Ankeny is a favorite to repeat as the class 4A state baseball champions this season. The Hawks have a large core of players back from last season and they open top ranked in the Radio Iowa/Coaches poll.

This season will also bring the end of an era as a second high school opens in the community in the fall. Current Ankeny coach Mark Hey will be the head coach at Centennial High School.

Hey says he is good at ignoring things he doesn’t want to deal with and knows it will be very hard to not be a part of the old Ankeny school. He says the players are not even looking at the future and instead are focused on this season.

“What happens next year happens next year, and I think we have a good system in place,” Hey says. He says the have two J-V teams play now with 41 juniors and seniors out with 23 J-V games. “Next year will take care of itself, right now we are just focused on this team and being good teammates to each other and enjoying this year,” according to Hey.

One player the Hawks do not have back is All State centerfielder Joe Lanning. The future Iowa State University quarterback is not playing baseball this season so he can prepare for the football season.

“Joel and I talked and he’s doing it for all the right reasons and he has all my support. He is a wonderful young man and he’s going to be such a benefit to that Iowa State program, I’m really excited for his future,” Hey says.

A post season run by the North Iowa Area Community College baseball team will end at the Junior College World Series in Enid, Oklahoma. The Trojans advanced by rolling to three straight victories this past weekend at the North Plains District Tournament in Montana.

NIACC coach Travis Hergert says it started with the pitching staff as they all had good outings. He says the competition his team played in Iowa was a huge advantage at the district tournament.

“I kept telling people we ran through the gauntlet with our regional tournament and I felt we were best prepared when we went out there,” Hergert says. He says they saw good pitching, but were used to it and putting up 3 runs in the first innings of both games Saturday was huge.

Herget says they came into the tournament with bigger dreams than just being happy to get there. The Trojans open their first trip to the World Series on Saturday night when they play Madison College of Wisconsin in the opening round of the double elimination format.

“I keep telling our guys to enjoy this, this is something that noone can ever take away from you,” Herget says. He says it will be a wild ride that they hope to take to the end.

The North Iowa Area Community College baseball team is celebrating its first region championship. The Trojans beat Iowa Central Community College 8-6 on Tuesday in Waterloo to claim the junior college region 11 championship.

NIACC coach Travis Hergert says it was a big day for the program and the school as it had never been done before. “To go through our conference, our region, and to come out there the victor is a remarkable accomplishment because it’s probably one of the best regions in junior college baseball,” Hergert says.

Hergert’s team had to overcome some adversity. After failing to lock up the title on Monday with a 7-5 loss to Iowa Central the Trojans trailed 6-2 in the seventh inning on Tuesday before rallying for the victory.

“We faces a lot of obstacles this year from weather to travel, there was a stretch where we didn’t play for two weeks, there was a stretch where we didn’t play for 8 days, the cards have been stacked up against these guys all year, but they are a resilient bunch,” Hergert says.

He says their ability to come back shows they never give up on a game and feel they can win no matter what the score is. Next up, the Trojans travel to Montana for the North Plains District Tournament.

Hergert says they are still trying to line up the pitching staff after having to use some guys in situations with short rest. NIACC will play Miles Community College out of Montana on Saturday morning.

The other team in the tournament Dakota County Technical College out of Minnesota.

The Wartburg baseball team opens a division three regional in Moline, Illinois, tomorrow by taking on Adrian of Michigan. The Knights are seeded second in the six-team regional and are ranked 21st nationally.

Coach Joel Holst says they feel confident about the regional and the draw, as most of the teams are a lot like his team. Wartburg is 34-9 on the season and says he likes there chances if they play well.

Holst says they always tell the team that if they play well they can be competitive with anybody. Wednesday’s other first round games feature Ripon against Webster and Concordia of Chicago plays host Augustana.

The Iowa Conference baseball tournament opens in Cedar Rapids on Thursday and it may be all or nothing for the six teams in the field. Wartburg won the regular season race but even with a 31-9 record coach Joel Holst feels his team may not get in the NCAA division three regionals without winning the tournament.

“Nothing is ever for sure about an NCAA tournament related to conferences and an at-large bid, so we’re approaching it that our next goal is winning an Iowa Conference Championship,” Holst says.

Wartburg and second seeded Coe have first round byes but Holst says every team in the field is a threat to win it. Holst says in baseball a team can get hot in a three-day tournament and win the whole thing.

Coe finished second in the regular season race and coach Steve Cook also does not feel his team can count on at at-large berth.

“I would say we definitely have to win in order to ensure that we will go on,” Cook says. He says they have to play it like a winner take all situation.

Coe will be looking for its third straight conference tournament title. He says they’ve gone 6-0 in the last two tournaments and getting the first round bye has been an advantage.

Third seeded Buena Vista will take on sixth seeded Loras and fourth seeded Central plays fifth seeded Simpson in Thursday’s opening round.

The Northwestern College baseball team leaves this afternoon for Oklahoma City and Thursday’s start of the opening of the NAIA Tournament. The Red Raiders followed up the Great Plains Athletic Conference regular season title by winning the conference tournament over the weekend.

Northwestern coach Brian Wede says it’s been a special year and the first time a team has won both the regular season and post season titles in the conference. The Red Raiders have won 22 of their last 27 games and face a tough field this week.

He says Oklahoma City is ranked second at 47-10 and will be the favorite, followed by Sterling Kansas. Northwestern opens the double elimination tournament on Thursday morning against Jamestown of North Dakota.

Wede says they did not play Jamestown, but have played some similar opponents with similar results. While Wede wants his team to focus on the task at hand he also wants the players to enjoy the trip and will take some extra time to enjoy the trip. Wede says finals are over so they can take some time and think back on the experience of the season.

Northwestern is 31-17 on the season.