you out, but he's not going to throw it by a lot of kids.”

The winner will advance to Saturday's district final at Brooklyn against Thursday's winner between Iowa Valley and North Tama.

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