Douglas Miles

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – When Jaxton Schroeder pitches, it is typically in the role of starter.

The City High junior lefty entered Wednesday night’s Class 4A prep baseball substate final with seven starts and just one relief appearance all season.

But when the game got tight in the fifth inning and the Little Hawks needed an out, Schroeder got the call.

“He has really elevated his game,” City High Coach Brian Mitchell said after the third-ranked Little Hawks edged West High, 3-1, at Mercer Park. “He has been starting for us all year, but we just felt like that is where we needed to get to at that point in time. He is dynamic. His fast ball is dynamic. He has the great mentality right now to take that on with no hesitation.”

After City High starting pitcher Talon Young allowed a fifth inning run that got the Trojans within 3-1, there were still two West High runners on base and two outs.

Schroeder entered and promptly ended the threat with an emphatic strikeout.

“It’s good,” Schroeder said. “It’s a good feeling and then you know you just have to come back out, repeat it and do the same thing. Just let your stuff work.”

Schroeder retired all seven batters he faced to close the game, including five strikeouts.

City High (33-7) scored all three of its runs in the second inning.

Max Waldschmidt drove in a run with a double, while fellow senior Jake Mitchell brought home two more runs with a single that gave the Little Hawks a 3-0 advantage they never relinquished.The Little Hawks won all three meetings with West High (20-22) this season.

“It is not something to take for granted because last year we split with them in two tough games,” said Jake Mitchell, an Iowa signee. “This year, taking three is something we are proud of.”

Zach Logsdon drove in a run and junior pitcher Kyle Cherry allowed three runs in 5 2/3 innings pitched – but no hits after the second frame – for the Trojans.

“Kyle Cherry was good and then he had the bad stretch,” West Coach Charlie Stumpff said. “He righted himself and gave us four more innings. Got to have a short memory. Got to believe in yourself and that is so much easier said than done. That was our guys this year. We had some rocky times. We had some games that were just flat-out ugly, and we would punch in and go to work the next day. We were talented enough. We kept improving and that is how you do it. Couldn’t be more proud of the guys. They were awesome.”

City High advanced to the state tournament for the fourth time in five years, but this time they will have to travel a bit.

After two years at the University of Iowa’s Duane Banks Field, the 4A state tournament moves to Veterans Memorial Stadium in Cedar Rapids.

The Little Hawks will open by facing Waukee (26-16) in a 4A quarterfinal on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

“It just shows all the work that we have put in the offseasons and that we have depth,” Schroeder said. “All of the younger guys that come up, we work and we work in the offseason. It is just a high expectation that we have for ourselves. It is what we expect and we are going to be back next year, too.”

West High       000  010  0  –  1  4  0

City High        030  000  x  –  3  4  3

W – Talon Young                   L – Kyle Cherry          SV – Jaxton Schroeder

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