Midwest Champions Claimed

Rake City rides hot streak for Sophomore championship

MARION, Iowa – Rake City, who qualified into the playoffs as the eighth seed of the 2019 WWBA Midwest Sophomore Championship, was crowned the winners after making a four-game run through the playoff bracket.

The team out of Lemont, Illinois went 1-0-1 in pool play, just earning a bid into the playoff bracket. From there, they showed they could win in a number of ways. In their first playoff game against No. 9 seed Great Lakes Baseball Academy 2022, they won a 1-0 pitchers duel. Owen Murphy and Parker Baryl combined to allow only two hits over six innings.

In playoff game number two against the No. 1 seed EMB 2022, Rake City exploded for 11 runs, winning by a score of 11-6. Isaiah Rodriguez, Murphy, Blake Edmonds, and Mason Baer all had multi-hit games. Murphy, Luka Radicevich, Edmonds, and Baer all contributed multiple RBI. Edmonds, who was named the MVP of the tournament, had seven hits total, as well as five RBI and seven runs.

Max Baer led the charge for Rake City in the semifinal game against 29ers Baseball 2022 Black, going 3-for-4 at the plate with two triples, two runs scored, and an RBI. He also threw three innings on the mound, giving up two runs, none earned. Rake City won the game, 8-3.

Adam Severson, who was named MVPitcher of the tournament, tossed four innings in the semifinal game, striking out six and not allowing a single earned run.

Rake City scored three runs in the top of the first inning of the championship game against Cangelosi Sparks 2022 Black and never looked back.

Two more runs in the fourth inning made it 5-1, and a two-run bottom of the seventh from the Cangelosi Sparks wasn’t enough to complete a comeback.

Hometown Iowa Select claims Midwest Underclass title

MARION, Iowa – After going 2-0 through pool play and not allowing a single run, Iowa Select 2021 Rath entered the playoff bracket of the 2019 WWBA Midwest Underclass Championship as the No. 1 seed, and claimed a title after 3-1 and 7-5 wins over Morris Baseball Chiefs 2021 and Pro Player Canes 2021, respectively.

Iowa Select 2021 Rath jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead in the championship game against Pro Player Canes thanks to a crooked three-run first inning and one run in each of the second and third innings.

The team out of Cedar Rapids added two more in the bottom of the fifth to stretch its lead to 7-0, before Pro Player Canes scored three in the sixth and two more in the seventh to make a game out of it.

Gage Franck led Iowa Select with three RBI, including an RBI triple in the first inning that capped off the three-run frame.

Logan Runde, Aidan Rath, Dylan McVeigh, and Brody Wardenburg all added one RBI.

Pro Player Canes were led by Josh Notriano and Joey Hagen, who each had two-hit, one-walk games. Notriano was named MVP of the tournament after hitting .500 with seven hits, including a home run, five runs scored, and three RBI.

Bryce Phelps pitched into the sixth inning for Iowa Select, before being lifted after giving up three runs in the frame. He finished his day with eight strikeouts versus three walks and three earned runs.

Runde pitched a gem for Iowa Select in its semifinal game against Morris Baseball Chiefs, going 6 1/3 innings, striking out five and allowing only two hits and one earned run. For his efforts, Runde was named the MVPitcher of the tournament.

The Iowa Select offense was led Franck in the semifinal win as well, as he contributed two hits and three RBI. Reed Stallman also had a two-hit performance for Iowa Select in the matchup.