Use of ineligible pitcher denies LeMars state baseball tourney berth

An apparent extra-inning win over the top-ranked team in Class 3A turned into a nightmare instead for the LeMars baseball team Wednesday night. And a loss.The Bulldogs' 8-5, 11-inning substate final victory over Sioux City Heelan was overturned by the Iowa High School Athletic Association after it was learned LeMars used a pitcher that was not allowed to pitch in the game because of state innings-limitations rules.Parker Rolfes threw nine innings Monday in his team's 11-inning district final win over Sergeant Bluff-Luton, meaning he had to sit out two days before pitching again. Instead he threw five relief innings against Heelan.Pitchers can throw 16 innings in a week.According to the Sioux City Journal, Heelan Coach Andy Osborne asked Heelan Athletics Director Jason Pratt after the game if he would contact the IHSAA to inquire about Rolfes' pitching eligibility. The final score officially became a 7-0 Heelan forfeit victory."I messed up the pitching limitation rules," LeMars Coach Trent Eckstaine told the LeMars Daily Sentinel. "It's my fault. I hate to cost these seniors and all these kids I have on my team a game like this, to get into the state tournament. I wish I could take it back, but I cost these kids a lot of their hard work and a lot of the effort that they put in to get us to this point. It was my fault, nobody else's, and I take full responsibility for it."Heelan is the top seed in 3A at the state tournament and plays Williamsburg in a quarterfinal Tuesday afternoon at Principal Park in Des Moines.“I'd feel happier if we would have scored more runs than (Le Mars) did,” Osborne told the Sioux City Journal. “My reaction is like anyone else's. We're still in shock. After a marathon game like that, there's a wide range of emotions. I'm still coming into grips with it.”It is what it is. Our season continues. I'm happy for the kids. I feel we played well enough to win the game, but I give credit to Le Mars because they played a great game and they're worthy of their season continuing as well.”