Your Prep Sports

DES MOINES – A rain delay forced West High to wait all evening for its state tournament opener on Wednesday.

When the Trojans finally got their shot, they didn’t waste any time getting going.

Third-ranked West High scored five runs in the first inning and never let up on its way to a 12-2, six-inning win over Cedar Rapids Washington (24-16) at Principal Park in Des Moines in a Class 4A state quarterfinal that was delayed nearly six hours by rain.

“This is way past my bed time, coach (Tom) Cronk fed me a little coffee while we were waiting and it will be easy for me to sleep on the bus no matter what these guys are doing,” West High coach Charlie Stumpff said. “It's a late night but if you are going to be here this late it makes for a good bus ride back.

Braden Houston hit a three-run double in the five-run first inning and struck out eight in five shutout innings helping West High win the latest ending game in state tournament history.

Izaya Ono-Fullard had a double and a home run as five of the Trojan’s nine hits went for extra bases while West High scored double figure runs for the fifth straight game.

With the win West High (32-8) advanced to the 4A semifinals for the seventh time since 2009 and fourth consecutive season.

The Trojans will face the winner of Thursday’s 9 a.m. quarterfinal between No. 2 West DesMoines Dowling and No. 10 Mason City at 5 p.m. on Friday.

“The first inning putting up five runs was big,” Stumpff said. “With our approach we are very patient and (Washington starter Jacob) Bockenstedt is very good so it was very good, that was good stuff by the guys.”

A long rain delay pushed the start time back from 5 p.m. to 10:40 p.m.

A two-run triple by Logan Sims ended the game via the 10-run rule at 12:43 Thursday morning. The previous record for the latest finish for a state tournament game was 12:34 in 2005.

“It’s like a tooth ache,” Stumpff said of waiting during the delay. “It’s a long wait, it was hard, they take care of you, you are in a suite you have TV but the not knowing was the hard thing. It was good when they said here is what is going to happen.”

Once play started on Wednesday West High needed less than 15 minutes to take control.

Houston set Washington down in order in the first and West High followed with five runs in the bottom of the inning that set the tone for the game.

“Runs early help, it’s just a confidence booster out there on the mound,” Houston said. “You just have to go out there and do your job, there’s not as much pressure with runs up there.”

Nate Disterhoft led off the West High first inning with an infield single up the middle and gave the Trojans a 1-0 lead when he scored on a wild pitch.

West High took a 2-0 lead when a run scored on a Warrior fielding error and then broke the game open when Houston hammered a bases-loaded two-out double to center field.

The double by Houston cleared the bases and gave West High an insurmountable 5-0 lead.

“I knew Bockenstedt was throwing hard today,” Houston said. “You come in here you have adrenaline pumping you are throwing hard so I didn’t think about the runners I just tried to put the ball in play and it worked out for the best.”

By the time the clock struck midnight West High had all but put the game out of reach.

Disterhoft scored on a Ono-Fullard double off the left field wall in the second to make the score 6-0 and Dane Randall hit a two-run triple in the third to put West High up 8-0.

An infield RBI single by Disterhoft made it 9-0 Trojans after three.

That was more than enough support for Houston who improved to 9-1 on the season and lowered his season ERA to .89 with five scoreless innings.

The junior right-hander struck out eight and walked two in five innings.

“I thought I had everything going the first couple of innings,” Houston said. “I lost the curveball, I was getting extremely sweaty, but I think towards the end I was figuring it out. That’s the best my changeup has been in a while so I’ll take it.”

West High ended the game via the run rule with three runs in the sixth.

Ono-Fullard launched a solo home run to left field, his state-leading 11th homer of the season to start the scoring in the sixth.

Sims ended the game with a two-run triple to right field that scored pinch runner Trevor Byers and Jason Strunk.

“It’s a 10-run game but Logan Sims had two big plays catching the little bloop, a diving catch the first play of the game and then hit hustling to beat the force out at second base to keep the inning alive when Braden got the big extra base hit,” Stumpff said. “Those plays were huge and then we were able to relax and take off.

Disterhoft, Sims and Ono-Fullard all had two hits for West High while Randall, Sims and Ono-Fullard all drove in two runs and Houston had three RBI.

Class 4A Quarterfinal

CR Washington         000  002  –   2   6  1

West High                  513  003  –  12  9  1

W – Braden Houston              L – Jacob Bockenstedt

2B – ICW: Braden Houston, Izaya Ono-Fullard. CRW: Nolan Cavanaugh

3B – ICW: Dane Randall, Logan Sims

HR – ICW: Izaya Ono-Fullard