Raffensperger sparks West to win

DES MOINES - Devin Raffensperger has led Iowa City West in home runs each of the last two years.

The Trojans' senior power hitter has belted 16 total home runs, so you would think he'd get a pass when he comes up short of his ninth this season. Instead, he received razzing for warning-track power, even though it led to the game-winning run and a state semifinal appearance.

'Maybe I should have done the last set of bench press to get it out,” Raffensperger said. 'We'll take it.”

Raffensperger hit a leadoff triple off the left-field wall in the bottom of the sixth inning and scored on Nate Boland's single, leading the fourth-seeded Trojans to a 4-2 win over No. 5 West Des Moines Dowling in an Iowa High School Athletic Association Class 4A state baseball quarterfinal Wednesday at Principal Park.

The shot ricocheted off the wall 335 feet away from home plate and sparked the decisive two-run inning.

'Raffensperger has been money all year,” West Coach Charlie Stumpff said. 'That one was way out at our place.

'We kidded him that he needed to get in the weight room. He's an outstanding hitter.”

Raffensperger was hitless before leading off the sixth. Dowling starter Ben Olson opened with a fastball against multiple West hitters and Raffensperger was sitting 'dead red,” jumping on the first offering.

'I'm just looking for a pitch to hit,” Raffensperger said. 'We needed base runners and that's what I was trying to do. I trust the guys behind me to hit me in and they did.”

Boland, who finished 1-for-2 with a walk, followed with a shot to center, giving West the lead for good. Boland was a standout quarterback for the Trojans and played in the Shrine Bowl last weekend. He has been clutch throughout his career.

Boland is an outstanding athlete,” Stumpff said. 'He's not going to be afraid of big moments. He came up with a big hit.”

Then Stumpff gambled, making a trip to nearby Prairie Meadows casino or buying a Powerball ticket the next reasonable move. He called for freshman Izaya Ono-Fullard to pinch hit for designated hitter Joe Scott and then called on sophomore Spencer Wiskus to step in for his first varsity at-bat, hitting for Brock Hatzky.

Ono-Fullard executed a perfect sacrifice bunt, moving Boland to second. Wiskus hit an RBI double to left-center field. Stumpff said bunting was not Scott's strength and Hatzky struggled against lefties.

'We had a couple of young guys whose first varsity at-bats, we'll put you just for fun,” Stumpff said. 'That's just crazy for them to come through in that situation.

'You have a lead so you had a little house money to play with, so we just ran with it.”

West (33-9) took a 2-0 lead in the third. Tyus Adkins had an RBI single, driving in Grant Ewing, who earned a two-out walk. Kevin DeLaney advanced to third on the hit and then scored when the Dowling first baseman was called for interference as Adkins induced a rundown between first and second.

The rally came after Olson retired the first eight batters in order and was a strike away from starting with three perfect innings. The Trojans weren't worried by the slow start.

'We knew we could put the ball in play and score some runs,” Adkins said. 'They weren't falling but we knew we could get the bats to come around.”

Adkins threw five innings, giving up two earned runs. Collins Marine and Nick Gallagher came in and shut down the Maroons (29-11), who received an RBI double from Zevon Benoit and a run-scoring single from Luke DeVenney in the fifth.

'My strategy was to let them hit the ball,” Adkins said. 'They did and my defense played well behind me. They rolled two or three double plays. Nick and Collins shut the door.”

West will face defending state champion Johnston. The Dragons (23-16) produced the biggest first-round upset of all four classes, toppling top-seeded Waukee, 8-3, Wednesday. The Dragons scored six in the third inning, adding two more in the seventh, becoming just the second No. 8 seed to knock off a No. 1 seed since the state baseball tournament was moved to Principal Park. Le Mars Gehlen was the first, beating top-seeded Mason City Newman, 3-2, in the 2006 1A quarterfinals.

'They're good,” Reffensperger said. 'We're excited to come out and play them.”

Dyersville Beckman also will look to defend its last two state titles. The Blazers (28-13) face No. 2 seed Van Meter (32-2) in a 2A semifinal Thursday at 8 p.m.

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