Douglas Miles

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – City High picked a bad night to play one of its worst games.

The Little Hawks entered the Class 4A state tournament seeded second among the eight entrants, which carries with it the belief by many that they will be one of the last two teams standing at the end.

But after issuing eight walks and committing four errors in the field and striking out 15 times at the plate City High is headed home.

“We didn’t play well,” City High Coach Brian Mitchell said after the Little Hawks lost to No. 7 Ames, 9-7, in a state quarterfinal game Tuesday night at Duane Banks Field. “Errors, free bases, it just wasn’t how we play.”

The loss snapped a 13-game win streak and ended the season for City High (30-13).

The Little Hawks were undone by a masterful pitching performance by Ames junior Carter Geffre, who struck out 13 batters in 6 1/3 innings pitched while allowing five hits and two runs without issuing a walk.

“He kept us off-balance the whole night,” City High junior Max Waldschmidt said. “He had a great slider. That kid was off and on with that pitch every time. I felt like we were off-balance the whole game on him. He just competed.

Geffre retired 11 batters in a row between the first and fifth innings, and eight of his 13 punchouts were capped by called third strikes.

“I got the changeup working early,” Geffre said. “When I get that going early, it is pretty much game over. That is what happened.”

Ames will play No. 6 Cedar Falls (28-14) in a 4A state semifinal Thursday at 7:30.

A University of Iowa commit, Geffre (7-0) threw a season-high 113 pitches and was undoubtedly boosted by the opportunity to compete on his future collegiate home diamond.

“It was awesome,” Geffre said. “I felt like I was at home. It made me really competitive and I shined.”

City High got to Geffre early when senior DJ Hodges drilled a ball to center field that was just out of reach of Ames’ diving center fielder.

The ball rolled to the wall and Hodges sprinted around the bases for an inside-the-park home run that gave the Little Hawks a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning.

“He’s a stud,” Mitchell said. “You saw that come out.”

Ames (30-13) rebounded in the top of the fourth inning when three City High throwing errors resulted in a pair of runs for the Little Cyclones.

One inning later, Ames tacked on two more runs without the benefit of a base hit.

The Little Cyclones were bolstered by five walks – including two with the bases loaded – issued by City High pitchers.

“No matter what happens, they are going to be frustrating,” Waldschmidt said of the miscues. “But you know what, it is part of the game. Those happen. Those are going to happen from time to time and unfortunately, those just happened in those sports for us.”

Drew Carlson pulled City High within 4-2 with a run-scoring single in the bottom of the sixth inning, but Ames exploded for five runs in the top of the seventh, highlighted by a leadoff home run from Aidan Nigh and a three-run double by Bobby Uthe.

“That really showed what kind of team they were,” Waldschmidt said. “They just battled so much harder than we did the whole time.”

Geffre exited the game with one out and no one on base in the seventh inning, and City High immediately jumped on the Ames bullpen with five runs and four hits, including a three-run double by Waldschmidt that got the Little Hawks as close as 9-7 before the final strikeout.

“We put up a really good fight there in that last inning,” Waldschmidt said. “Thought we had a chance to get it done there. Sometimes it just doesn’t go the way you want it.”

Hodges scored three runs and Carlson finished with two hits for City High, which graduates both players but returns a host of youthful experience that will surely have the Little Hawks in contention for a possible fourth state berth in five seasons.

“Our pitching is deep and we have got virtually everybody back in that way,” Mitchell said.

Ames               000  220  5  –  9  5  1

City High       100  001  5  –  7  9  4

W – Carter Geffre         L – Talon Young

2B – AMES: Bobby Uthe. ICH: Ty Hall, Max Waldschmidt

HR – AMES: Aidan Nigh. ICH: DJ Hodges

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