The Aplington-Parkersburg summer sports teams will host Dike-New Hartford in NICL-Central action Thursday. The baseball teams will play a single game on 99 The Wave, and the softball teams will play a doubleheader.
The Falcon baseball team is coming off Wednesday’s 5-4 loss at Sumner-Fredericksburg, where they scored each of their runs in the first inning but couldn’t hang onto the lead. Head Coach Brett Kleespies says some of the underclassmen are learning what it takes to be successful under the leadership of some of last year’s state tournament participants.
“I think there’s little bit of pressure on them from last year of being the first team to be able to reach state for AP, but I think they want that,” Kleespies says. “The expectation is they want to win and it’s hard on them when they lose. I think they all know that’s the goal is, man, they want to be back in Carroll.”
Dike-New Hartford is undefeated and beat East Marshall 7-1 on the road Wednesday. Head Coach Jordan Martin says strengthening the pitching rotation will be a key to success throughout the season.
“It’s going to be really important to continue to develop pitching throughout the season, and then getting some of those younger guys more reps and more at bats,” Martin says. “Right now, we have four solid starters and it’d be nice to increase that to six. That way we can develop a deeper rotation.”
Gavin Gerbracht leads with a .643 batting average, one of three players who have batted over .500.
Pregame coverage will start at 6:45 p.m., followed by the first pitch at 7:00.
The Falcon softball team fell 3-1 at Sumner-Fredericksburg Wednesday, where their only run scored was in the first inning. DNH was outmatched in Wednesday’s 11-0 loss in four innings at #5 (2A) East Marshall. The doubleheader will start at 5:00 p.m.
