Des Moines Iowa — The Remsen St. Mary’s Hawks started their state title defense with a mild upset Friday in the 1A quarterfinals. The #5 seeded Hawks knocked off North Linn the #4 seed 5-1.
The No. 4-seeded Lynx entered the contest with a 16-game win streak and as the No. 1 team in the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association and Radio Iowa rankings.
Remsen St. Mary’s starter Blaine Harpenau, an eighth grader, was effective at working out of trouble, scattering seven hits but only allowing the one run in his complete-game, 90-pitch performance. He struck out four and walked two.
North Linn starter Ryan Miller went six innings and allowed five runs — just one earned. He struck out three and walked two.
After a scoreless first inning, the Lynx struck first in the bottom of the second inning. North Linn put two runners on after two Remsen St. Mary’s errors. Designated hitter Brady Henderson knocked in a runner with a single up the middle, giving his team an early 1-0 lead.
The Hawks responded in the top of the fourth, plating three runs on one hit to take a 3-1 lead. Remsen St. Mary’s showed some offensive flair in the precess as number 9 hitter Jacob Loutsch successfully executed a suicide squeeze to push across the third and final run of the inning.
Remsen St. Mary’s tacked on a fourth run in the top of the fifth inning after a two-base error by the Lynx. The Hawks pushed across another run in the sixth on an RBI single from Derrick Schorg.
Remsen St. Mary’s will take on top-seeded Newman Catholic in the semifinals on Thursday. Newman Catholic beat CAM in the other upper bracket quarterfinal 10-2 on Friday morning.
The Hawks (28-7) are attempting to win back-to-back state titles for the first time since 1984-85. North Linn ends the season at 41-3.
