Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

The Matchups

City High (24-18) vs. No. 1 Pleasant Valley (33-7)

The only quarterfinal matchup that is a rematch of a regular season meeting matches defending champion Pleasant Valley and state tournament novice City High.

City High survived a loaded regional to return to the state tournament for the third time in program history and first since 2001.

The Little Hawks avenged a pair of regular season losses to No. 15 Cedar Rapids Prairie with a 16-8 win in the regional semifinals before edging Linn-Mar 4-2 in the regional title game.

City High features a balanced lineup with six players hitting over .300 and three Little Hawks have at least seven home runs.

Freshman Carey Koenig leads the Little Hawks in home runs (8) and RBI (53) while sophomores Sydney Fellows and Keli Potter have each homered seven times and combined for 82 RBI.

Defending champ Pleasant Valley is seeking a third consecutive title game appearance in a third straight tournament trip.

The Spartans lost to Johnston in the 2016 title game before knocking off Waukee 8-2 in last year’s 5A championship.

Pleasant Valley boasts five players hitting better than .450 led by senior Ellie Spellhaug who is hitting .481 with a team-high 13 home runs and 59 RBI.

No. 5 West Des Moines Valley (31-9) vs. No. 7 Johnston (27-10)

A pair of CIML rivals that equally familiar with one another and state tournament success square off in one of the most intriguing quarterfinal matchups in Class 5A.

West Des Moines Valley is making its sixth consecutive state tournament appearance after having a string of three straight semifinal trips snapped with an opening round loss to Pleasant Valley last year.

The Tigers enter the state tournament having won 16 of their last 17 and eight in a row.

Johnston is appearing at state for the sixth straight season after reaching four straight title games and winning two titles from 2013 to 2016.

The Dragons feature a lineup with seven players hitting better than .300 led by senior Sydney Illg who is hitting .351 with a team-high three home runs and 23 RBI.

No. 3 Indianola (34-3) vs. No. 10 Dubuque Hempstead (31-11)

Following an impressive regular season Indianola needed an eighth-inning walk-off home run from senior Parker Matthews to down Ottumwa 3-2 in the regional final.

The Indians have relied on the long ball plenty this season, blasting a 5A-best 41 home runs in 37 games.

Freshman Destiny Lewis leads the way with 14 home runs and also leads Indianola with 40 RBI and a .442 batting average.

Senior pitcher is 24-1 with a .89 ERA and has her 309 strikeouts are 106 more than any other player in 5A.

Dubuque Hempstead is making its first state tournament appearance after knocking off Davenport West 4-0 in a regional final.

The Mustangs have relied on a strong offense this season, averaging 6.6 runs per game and hitting .324 as a team but got back-to-back postseason shutouts from senior pitcher Julia Meehan.

Meehan has a 15-5 record and 2.17 ERA in 132 innings this season after allowing five hits in 14 shutout postseason innings.

No. 4 Cedar Rapids Jefferson (34-8) vs. No. 8 Fort Dodge (35-7)

Expect runs to be scored in a meeting of two of the top offensive teams in the 5A field.

Cedar Rapids Jefferson ranks third in 5A this season and leads tournament qualifiers with a .373 batting average while Fort Dodge has scored a 5A-best 333 runs.

Fort Dodge is led by freshman Tristin Doster who is hitting .383 with 18 doubles, eight home runs and 43 RBI.

Cedar Rapids Jefferson counters with an offense led by Lindsey Culver who is hitting .571 with eight home runs and 42 RBI.

Host Fort Dodge is returning to the state tournament for the second time in three years and will face one of the most frequent state tournament qualifiers in state history in Cedar Rapids Jefferson.

The J-Hawks are 24th state tournament appearance, sixth most all-time and fifth in the past six years.

Jefferson has reached the semifinals just one time in its previous five state tournament trips and hasn’t reached a final since 2005.

Fort Dodge is seeking its first winners bracket victory since 2006 and is 3-12 in its previous five state appearances.

The Faces

CITY HIGH: One third of an impressive freshmen trio at the top of the City High lineup Carey Koenig is hitting .360 with a team-high eight home runs and 53 RBI.

PLEASANT VALLEY: Perhaps no player in the state means more to their team than Ellie Spelhaug who has a 21-2 record and .70 ERA in the pitching circle to go with 13 home runs and 59 RBI.

WEST DES MOINES VALLEY: Sophomore shortstop Alex Honnold leads 5A with a .590 batting average and is one of only three 5A players with an on-base percentage of over .650 and a slugging percentage better than .800.

JOHNSTON: The Dragons’ top hitter (.419 average) and pitcher (17-5, 1.59) senior Emily Flint has been at her best of late, going 8-of-16 with six doubles and seven RBI and posting a 3-1 record and 1.30 ERA in her last five games.

INDIANOLA: Senior Sydney Sickles is 24-1 with a .89 ERA and leads Class 5A with 309 strikeouts in 181 innings.

DUBUQUE HEMPSTEAD: Senior Alana Cooksley leads Hempstead with a .460 batting average, five home runs and 48 RBI and has a state-best 26 doubles.

CEDAR RAPIDS JEFFERSON: One of the best all-around hitters in the state, junior second baseman Lindsey Culver ranks in the top 10 in the state in batting average (.571) and slugging percentage (1.008) to go with eight home runs and 42 RBI.

FORT DODGE: Freshman Tristin Doster has launched a team-high eight home runs and driven in 43 runs while hitting .384.

The Favorite

Defending champion Pleasant Valley enters top-ranked, top-seeded and with one of the top players in 5A in senior Ellie Spelhaug.

Pleasant Valley has state tournament experience with back-to-back title game appearances and has won 15 of 16 games and eight in a row entering the state tournament.

The lone loss during that stretch was a 1-0 setback to West Des Moines Valley, one of three regular season losses to 5A qualifiers for the Spartans who also dropped games to opening round foe City High (9-7) and Johnston (6-4).

The Forecast

A top seed hasn’t won the 5A tournament since Johnston in 2014 and this year’s field appears to be as even as ever.

There is just one regular season rematch among the quarterfinals but the possibilities for rematches abound in the semifinals.

Pleasant Valley and West Des Moines Valley could meet for a third time this season in the semifinals after splitting a pair of one-run games during the regular season.

Cedar Rapids Jefferson has the talent and experience to emerge from the bottom half of the bracket but keep an eye on second-seeded Indianola and Fort Dodge is always a threat at home.

The Focus

Will the CIML return to the top of 5A?

Pleasant Valley stopped a 14-year string of CIML dominance last season becoming the first non-CIML to win the big school title since North Scott in 2012.

The big school championship game was an all-CIML contest for seven consecutive seasons before Pleasant Valley reached the 2016 title game.

Last year’s 5A field featured five CIML teams while this year that number is down to three.

There have not been back-to-back non-CIML champs since Cedar Rapids Jefferson won titles in 1997 and 1998.

Five Fast Facts

*West Des Moines Valley sophomore shortstop Alex Honnold has two or more hits in 25 of 40 games this season on her way to a 5A-best .590 batting average.

*City High is the lone team in the 5A field without a senior on its roster and joins Louisa-Muscatine as the only other state qualifier in any class without a senior.

* The 27 walks issued by Johnston pitchers this season is the second fewest in 5A this season and the least among 5A qualifiers. Senior Emily Flint has walked just 15 in 140 2/3 innings, only four players with more than 100 have walked fewer and no player with 140 innings has issued fewer walks.

* Cedar Rapids Jefferson junior Lindsey Culver leads 5A participants with a 1.008 and has a hit in 38 of 42 games this season.

* The 33 stolen bases for City High freshman Ayana Lindsey are the most among 5A participants and helped City High swipe a 5A tournament field leading 90 bases this season.

The Schedule

Class 5A

Quarterfinals, July 17

Pleasant Valley (33-7) vs. City High (24-18), 5 p.m.

West Des Moines Valley (31-9) vs. Johnston (27-10), 5:30 p.m.

Indianola (34-3) vs. Dubuque Hempstead (31-11), 7 p.m.

Cedar Rapids Jefferson (34-8) vs. Fort Dodge (35-7), 7:30 p.m.

Semifinals, July 18

Pleasant Valley/City High winner vs. West Des Moines Valley/Johnston winner, 7 p.m.

Indianola/Dubuque Hempstead winner vs. Cedar Rapids Jefferson/Fort Dodge winner, 7:30 p.m.

Championship, July 20

Semifinal winners, 8 p.m.