Linn-Mar, Xavier look to make history for their schools

CEDAR RAPIDS - These two programs haven't exactly been Meow Mix for cats, Alpo for dogs or all-you-can-eat buffets for fat guys over the years.Linn-Mar and Cedar Rapids Xavier have rarely been anyone's fodder, winning a lot of baseball games. Which makes it difficult to believe the Metro tandem is attempting to reach a little personal history Wednesday at Principal Park in Des Moines.Linn-Mar has never won a game at the state tournament. Xavier has never won a state tournament game in Class 4A."It's never easy when you go down there," Linn-Mar Coach Chad Lechner said.Linn-Mar (27-15) lost in the quarterfinals last season to Cedar Rapids Kennedy, a game that was tight early but completely got away from the Lions. Lechner pointed out his club's previous state trip in 2006 offered a matchup against Davenport Central all-state ace pitcher Zach Kenyon, who ended up playing for the Iowa Hawkeyes and was taken by the Kansas City Royals in the Major League Baseball draft.Linn-Mar also qualified in 1987 and 1995 under Phil Katz, who is an assistant now for Lechner, but that was when the state tourney was just a four-team event in each class."It's a pretty special thing to be going two years in a row," Lechner said. "I'm happy for the kids because they put in an awful lot of work in the offseason. What we've done probably won't really dawn on me until we get down there."Linn-Mar plays Johnston (26-12) in the four-five game Wednesday at noon. The Lions upset second-ranked Iowa City West in a substate final, so they know they can play with anyone."You know, our practices have been relaxed this week," Lechner said. "The kids are focused. There won't be any surprises this year. It definitely feels different."Xavier (25-15) is the sixth seed, facing third-seeded Sioux City East (30-9) at 6 p.m. Being at state isn't exactly foreign to the Saints since they made five trips between 1999 and 2008, winning it all in 2006.But that was as a Class 3A school. This is against the biggest of the big boys."It's huge," Xavier Coach Dave Schemmel said. "These guys want to compete with the best, and 4A is the best. You want to play those guys and see where you stack up."Xavier rolled to the Metro Tournament title to begin the season but fell out of the IHSBCA top-10 poll midseason before rebounding to get the top seed in its substate. Mitch Keller's three-run, walk-off home run beat Cedar Rapids Prairie in last week's 12-inning substate final."These guys stuck to it," Schemmel said. "Early, we were hitting the crap out of the ball. Then we had that stretch where we couldn't get any two-out hits. We were losing games 3-2, four or five games 3-2. It was just frustrating, those kinds of things. But (outfielder) Jordan Ratz has really come on the last two weeks and just pounded the ball, and I think everybody has kind of (fed) off of that."To be honest, no one outside the Central Iowa Metro League has had oodles of success at the state tournament. Sixteen of the last 18 champions in 4A are CIML schools.Cedar Rapids Kennedy and Sioux City North are the two exceptions. Xavier and Linn-Mar want to change that Eastern Iowa luck.