Dyersville Beckman seeks back-to-back championships in Class 2A

DES MOINES - There's an age old question in sports when it comes to championships. Which title is harder to get: the first, or the second in a row?Dyersville Beckman faces that dilemma Saturday against North Polk in the Class 2A state championship game at Principal Park in Des Moines.“Last year we had a pretty good, solid bunch of seniors, and we knew we'd be knocking on the door and doing things last year,” said Beckman coach Tom Jenk Jr. “These kids (this year) had that on their back, all year this year to be the defending state champs, and I told them that they're not the defending state champs - that was last year's team. They want to go out and establish their own, new identity, and they get a chance to do that (today).”Two come-from-behind wins over Waterloo Columbus and Roland-Story already in the books, the Blazers face a familiar opponent to repeat in the Comets, who they beat for the title last year.Armed with that knowledge, and the guidance of Jenk, the Beckman players have made this season their own, all right.“What (Jenk has) said throughout the season really got us ready for today and what's about to come,” said Beckman pitcher/utility player Adam Noethe, who got the win against Roland-Story. “He expects greatness from us every time we hit the field because we're representing Beckman. We have a great tradition and we expect to win every game.”Something Beckman will hope to carry over from the semifinal rout of Roland-Story, 13-2, in five innings is success at the plate.“We put in a lot of time here since Monday in our practices, doing some extra hitting, and being selective on the pitches we wanted to take a look at,” Jenk said.Jenk will almost certainly send Beckman's ace pitcher, Joey Lehmann to the mound for the Blazers' biggest game of the season. When asked who the starter would be, Jenk laughed and coyly said, “Aw, I think there's a pretty good chance,” Lehmann would start.The Roland-Story win was a “good confidence builder” for Beckman, according to Jenk, and made it plainly clear to the players what was needed to earn some breathing room with so much on the line.“We just need to remember getting up right away is the key to success,” Noethe said. “You can't just sit and expect something to happen when you're not doing anything about it. So I think what we're going to do is just try to get our bats rolling right away just so we can get out and find that comfort zone.”Jenk ended his time with the media on Thursday looking and sounding like a very confident coach. His message to his team headed into today was plain and clear.“Back to back is what we want to do,” Jenk said. “That's our goal every year, not to lose the last game we play. That's a pretty lofty goal, but we've done it four times and we want to make it five.”Beckman (35-6) plays North Polk (30-4) for the Class 2A title Saturday at 2 p.m.