Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

FORT DODGE – City High took a big step in its climb toward the top of Class 5A this season.

The Little Hawks came up just short of a shot at the top spot on Wednesday.

City High left the tying run on first base in the bottom of the seventh inning in a 4-2 loss to eighth-ranked West Des Moines Valley (31-10) in a Class 5A state semifinal at Harlan Rogers Sports Complex in Des Moines.

The loss snapped a nine-game winning streak for sixth-ranked City High (35-8) and dropped the Little Hawks into Friday’s consolation contest against Johnston (35-9) on Friday at 7 p.m.

West Des Moines Valley will face top-ranked Waukee (40-3) for a fifth time this season in the 5A title game on Friday at 8 p.m.

“You don’t go right to the top of the mountain,” City High coach Jeff Koenig said. “Maybe the next part of the mountain is a third-place finish and bringing back the core of what we’ve got and really setting our sights on doing damage next year.”  

West Des Moines Valley senior Haley Gatica scattered four hits and escaped a jam in the seventh inning as the Tigers returned to the title game for the first time since 2010.

City High put runners on first and second with one out in the seventh but Gatica got Brianna Bentler to fly to right for the second out.

Gatica (17-4) then got 5As home-run leader Ayana Lindsey to bounce to short to end the game.

“We just took it as any other batter and took it pitch by pitch,” Gatica said. “The main goal was to not get ahead of ourselves and not get too into the batter or who it was I just had to hit my spots where coach called it.”

After going 1-1 in its first state tournament appearance in 17 seasons a year ago City High showed it could compete with the best in the state this year.

City High won its first Mississippi Valley Conference title since 1998 during the regular season and stunned Cedar Rapids Kennedy 10-2 on Tuesday for its first winners bracket victory at state since 1982.

The Little Hawks narrowly missed a shot at a state title on Wednesday.

“It hurts a little bit right now just because we wanted to get our the 59th state title at City High but it kind of motivates me and makes me want to come back here and get that state title,” City High sophomore Carey Koenig said. “I want to win that championship before I graduate.”

Valley jumped to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first but City High answered in the bottom of the inning when Koenig singled and scored on a line drive single to left by Sydney Fellows.

“I feel like we were finding the ball better than against Kennedy we were just stringing hits along against Kennedy but today I feel like we hit the ball harder today,” Koenig said. “We found the balls that we wanted to square up and hit.”

Valley took a 2-1 lead on an RBI single by Gatica in the third and got some breathing room courtesy of a two-out, two-run triple by leadoff hitter Alex Honnold that made it 4-1 in the fourth.

“I think they caught us a little bit by surprise early on when they took a base here or there,” Jeff Koenig said. “We were just a step slow the first couple of innings and we corrected and to me that is a good thing and something that shows growth.”

City High gave itself a shot.

Koenig drove in Ella Cook with an RBI single in the sixth and the Little Hawks had the tying run at first with one out after Makayla Ribble was hit by a pitch.

Gatica wiggled out of the seventh-inning jam while earning her 17th win of the season.

The senior allowed two runs, one earned, on four hits and struck out three in the complete game.

“You can’t ask for anything more,” Koenig said. “We had our hitter that hits the ball out of the park up and I’m good and if they decided to walk her I’d be good with Ella or I’d be good with Carey. We were where we wanted to be in the lineup but even yesterday the bottom of our order was coming through.”

Ayana Lindsey (20-4) took the loss giving up four runs on eight hits while striking out two and walking five.

“This season is definitely a step forward,” Lindsey said. “I’m definitely excited we did that and now we know what it feels like to be here in this moment and I’m hungry for me.”

City High gets a shot to finish its season on a high-note when it faces fifth-ranked Johnston on Friday in the consolation contest.

The Little Hawks defeated Johnston 3-1 in a consolation contest last season.

“We are going from not being here for a long time to fifth last year,” Jeff Koenig said. “There are 15 teams that can win their last game of the season and we can still come back and win the last game of the season.”

West Des Moines Valley       101  200  0  –  4  8  1

City High                                    100  001  0  –  2  4  1

W – Haley Gatica (17-4)         L – Ayana Lindsey (20-4)

2B – WDV: Alex Honnold. ICH: Makayla Ribble

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