Casey Hall tossed a three hit shutout as top ranked Mason City Newman earned a return trip to the class 1A championship game with a 3-0 victory over second ranked Twin Cedars in a semifinal round contest. Hall says his plan was to try and keep the Twin Cedars hitters off balance.

With the victory the Knights advance to Saturday’s 1A title game. They were the runner-up a year ago, and Newman coach Tony Adams says a tough regular season schedule has paid off at tournament time.

Making their second trip to state Twin Cedars closes the season with a record of 36-3. Twin Cedars coach Matt Miller who says this is only the beginning for a team that has just two seniors.

“This is going to be motivation to work much, much, harder than we already have, which I feel we’ve put in a lot of work and a lot of time,” Miller says. “We certainly expect to be back. I know that is a long road ahead and it is hard to get here, but this is a group that is very special at Twin Cedars and we will be very motivated through the offseason.”