The Dike-New Hartford baseball team will head back to Anamosa for Saturday’s 2A District 12 final. It’ll air on 99 The Wave.
The Wolverines (21-4) are coming off Tuesday’s 3-2 win over Aplington-Parkersburg in Anamosa, where they came back from a 2-1 deficit in the sixth inning but were held to four hits. Head Coach Jordan Martin says they’ve worked on bouncing back from a slow night offensively.
“You can continue to get reps, which we did,” Martin says. “We went through our normal practice routine, but we did some extra things that I think were more fun for practice-wise and just loosened up a little bit. I think we were a little tight. It was our first playoff game, so the nerves were definitely there, but we’re going go into this next game a little bit more loose. That way, they have a little bit more fun up at the plate.”
Anamosa (15-10) has among the better schedule strengths in Class 2A, and was awarded the top seed in the district despite a significantly worse record than the #2-seed Wolverines. They began their postseason with an 11-1, five-inning home win over Monticello Tuesday, where they scored 10 in the fourth inning. The Wolverines will lean on strong pitching, which combined with a crisp defense, has held opponents to three runs per game.
“Right now, I don’t really look at records. I’m looking at more of their stats and what they’ve done in the previous 10 games. And their stats resemble ours pretty significantly. So I think it’ll be a good battle. Just looking at seeing where they may have holes in their lineup, where we can attack their lineup on the mound, and then what we can do in the field as well. So just looking at their stats has been big. But we’re just going to go into it that we’re playing a tough opponent.”
Pregame coverage will start at 6:40 p.m., followed by the first pitch at 7:00. The winner will advance to Tuesday’s substate final against either Grand View Christian or #2 (2A) Pleasantville.
