Western Dubuque beat Carroll 5-3 in a class 3A semifinal and hours later had the victory upheld following a protest.
Carroll coach Dick Troutman protested the outcome after Western Dubuque ace Billy Schmitt was brought in to pitch the seventh inning. Troutman felt Schmitt was not eligible to take the mound after he pitched nine innings in a first round game on Wednesday. Troutman says Schmitt should not have been allowed to pitch until Saturday.
But Rick Wulkow, executive director of the Iowa High School Athletic Association, says the rulebook mentions days and not calendar days. And it had been more than 48-hours since Schmitt had been on the mound. Wulkow says the hours versus days argument is more of an issue at the state tournament because games are played at various times of the day. The board of control upheld the outcome and Western Dubuque will play in its first title game.
The Bobcats will play Cedar Rapids Xavier for the 3A champoionship. The Saints beat Charles City 11-5. Pitcher Brent Warren had three of Xavier’s 13 hits, including a double and a homer. Warren had seven strikeouts and walked three in earning his seventh win of the season.
West Des Moines Valley will go for four in a row. The fourth-ranked Tigers beat Mason City 10-0 and will take on Cedar Rapids Kennedy for the 4A crown. The Cougars got a pair of homers from Adam Rice and beat Davenport Central 7-5. The Cougars head to the title game after struggling for the first half of the season. Rice says July 1st was the day things turned around.
At noon, it is the championship game in Class 1A as third-ranked Sentral of Fenton takes on number seven Lenox. Then the Class 2A title game will match top-rasnked Davenport Assumption against number six North Polk.