Baseball tourney underway

The State High School baseball is underway in Marshalltown and Carroll. In the Class 2-A opening round game, Carlisle beat Sergeant Bluff-Luton 10-0. Carlisle lost by 10 runs in their tournament opener last year, but turned the tables this year by scoring 7 runs in the final two innings. Carlisle pitcher Drew Laidig threw a two-hitter. Carlisle coach Dave Dirx was surprised his team got off to such a strong start. “I thought nerves would be a problem,” he said, but the coach believes last year’s tournament experience helped. In the second 2-A game of the day, fifth-ranked Jesup beat defending champion Eagle Grove 3-2. Mark Lies singled home the game winner in the bottom of the eighth, and he says it all happened because the guys in front of him got on base. “I just hit the ball,” he says. “They did all the running. They did the hard part.” In its tenth state tournament appearnce, Dyersville Beckman made it ten for ten in first round games with a 4-2 win over Okoboji. Beckman coach Tom Jenk says tournament experience is a plus for his team. “When we walk into this place, it’s not like it’s something new for us,” said Jenk. One of the things we try to have with our program is a ‘been there, done that’ attitude, and I think we showed that tonight.” In the final game of the day in Marshalltown, Williamsburg rallied with three runs in the seventh inning to down North Polk 4-3. The 1A quarterfinals were in Carroll and eighth-ranked Granville Spalding made another trip to the semis with a 7-3 win over West Harrison. Pitcher Justin List, who gave up four hits, struck out six and walked three, had the hottest bat for Granville Spalding with a double, a sacrifice fly, and three RBIs. Top-seeded Martensdale-St. Marys beat Twin Cedars of Bussey 7-2. It was the first tournament win ever for Martensdale-St. Marys. Van Meter beat Sioux Center 14-4. Sioux Center committed seven errors, and only three of Van Meter’s runs were earned runs. North Tama beat Durant 7-1. (Note:Lance Renaud of KFJB in Marshalltown; Brian Bruce of KGRN in Grinnell; Randy Grossman of KDSN in Denison contributed to this report.)