Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

As Major League Baseball passes the midway point of the season and approaches the All-Star break the prep baseball season in Iowa is hitting the home stretch.

Playoff baseball kicked off on Saturday in Classes 1A and 2A with all four classes opening postseason play this week.

After cramming 30 plus games into a six-week regular season, it is win or go home time for area teams.

Here are five things to watch over the next 10 days as teams fight for a spot at Principal Park in Des Moines in the 2017 state tournament that runs July 21-29.

Making History

It has been an impressive season for Iowa City baseball.

All three Iowa City teams enter the postseason ranked in the top 10 and top-seeded in their respective district or substate bracket.

Over the next three weeks West High, City High and Regina will try to take it from an impressive season to a historic season for Iowa City baseball.

Iowa City has never had a state champion in baseball but has another strong shot to break that streak later this month.  

West High (29-8) has finished runner-up in Class 4A each of the past three seasons and enters the postseason ranked third while No. 6 City High (27-11) has put together its best season in years.

With top seeds in their 4A substates City High and West High would earn a bye with an opening-round win, requiring two wins to qualify for state.

Regina (24-7) opens postseason play this week ranked ninth in Class 2A.

All three teams have demonstrated throughout the regular season they are capable of making a deep postseason run.

Swinging Away

Pitching wins in the postseason and West High certainly has enough arms capable of helping the Trojans make another state tournament run.

What West High has that no other team in Class 4A can match is a lineup that ranks among the most potent in the state.

West High has scored a 4A-best 287 runs (or 7.8 per game) and boasts a team batting average of .343, nine points higher than another other 4A squad.

In all West High leads 4A in eight different offensive categories including hits (345), home runs (25), RBI (249), walks (195), on-base percentage (.462) and slugging percentage (.498).

Seniors Izaya Ono-Fullard (.419, 8 HR, 51 RBI) and Connor McCaffery (.387, 5 HR, 44 RBI) headline a lineup in which all seven full-time starters are hitting over .300.

West High has scored nine or more runs in nearly half (18) of its 37 games this season.

City High Resurgence

It has already been a season to remember for City High.

The Little Hawks claimed the first MVC divisional title since 2006 and their 27 wins are the most since in a decade.

City High will try to make it even more memorable with its first trip to the state tournament since 2003.

The top-seed in 4A Substate 4, City High will open postseason play against Waterloo East (3-32) on Friday at Mercer Park and with a win would host the title game on July 19.

City High is 7-2 against substate opponents with sweeps of MVC foes Waterloo East, Linn-Mar and Dubuque Senior with the losses coming to MAC opponents Clinton and Pleasant Valley.

WAMAC Rematch

After reaching the 3A semifinals last season Solon (24-12) is seeking its third trip to the state tournament in in the past four years.

To get there the Spartans will need to follow a familiar road.

All four teams in Class 3A District 8 come from the WAMAC conference and three of the four teams in District 7 are WAMAC members including top-seeded and fifth-ranked Marion (28-8).

Solon hosts Highway 1 rival Mount Vernon (18-16) in its district opener on Friday after sweeping the Mustangs in Mount Vernon last week.

Clear Creek Amana (17-19) and Central DeWitt (22-13) face off in the other district 8 semifinal on Friday.

The Clippers split with Central DeWitt in the regular season and have won 10 of their last 12.

Wilton vs. Regina Round 3

Both teams have some work to do to get there but all signs point towards another postseason showdown between the two RVC powerhouses.

Just as they did last season Wilton swept Regina in a regular season doubleheader back on June 5 winning 7-2 and 3-0.

Last year Regina responded from the regular season sweep at the hands of Wilton with a 2-0 win over the Beavers in the district final thanks in part to a two-hit, 13-strikeout performance by Ryne Schooley.

The Regals would like nothing more than a third shot at No. 3 Wilton for the second year in a row.

To earn a substate final rematch with the Beavers the Regals need to pick up a pair of district wins starting against Van Buren (9-18) on Tuesday at Regina.