Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

CEDAR RAPIDS – During an impressive prep career at Solon Tyler Linderbaum thrived in a myriad of roles in just about every sport imaginable.

Offensive and defensive lineman, heavyweight wrestler, shot and discus thrower and first and third baseman.

In his final go around as a prep Linderbaum is pulling double duty, splitting time with Solon baseball and Iowa football and reporting to the Hawkeyes last week for summer workouts.

As if that wasn’t enough Linderbaum is adding a new role in his last days as a prep – starting pitcher.

In his second start of the season Linderbaum tossed a five-hit shutout on Thursday as Class 3A fifth-ranked Solon capped a WAMAC Conference doubleheader sweep of Clear Creek Amana (8-10) with a 10-0 win.

“He’s an athlete so he will do whatever we ask him to,” Solon senior catcher Zach Wegmann said. “He is a natural competitor and he’s a natural athlete and he gets the job done all year round.”

Solon (16-5, 13-3 WAMAC) stopped a two-game losing skid with a 6-2 win in the opener behind a leadoff homer from Luke Ira and a complete game from Ryan Geistkemper.

Linderbaum took care of business in the nightcap.

The 6-foot-2, 275-pound future Big Ten lineman struck out 10 and didn’t walk a batter while improving his season record to 2-0 and lowering his ERA to 2.00.

“This is the best he’s ever thrown,” Solon coach Keith McSweeney said. “This is the first year he was able to throw preseason bullpens because he’s a shot and discus guy and I think this year he just decided I’m going to do it all.”

Pitching isn’t new to Linderbaum.

Senior center fielder Kendrick Harris described Linderbaum as one of the top pitchers during their youth USSSA days.

Last season Linderbaum logged 27 1/3 innings posting a 3-3 record and less than sterling 6.66 earned run average.

This season he has looked like a pitcher.

“He’s been growing as a pitcher and he’s been able to paint the black on the outer half with the fast ball and he’s getting his curveball biting a lot more,” Wegmann said. “He is really coming in a long.”

Linderbaum had the best outing of his career on Thursday.

He allowed just five singles and struck out six of the final 12 batters he faced while notching the first complete game shutout of his career.

“He’s throwing downhill, he’s really painting the knees and finishing,” McSweeney said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he was throwing in the low 80s and that’s the hardest he’s thrown.”

Solon gave Linderbaum an early lead with an unearned run in the second and Linderbaum helped his cause in a two-run Spartan third with an RBI double.

Linderbaum used a nifty defensive play to erase the Clippers best scoring opportunity of the game in the bottom of the third.

Singles by Jordan Wolfe and Casey Ogden put runners on first and third with one out but Linderbaum snagged a hard ground ball back up the middle by Cam Armstrong and fired a strike to Payton Bandy at second to start a 1-4-3 double play to end the inning.

“We just had opportunities that we didn’t take advantage of, we had multiple guys in scoring position and never moved them over,” Clear Creek Amana coach Brent Henry said. “If its 2-1 or 3-1 game it’s a different mentality we just squandered a few opportunities.”

Solon blew the game open from there.

The Spartans got two in the fourth and took a 10-0 lead with a five-run sixth that featured four extra-base hits.

Every Solon starter had a hit in game two and seven different Spartans had extra-base hits in the 10-0 win.

“No matter who we are playing we are coming to the park expecting to win and preparing to win,” Wegmann said. “We hit a little rocky patch earlier this week and this was big to get our confidence back up coming into the weekend against City High.”

Tyler Schrepfer took the loss for Clear Creek Amana in the nightcap while Harris, Adam Bock, Cam Miller and Chris McSweeney all had two hits for the Spartans.

“I thought we played well defensively and Schrepfer threw well but they swing it as well as anybody in the state,” Henry said. “There were a few mistakes that they capitalized on.”

Ira hit a home run on the first pitch of the opener to spark a five-run Solon first inning.

Bock and Wegmann each had two hits and drove in two runs to back up Geistkemper who allowed two runs on four hits while striking out five and walking four.

“I was pleased with how we played in both games,” McSweeney said. “All we can do is control what we do and guys put good swings on it tonight and we put some runs up on the board.”

Game 1

Solon                       500  010  0  –  6  8  1

Clear Creek Amana    000  110  0  –  2  4  1

W – Ryan Geistkemper           L – Casey Ogden

2B – SOL: Adam Bock (2); CCA: Cody Ogden  

HR – SOL: Luke Ira 

Game 2

Solon                        012  205  –  10  13  0

Clear Creek Amana     000  000  –   0    6   2

W – Tyler Linderbaum           L – Tyler Schrepfer

2B – SOL: Chris McSweeney, Tyler Linderbaum, Adam Bock, Cam Miller, Kendrick Harris

3B – SOL: Zach Wegmann, Spencer Wegmann