A year ago, the Ankeny Christian Academy softball team ended its season with a loss to Mason City Newman in a regional final.
On Monday, the ACA baseball squad suffered a similar fate.
This time it came at historic Merchants Park in Carroll, where the Eagles’ first trip ever to the Class 1A state tournament came to an end with a 9-4 loss in the quarterfinals.
Mason City Newman (27-9) showed why it is one of Iowa’s most successful programs, overcoming a 3-1 deficit in its 27th state tournament appearance. The Knights are now just two wins away from capturing their ninth championship.
“They’re a great team, and I could see them winning the whole thing,” said ACA coach Konrad Christensen, whose squad finished the season with a 29-6 record.
The Knights used a four-run fourth inning and a three-run sixth to end ACA’s 10-game winning streak. They nearly matched their average of 10 runs per game despite being outhit by a 9-5 margin.
Mason City Newman took advantage of nine walks, two hit batters and two ACA errors that led to five unearned runs.
“We had some plays that could have been made,” said ACA catcher Andrew Mora. “I had that ball thrown behind (first baseman) Tyson (Fincham for an error). Those are plays that we normally make, but sometimes it’s just baseball. You can’t be perfect. It’s imperfect people playing a perfect game. That’s just how it fell. I think nine times out of 10 we beat this team. We had more hits, and we outplayed them. We just weren’t able to get it done in key moments.”
ACA starting pitcher Lucas Erickson (7-2) cruised through the first two innings before running into trouble in the third, when the Knights loaded the bases with no outs. Jaxon Dutcher scored Mason City Newman’s first run on a wild pitch to cut the Eagles’ lead to 2-1, but Erickson avoided further trouble when Hudson Hensley grounded into an inning-ending double play.
After ACA got the run back in the top of the fourth, the Knights took the lead for good in the bottom of the frame. They loaded the bases on a trio of walks before Dutcher hit a grounder to third baseman Conner Crosby, whose throw to the plate was in the dirt for an error, allowing Koen Jaspersen to score.
“I definitely started out well; I was feeling great,” Erickson said. “I started to run out of gas a little bit at the end and just didn’t execute my pitches where I wanted them very well.”
After Thomas McGuire hit an RBI grounder to tie it at 3-3, West Cole blasted a two-run triple to right-center field with two outs to put Mason City Newman ahead. It was the Knights’ only hit off Erickson, who gave up five runs–just one of them earned–in four-plus innings.
Erickson walked seven of the 23 batters he faced. He was replaced by Tyler Davis after walking Hensley to open the fifth.
“It was hot, and they’re a scrappy team,” Christensen said of the Knights. “I felt like (Erickson) had it the whole time, and I felt good about TD too and they got a few (runs) off of him. It was just good quality at-bats out of them.”
Hensley eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Logan Vaske. The Knights then extended the lead in the sixth on RBI singles by Cole and Hensley and a run-producing grounder by Jaspersen.
“It was a great way to end the season at the state tournament, but I’ve got to give all glory to God,” said Fincham, who accounted for all four of the Eagles’ runs one way or another. “At the start of the year we put (Bible) verses on the back of our heads, and mine was 1st Corinthians 10:31. ‘So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.’ In the big picture, we love baseball and it was fun to play at state, but in the end we have a bigger purpose and that’s to glorify God through all we do.”
Freshman Kameron Kropp (5-3) earned the victory. He allowed four runs–just two of them earned–on eight hits over the first six innings.
The Eagles took a 2-0 lead in the second inning. Lucas Herbel led off with a bunt single and stole second, but was then thrown out at third on a grounder by Crosby.
Fincham smashed an RBI triple to right-center field and then scored with two outs on a single by Braley Miller, who went 2-for-3 on the day.
“We knew that (Kropp) didn’t throw too fast, but he only had three walks on the season,” Fincham said. “We knew that he was going to pound the zone, so we were looking for that first pitch. I just kind of looked for it and slapped it out there and kept it rolling.”
Herbel went 2-for-2 and scored a pair of runs for the Eagles. He led off the fourth with a single and later came home on a sacrifice fly by Fincham, who also hit a grounder in the sixth that was misplayed for an error–allowing Brody Butler to score.
“I’m beyond proud of these guys, the way that we’ve worked from two years ago,” Mora said. “Everybody said we weren’t going to be anything and kind of wrote us off because we lost so many seniors and so many leaders, but we bounced back and battled through all the ups and downs and all the injuries and all the hot games and long car rides. All of it was so worth it. It’s really just a lesson for me and these guys for life. If you don’t give up and stick to it, you can do anything you put your mind to. God really just blessed us to be able to finally break through and make the state tournament.
“I’m just really thankful that I was able to do it with some of my best friends,” he added.
Mason City Newman will play No. 4 South Winneshiek (26-4) in the semifinals on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The Warriors advanced with a 3-2 win over Burlington Notre Dame.
The Eagles will have to replace eight seniors.
“I’m so proud of them, and I’m just going to miss them so much,” Christensen said. “We went from being maybe a Malachi Johnson team or an Eli Christensen team to a complete and total team and program. From what they did last year to this, it’s game-changing. It’s history. The best team in (school) history, and they’re just the best guys I’ve ever been around. Nothing compared to getting to state and nothing compared to this season with this team, so I just thanked them for everything.”
