Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

The baseball postseason officially got underway last Saturday but the playoffs kick into high gear on Friday with the largest two classes opening substate play.

Two Your Prep Sports area teams have already had postseason runs end while the other five area teams are still seeking spots at the state tournament.

Before we turn our full attention to those postseason pushes for area teams Your Prep Sports takes a look back at some of the best games, performances, moments and players of the 2021 regular season and also hands out our annual regular season awards.

Best individual pitching performance: Alex Knudtson against Cedar Rapids Prairie. It’s tough to top the outing Knudtson had June 11 against the seventh-ranked Hawks. The sophomore right-hander struck out six and walked one in a complete game one-hitter helping City High complete a doubleheader sweep.

Best individual pitching performance part II: Lucas Pierce against Bellevue. Pierce nearly gave his defense the night off against the Comets, striking out 16 and allowing just one hit in a 10-1 win.

Best individual offensive performance: Kinnick Pusteoska against West Delaware. Pusteoska had a season full of games that could fit in his category but rarely was the Solon first baseman better than he was in the first game of a doubleheader against West Delaware. The junior slugger went 4-for-4 with two doubles, a home run and five RBI in 12-2 win.

Best individual offensive performance part II: Keian Secrist against Dubuque Hempstead. You can find games where players had more hits, RBI or home runs but Secrist’s effort against a top-10 Hempstead team stands out. The Liberty High senior went 3-for-3, with a double, three RBI, three runs and drew two walks in a win over the sixth-ranked team in the state.

Best individual all-around performance: John Klosterman against Cedar Rapids Prairie. The effort from Klosterman on the mound alone is worthy of recognition, tossing a three-hit shutout against a top-10 team but the City High junior also went 2-for-3 at the plate with a couple of RBI and a walk in a 10-0 win.

Best clutch performance: Gavin Koch against Pleasant Valley. It doesn’t get more clutch than tossing a five-hitter, allowing two runs and striking out five in a 4-2 win over the top-ranked team in the state and that’s exactly what the City High junior did against Pleasant Valley.

Best debut performance: Josh Loren against Mount Pleasant. How is this for making an entrance? In his first varsity start the Clear Creek Amana sophomore left-hander struck out 12 in a five-inning one-hitter and needed just 62 pitches while facing one more than the minimum.

Best defensive play: Ian McAreavy against City High. The sliding catch that McAreavy made of a Gable Mitchel drive into the right center field gap was impressive but the timing of the catch makes it more impressive. With West High leading 2-1 in the bottom of the seventh inning McAreavy chased down a shot by Mitchell and made a sliding catch just short of the warning track for the first out.

Biggest upset: West Branch over Burlington. Undoubtedly the best win of the season for the Bears was a 4-2 win over Class 4A Burlington that finished the regular season 26-6. Cael Fiderlein tossed six strong innings allowing just two runs on five hits and Lucas Pierce worked a scoreless seventh inning for the save and joined Gage Gingerich and Cale Seydel with hits and RBIs.

Best game: West High at City High. This one was everything you would expect between a couple of cross-town rivals and storied baseball programs. Simply put, it was high-level baseball from the beginning. Marcus Morgan tossed a two-hitter and both teams came up with big plays throughout the game but West High came away with a 2-1 win that came down to the final at bat.

Craziest game: West High at Solon. West High held on for an 18-17 win in a nearly four-hour marathon that featured 12 combined runs in the seventh inning. The two teams combined for 27 hits, 13 walks and eight batters were hit by pitches as nine pitchers combined to throw 362 pitches. Solon took a 13-10 lead with three runs in the sixth before West High scored eight in the top of the seventh and held off a Spartan rally in the bottom of the inning.

Comeback player of the year: Regina senior Danny Molony. A serious ankle injury during football caused Molony to miss all of basketball and cut into his baseball preseason but he returned to toss a team-high 38 1/3 innings this season while leading Regina with a 2.92 ERA.

Most persistent player: Liberty High senior Brody Fishman. Prior to this season three varsity at bats had yet to yield a hit for the future Simpson College football player. All Fishman did when coming back for his final season is lead Liberty High in batting average (.360), hits (36), triples (3) and stolen bases (24) and rank second on the team in runs (37).

Most improved player: Solon senior Brady Jeworrek. A .245 hitter in his first two varsity season Jeworrek had 27 RBI and scored 32 runs in his sophomore and junior seasons combined. The senior shortstop is hitting .328 with 32 RBI and 36 runs scored this season.

Breakthrough player of the year: Liberty High senior TJ Kimm. A four-year varsity contributor, Kimm hit .208 and .231 in his first two seasons before being limited to 19 at bats a year ago. This summer the senior catcher has shown his full potential hitting .336 with nine extra-base hits and 25 RBI.

Most consistent player: Liberty High senior Ethan O’Donnell. For four consecutive seasons O’Donnell has consistently provided strong starts for the Lightning while eating up innings and pumping strikes. O’Donnell has been at his steady best as a senior posting a 5-2 record and 2.83 ERA in a team-high 42 innings.

Breakout star: Regina sophomore Danny Gavin. In his first full-time varsity season Gavin showed he had all the tools to become the next Regina standout. A rangy center fielder, Gavin hit safely in 19 of 29 games, including nine of his final 11, on his way to a team-leading .392 batting average.

Unsung hero: City High senior Cedric Dunnwald. Easily overlooked in a City High lineup loaded with talent Dunnwald has quietly put together a solid season as the senior catcher is hitting .327 with 23 RBI.

Most fun to watch: City High junior Carter Seaton. City High plays an exciting brand of baseball built around strong defense, efficient pitching and putting pressure on the defense when at the plate. Seaton does all of those things extremely well and he does them all with 100 percent intensity which makes him the perfect fit for the Little Hawks and a joy to watch.

Coach of the year: During an illustrious career veteran West High coach Charlie Stumpff has had teams with more wins, better stats and higher postseason expectations than this season’s group. Yet perhaps few West High teams have come together better to reach their full potential than the 2021 squad. A year after going 7-9 and losing six full-time starters from that team Stumpff has directed the Trojans to a 21-14 record including a 14-13 conference mark.

Rookie of the year: West High sophomore Mitch Frey. In his first season of varsity action Frey immediate established himself as a force in the West High lineup ranking second on the team in batting average (.343), hits (34) and RBI (31) and leading the Trojans in doubles (9) and walks (26).

Rookie of the year II: Clear Creek Amana sophomore Reece Hoffman. Another first-year player, the Clipper third baseman has hit the ground running in his first season of varsity action. Hoffman is batting .356 with 22 RBI and 27 runs scored and leads the Clippers with 11 extra-base hits.

Newcomer of the year: City High junior John Klosterman. Klosterman has fit in nicely in the City High lineup and rotation in his first season of high school baseball. The right-hander is 3-2 with a 1.89 ERA and a team-high 44 strikeouts in 33 1/3 innings and is also hitting .321 with 14 extra-base hits, 24 walks and 27 RBI.

Silver slugger: Solon sophomore Blake Timmons. After showing glimpses of what he could do last season Timmons has demonstrated this summer that he can flat out hit. Timmons hit .439 with 17 extra-base hits and 27 RBI to go with a team-leading .591 on-base percentage.

Gold glover: City High junior shortstop Gable Mitchell. One of the best defensive infielders in the state few high schoolers can pick it like Mitchell. Mitchell has good hands, quick feet and a strong arm and his excellent instincts always seem to have him in the right spot to make a play.

Cy Young: City High sophomore Alex Knudtson. This award was probably headed toward City High junior Cade Obermueller until a late season injury shelved the Little Hawk lefty for a few starts. Instead it goes to Knudtson who came up big in his first full season going 4-1 with a 1.57 ERA and 1.04 WHIP in 35 2/3 innings.

Most valuable player: West High senior Marcus Morgan. Among the best baseball players and all-around athletes in the entire state Morgan put together a special senior season. The Iowa recruit has been dominant on the mound with a 3-2 record, 1.41 ERA and 1.01 WHIP and 95 strikeouts in 49 2/3 innings but has also been the top hitter in the West High lineup leading the Trojans in batting average (.385), runs (33), home runs (5) and RBI (41).

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