Dike-New Hartford baseball comes up short in quarterfinals

CARROLL – A Dike-New Hartford baseball team known for its resilience this postseason couldn't get the timely hits to put together one more rally in a 7-4 loss to Dyersville Beckman, in a Class 2A state quarterfinal at Merchants Park in Carroll on Tuesday, July 19.

"From the first inning, to the seventh inning, to the last pitch, I think we had all the confidence in the world in each other and ourselves," D-NH head coach Jordan Martin said. "It's not the outcome we wanted but looking back on this year, it's everything we could have asked for."

D-NH's season came to an end at 26-4 after their second state appearance in the last three years. The Beckman Trailblazers are state semifinalists for the 12th time in school history.

Both teams hit the ball well, combining for 24 hits - 13 for Beckman, 11 for D-NH.

What separated the teams on the scoreboard was timely hitting.

The score was tied at 3-3 in the bottom of the fourth, and Luke Sigwarth knocked in a Trailblazers run, followed by a fielder's choice with the bases loaded that score Nate Offerman.

Beckman never trailed after that. But the Wolverines weren't without their opportunities.

Lewis Textor led off the fifth with a double but couldn’t get moved around.

Devon Kollasch singled to lead off the sixth and scored on a wild pitch.

Carson Costello laced a two-out single in the seventh to try and get a two-out rally going, but Sigwarth got one of his two strikeouts in a three-out save to end the game.

D-NH left 10 on base total in the game.

"We played well enough to stay in the game," said D-NH junior Gus Varney. "They just got us at the end. Beckman's a great team, they hit the gaps and pitched well."

Freshman Carson Costello started Tuesday's game on the mound, carrying a 4-0 record into the game.

He went four innings with four earned runs on nine hits, two walks and one strikeout.

Varney provided two innings of relief.

"Carson and Gus both pitched exactly how we wanted," Martin said. "We just had to string a few bats there, make a few more plays defensively, and I think it might have been a different outcome."

A sacrifice fly got the Trailblazers on the board first in the bottom of the first.

D-NH answered in the second with a Colin Meester single, who was advanced to third on a hit by Micah Walston, and scored on an RBI groundout by Cole McCumber to tie the game.

Beckman answered with two runs for a 3-1 lead after two innings.

In the fourth, Gus Varney smacked a two-RBI hit to score Devon Kollasch and McCumber to tie the game at 3-all, which set the stage for the Trailblazers to take the lead for good in the bottom half of that inning.

The Wolverines had come back in dramatic fashion to beat Grundy Center and Osage earlier this postseason, but it just wasn't in the cards for D-NH this time around.

"We've come from behind a lot this year," Varney said. "But against a team like [Beckman] and in this environment, it makes it harder."

Wolverine Nation held their heads high leaving Merchants Park on Tuesday.

"It's not like we played bad, they just beat us," McCumber said. "It was a good team, we've got to keep our heads up. We'll be ready for next year to come back."

Gus Varney was 2-for-4 with the two RBI. Micah Walston added two hits, as did Wil Textor, both on three at-bats.

The Wolverines bid farewell to two seniors, Devon Kollasch and Ian Steffen, who were also part of the group that was on the 2020 squad that reached the state quarterfinals in Des Moines.

"Our seniors were really good leaders this year," Varney said. "And this was probably the most fun I've had in baseball this year."

Five underclassmen were in the starting lineup on Tuesday.

"I think this will make us hungrier," Varney said. "We'll be back."