Tanner Beck drove in two runs with a double down the left field line to cap off a three run seventh inning as fourth rated Fort Dodge rallied for a 4-2 victory over eighth rated Dowling Catholic in the Class 4A quarterfinals of the state baseball tournament. Beck says the Dodgers are a confident team even when they are behind late in the game.
Beck says they know they have the people to get the job done with timely hits and good defense. Dowling took a 2-1 lead into the top of the seventh and they end the season with a record of 26-12.
Maroon’s coach Tim O’Neill says they’ve done the same thing all season in getting behind and rallying back, but he says Fort Dodge had just a little more.
Ryan Torgerson tossed a four-hitter and struck out 16 as 9th-ranked and defending champion Johnston got by Davenport Central 5-1. Greg Larpenter drove in a pair of runs with a triple as the Dragons improved to 29-13 on the season.
Seventh-seeded Iowa City West upset second-seeded Cedar Rapids Washington 9-6 Wednesday night in a Class 4A game at Principal Park, finishing the first round for all classes in the state tournament. West (29-15) will meet Johnston in Friday night’s semifinals.
Solon could become the first high school to win state titles in football, boy’s basketball and baseball in the same school year. The seventh rated Spartans take on second ranked Fort Dodge St. Edmond in a class 2A semifinal round on Thursday night.
Senior Ben Bergman, who was the winning pitcher in Solon’s first round victory over Sumner-Fredricksburg, says it would be "pretty incredible" to win titles on all those sports in the same year.