Summer Sports in Review

Softball

Aplington-Parkersburg

The Falcons won their first-round postseason game for the fourth time in the last five years, finishing 2-19 overall.

On June 4, A-P defeated Gladbrook-Reinbeck, 19-6, for the only regular-season victory of the summer. The Falcons won 11-9 against Clarion-Goldfield-Dows in the regional opener in Parkersburg on July 6.

A-P’s four seniors - Emalee Price, MaKenna Brouwer, Bailee Alberts and Riley Freund - led the underclassmen-heavy team along with junior veteran pitcher Libby Janssen.

The Falcons weren’t able to come away with an NICL East victory this season, and ranked East team Waterloo Columbus ended A-P’s season 12-0 in the regional quarterfinals.

Janssen will be the lone senior on next year’s roster, but with only seven girls projected to return for next summer there are holes to be filled.

Offensive leaders

Emalee Price, sr. - .292 AVG, 3 XBH, 4 RBI, 7 R..

MaKenna Brouwer, sr. - .256 AVG, 2 XBH, 4 RBI, 5 R.

Bailee Alberts, sr. - .225 AVG, 2 2B, 5 RBI, 4 SB.

Pitching leaders

Libby Janssen, jr. - 53.2 IP, 102 ER, 64 BB, 15 K, 13.30 ERA.

Ada Switzer, 8th - 43 IP, 54 ER, 46 BB, 26 K, 8.79 ERA.

Postseason honors

All-NICL East Honorable Mention: Emalee Price, MaKenna Brouwer.

Dike-New Hartford

The Wolverines set a school record for wins in a season, bowing out in the regional quarterfinals to Alburnett after a 20-11 campaign.

D-NH won the first six games of the season and didn’t lose more than three games in a row all season. The Wolverines were 10-6 in the NICL East, finishing tied for fourth in the conference.

In the regional opener, D-NH defeated Grundy Center, 2-0. Alburnett jumped on the Wolverines early in the regional quarterfinal, opening an 11-run lead, but the Wolverines chipped away and challenged the Pirates down the stretch before ultimately succumbing, 12-8.

The team is set up for continued success next summer, in no small part due to the team’s three seniors this summer - Malea Neuroth, Abby Sohn and Addy Sohn - that were praised by D-NH head coach Rhandi Oelmann for sticking with the program during leaner times. Taylor Kvale, a three-time all-state pick, is projected to be the only senior on next summer’s squad and will be joined by fellow all-stater and sophomore-to-be Payton Nolan.

Offensive leaders

Payton Nolan, fr. - .511 AVG, 3 2B, 22 RBI, 17 R.

Taylor Kvale, jr. - .432 AVG, 9 XBH, 28 RBI, 37 R, 32 SB.

Addy Sohn, sr. - .432 AVG, 7 XBH, 13 RBI, 17 R, 6 SB.

Pitching leaders

Abby Sohn, sr. - 115.1 IP, 57 ER, 52 BB, 93 K, 3.46 ERA.

Madisen Theel, soph. - 73.1 IP, 40 ER, 36 BB, 54 K, 3.82 ERA.

Postseason honors

Class 2A All-State: Taylor Kvale, 2nd team; Payton Nolan, 3rd team.

Class 2A Northeast All-District: Taylor Kvale, Payton Nolan.

All-NICL East First Team: Payton Nolan, Taylor Kvale, Addy Sohn. Second Team: Abby Sohn. Honorable mention: Ella Costello, Misty Harreld.

Baseball

Aplington-Parkersburg

The Falcons finished with a 5-20 overall record, with three of those wins coming in the final weeks of the season.

A-P defeated Rockford and North Butler by a combined score of 26-4 in the final two games of the regular season and then claimed victory in the postseason opener with a 3-0 triumph over Sumner-Fredericksburg-Tripoli, a team that had swept the Falcons earlier in the season during NICL East play.

Another NICL East spelled A-P’s doom though, as a red-hot Denver team cruised past A-P, 10-1 as the Cyclones eventually reached the Class 2A state tournament.

After 10 losses to start the season, A-P got in the win column with a 3-2 victory over Union on June 14.

With no seniors on the team and only two juniors, there’s still plenty of room for the Falcons to grow, with a lot of the multi-sport DNA that is a staple of this team.

Offensive leaders

Garrett Hempen, soph. - .385 AVG, 2 2B, 10 RBI, 20 R, 18 SB.

Tate Neymeyer, fr. - .232 AVG, 8 RBI, 11 R, 10 SB.

Nick Neuroth, fr. - .218 AVG, 3 RBI, 21 R, 16 SB.

Pitching leaders

Garrett Hempen, soph. - 50.1 IP, 16 ER, 9 BB, 23 K, 2.23 ERA.

Devin Davis, fr. - 44.2 IP, 30 ER, 15 BB, 44 K, 4.70 ERA.

Cooper Hoff, fr. - 24.2 IP, 12 ER, 18 BB, 13 K, 3.41 ERA.

Postseason honors

All-NICL East Honorable Mention: Garrett Hempen.

Dike-New Hartford

The Wolverines took some big swings in the batter’s box this summer with a 14-2 record in the NICL East and a 23-10 overall record.

D-NH head coach Sean Leonard thought this year’s younger group was able to exceed expectations, even if the Wolverines came up short of making it back to the state tournament for the second-consecutive year.

After a 3-2 start, the team won five consecutive games to kickstart the season, the Wolverines found their stride in a two-week stretch in the heart of June with eight consecutive victories.

With a stretch of games in the final week of the regular season against state tournament regulars, D-NH seemed once again battle-tested for the substate tournament, but after a 9-6 win against Union another NICL East rival jumped on the Wolverines as Denver bounced D-NH, 12-2, in the district final.

Zak Wauters, an Ellsworth commit, was one of the team’s senior leaders along with Jacob Klingenborg and Nathan Moore.

The Wolverines have a lot of talent with the potential to come back next summer, including some of the team’s leading pitchers and hitters in Gus Varney, Nick Reinicke and Wil Textor as juniors, as well as Devon Kollasch and Ian Steffen as seniors-to-be.

Offensive leaders

Gus Varney, soph. - .483 AVG, 6 2B, 4 3B, 7 HR, 33 RBI, 25 R.

Zak Wauters, sr. - .368 AVG, 10 2B, 3 HR, 34 RBI, 13 R.

Nick Reinicke, soph. - .351 AVG, 9 2B, 3 HR, 28 RBI, 20 R, 8 SB.

Pitching leaders

Nick Reinicke, soph. - 49.1 IP, 31 ER, 19 BB, 63 K, 4.40 ERA.

Wil Textor, soph. - 42 IP, 20 ER, 17 BB, 34 K, 3.33 ERA.

Zak Wauters, sr. - 33 IP, 15 ER, 19 BB, 40 K, 3.18 ERA.

Postseason honors

All-District Class 2A Northeast: Zak Wauters and Gus Varney, first team; Nick Reinicke, second team.

All-NICL East First Team: Zak Wauters, Gus Varney, Nick Reinicke. Second Team: Wil Textor. Honorable Mention: Nathan Moore.