Des Moines Iowa — The six-seeded West Sioux Falcons scored five runs in the first two innings and went on to defeat the 3rd-seeded New Hampton Chickasaws 7-2 in a Class 2A quarterfinal Monday at Principal Park.
West Sioux got off to a fast start, scoring three runs in the top of the first inning on two hits, two walks, and a wild pitch. They got two runs on an inside-the-park home run from starting pitcher Hunter Dekkers in the second inning and two more runs in the fourth inning.
The seven runs were more than enough for Dekkers, the starter for West Sioux, who showed off his electric but inconsistent fastball by striking out the side in the first inning and firing four hitless innings with an uncharacteristic 5 walks.
New Hampton starter Keegan Kane entered the game giving up a total of 16 runs all season long, but gave up five in the first two innings before being pulled in the third inning. He finished with six runs allowed and five hits in three-plus innings. Mason Cleveland fired 3 and a third hitless innings in relief but it wasn’t enough.
The Falcons (22-5) will move on to the semifinals on Thursday where they will play two seed Van Meter who downed seven seed Underwood 17-7 in the other lower bracket quarterfinal. First pitch for the Thursday afternoon semifinal is set for 4:30 pm.
The Chickasaws end their season at 28-10.
Note: Dekkers’ inside-the-park home run was the fourth since the tournament has been played at Principal Park. It was the 55th home run overall in State Tournament games at Principal Park. The tournament moved to Des Moines in 2005.
