Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – After his last pitching performance against fourth-ranked Mid-Prairie ended in disappointment all Levi Quinlan has wanted was another opportunity.

He got another shot on the mound Monday and Quinlan made the most of the opportunity and in doing so gave Regina another shot at the Golden Hawks.

Quinlan tossed six strong innings as Regina downed West Burlington 6-2 in a Class 2A, District 11 opener originally schedule for Saturday in Mediapolis.

“Levi had a really rough outing at Mid-Prairie his last outing,” Regina coach Steve Pacha said. “That was not indicative of who he is and he really wanted another shot and when he pitches like he did today he’ll do just fine for us.”

The win capped a wild day for Regina (14-14) and sends the Regals into the District 11 semifinal on Tuesday at top-seeded Mid-Prairie (17-7) at 7 p.m.

Rain forced the schedule opening-round doubleheader set for Saturday to be pushed back two days.

On Monday Pacha got a phone call asking if the Regals could host with the field at Mediapolis was still too wet.

Pacha jumped at the opportunity to play at home and after two to three hours of field work and what Pacha joked was 100s of phone calls the Regals were hosting.

“I love this place,” Pacha said. “Especially when it comes to playoff baseball any chance we get to pack the hill I am all for it.”

With Regina getting an opportunity to play a final game at home Pacha turned to Quinlan for a shot at redemption.

In his previous outing at Mid-Prairie Quinlan allowed six runs on seven hits while walking three in 2 1/3 innings.

On Monday he was masterful.

“That was a rough day for everybody,” Quinlan said. “Our energy wasn’t great, our pitching wasn’t great, our hitting wasn’t great. We just weren’t on that day.”

Quinlan limited the Falcons to single runs in the third and sixth innings, scattering six hits while striking out four and walking three.

“My slider was on today,” Quinlan said. “There are days I don’t have it and I’m not the same but when I have it I can really throw guys off.”

Regina took control of the game with a four-run second inning and added runs in both the third and fourth.

Declan McCoy had a two-run single to right field in the four-run fourth that gave the Regals an early lead.

“With guys on base I knew I had a job to do and was trying to drive something to the right side,” McCoy said. “I was hoping the ball would get through and score them but we all try to get that job done and drive those runs in and at that point it was pretty crucial.”

Danny Gavin singled to lead off the third and scored on a Jack Clark single and Gavin added an RBI single in the fourth that put Regina up 6-1.

“Danny has been solid all year,” Pacha said. “His mentality is great and you can see it at the plate he just doesn’t get flustered. For a sophomore playing his first year of varsity baseball it’s been impressive seeing how he handles situations and tonight when we needed a hit he stepped up.”

That was plenty for Quinlan who was the beneficiary of some stellar Regina defense.

The Regals turned three double plays on Monday, ending the first and fourth innings with double plays.

Quinlan started a 1-6-3 double play in the sixth after the Falcons opened the inning with back-to-back hits.

“I knew as long as I didn’t perform like I did in the last game I would be fine,” Quinlan said. “I know I always have defense behind me and they were great today.”
Gavin and Clark each had two hits while McCoy and Sean Nugent each had one.

Regina will attempt to keep the momentum going on Tuesday against Mid-Prairie.

The two teams split a doubleheader on July 5 with the Golden Hawks winning the opener 12-1 and Regina taking the nightcap 13-12.

“We have to keep the energy going,” McCoy said. “We have to keep the same energy we brought today for every single game from here on out.”

West Burlington                    001  001  0  –  2   7   5

Regina                                        041  100  x  –  6   6   1

W – Levi Quinlan                                           L – Ty Hill

2B – ICR: Jack Clark. WB: Gabe Zurita

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