By Becky Walz,
The quest for South Winn’s third straight trip to the state baseball tournament came to an end Saturday in New Albin. Playing Upper Iowa Conference co-champion Kee for the district title, the Warriors came up short, 4-2.
“We knew going in we would likely see ourselves in a tight game late, and unfortunately we came out on the short end. We made some uncharacteristic mistakes and couldn’t come up with the big hit when we were able to get runners on,” said Coach Alex Smith.
The Warriors end the season with a 25-11 overall record. Kee goes into the substate game with a 32-9 overall record and will play Northwood-Kensett (14-14) Tuesday, July 20, in Charles City at 7 p.m., for the chance to go to state.
How it played out
What was expected to be a pitchers dual between Kee hurler Dalton Dibert and Ethan Luzum turned out to be just that. Kee struck first scoring two runs in the first on back to back hits with two outs. Dibert was the first to get on base with a hard-hit ball up the middle and moved to second on a sac bunt by Landon Reams. Luzum managed to sit down a second Hawk batter, Damon Weber, for two outs before catcher Buddy Hill smacked out a double to left field to drive Dibert home. Tyson Cota added a hit of his own to score another Kee run and giving the Hawks an early 2-0 lead.
South Winn’s Nick Holien got the dugout and fans excited in the top of the second as he started off the frame with a long shot over the left field fence to cut the Warriors’ deficit in half. With two outs, designated hitter Tony Greve found some green space in centerfield for a single but was left stranded on base. Neither squad managed to put up runs in the third.
In the fourth inning it was Holien again finding the left field fence for the junior’s second home run of the game to knot the score at 2-2. With the game still tied into the sixth, Kee managed to load the bases on two walks and a single with one out, setting up a big inning for the Hawks. After recording the force out at home, a rare defensive Warrior miscue allowed to Kee runs to score the go ahead and eventually the winning runs.
Final thoughts
On the mound it was senior pitcher, Ethan Luzum suffering the loss despite ringing up seven Hawk batters.
South Winn had seven hits in the contest as Holien was 2-for-3 with two home runs and the Warriors’ two RBI. Connecting for the other Warrior hits were Luzum, Logan Hageman, Jacob Herold, Tony Greve and Briar Tigges.
“I’m proud of this group and all they accomplished, not only this season, but for our five seniors, all they did over their careers. We wish our seniors the best moving forward and thank our parents, family members and all our Warrior baseball fans for their continued support this season,” concluded Coach Smith.
South Winn graduates Aiden Tollefsrud, Cael Kuboushek, Briar Tigges, Jacob Herold and Ethan Luzum.
R H E
S. Winn 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 7 4
Kee High 2 0 0 0 0 2 x 4 6 1
South Winn stats
Ethan Luzum (LP) – 6IP, 4R, 2ER, 6H, 3BB, 7K
HR – Nick Holien 2; 1B – Luzum 1; Logan Hageman 1; Jacob Herold 1; Tony Greve 1; Briar Tigges 1; RBI – Holien 2; SB – Hageman 1
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