Susan Harman

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – Friday night’s City-West baseball matchup lacked the drama of West’s monumental comeback on Thursday night.

Bases on balls replaced clutch homers, but the result was another 6-4 West High victory before a packed house at Mercer Park.

The Trojans were OK with mundane.

“With City you never really know what’s going to come at us because they’re going to come out to play and we’re going to come out to play,” West High senior catcher Ryan Cooper said. “Both teams played their hearts out.”

The Little Hawks took a quick 2-0 lead in the first on a Garrett Bormann single and a blast over the centerfield fence by Liam McComas.

But West High senior pitcher Casey Marvin settled down.

“I knew we were going to score runs, so I just stayed calm,” Marvin said. “I was lucky because that was really the only hard ball that they hit.”

City High senior starter Ry Threlkeld-Wigand breezed through the first two innings but lost the plate in the decisive third inning.

He walked the bases full before striking out the fourth batter, but then walked Jason Strunk to force in a run.

Cooper came to the plate and took three balls before Threlkeld-Wiegand recorded a strike.

“At that point I wanted to take a first-pitch strike,” Cooper said. “He threw three straight balls. He’s walked multiple dudes in a row. But he threw it right down the middle. I saw it early and when you’re in this position you kind of have to take advantage of it. You take a big cut at it and hope for the best.”

Cooper smashed a single to center that scored two runs and gave West High a 3-2 lead.

Threlkeld-Wiegand walked Marcus Morgan to reload the bases and then walked Owen McAreavy to force in another run.

J.D. Alberhasky came on in relief and gave up a sacrifice fly to Chase Calderwood for the fifth run. Alberhasky flirted with further danger with a walk to load the bases but ended the inning with a strikeout as West led 5-2.

West High added a run in the fourth when Strunk walked with two out, and Cooper hit a ringing double to right to score him.

In the sixth inning West High third baseman Ben Madden made a spectacular leaping grab of Carter Seaton’s bloop down the line and turned it into a double play when he caught City High’s runner too far off first base.

That turned out to be a huge play because City High loaded the bases on two singles and an error and scored its fourth run when Bormann was hit by a pitch. But a ground out ended City’s threat.

Marvin (7-2) went four innings and was the winner. He gave up three runs, two of them earned, six hits and struck out four.

“I was just keeping the ball down and throwing strikes; I didn’t walk anybody,” Marvin said. “I was staying ahead of them so they couldn’t get any big swings in.”

“He’s had a great senior year,” West High coach Charlie Stumpff said. “He’s always been good, freshman year, sophomore year. Last year with our pitching depth he didn’t get as much work, and I think he lost a little confidence. We weren’t sure what we were going to get, and he’s just been lights out. He’s blossomed into our second starter; he’s our No. 2.”

Bormann was on base all four times for City High with two hits and twice getting hit by pitches. Ben Steve and Sam Lewers each had two hits for City.

Cooper had three hits and three RBIs to lead West.

West travels to Muscatine on Monday while City High plays at Waterloo West today.

West High      005  100  0  –  6  5  2

City High        200  101  0  –  4  9  0

W – Casey Marvin L – Ry Threlkeld-Wiegand

2B – ICW: Ryan Cooper

HR – ICH: Liam McComas

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