North Polk claims Class 3A Iowa baseball state title with walk-off win over Bishop Heelan

CEDAR RAPIDS — The path to state title glory has been filled with twists and turns for North Polk baseball.

A glimpse at the Comets’ last four games tells that tale. One-score wins over ADM, Algona, Harlan Community and Marion paved the way for North Polk to reach the Class 3A state title game against Bishop Heelan at Veterans Memorial Stadium on Friday.

With a state title up for grabs, the Comets once again found themselves in a scrap. North Polk sophomore Chase Fjelland, the walk-off hero against Harlan, once again delivered with a walk-off RBI single in the seventh inning that secured a 5-4 win over the Crusaders.

The Comets avenged their loss in last season’s 3A state championship game.

"It feels amazing," Fjelland said. "The seniors, again, they've helped me this whole year (and) in the offseason....they trust me, so it feels good to do it for them."

The Comets jumped ahead in the third inning. North Polk senior Reggie Postel followed back-to-back singles by Jack Spieker and Drew Owen with an RBI double that sliced down the right field line. A sacrifice fly by catcher Isaac Zoske brought home Owens and gave the Comets a 2-0 advantage.

The Crusader offense countered with four unanswered runs.

After Sean Schaefer walked and Ethan Erickson singled to left, Bishop Heelan senior Raiden Ericson hit an RBI double to drive in Schaefer and put the Crusaders on the board. Karson Fitch followed that up with an RBI single to drive in Erickson to even the score, 2-2. A fielding error allowed Drew Uhl— pinch-running for Ericson—to reach home and give Heelan a 3-2 lead.

"At that point, I went to the mound...I said, 'Let's just keep it at one run, don't let them get another run. Keep our task as easy as possible' and they believed," said North Polk coach Wyatt Zoske.

The Comets countered with their own surge in the bottom of the fifth inning. After Owen doubled to advance Jack Spieker to third, Postel hit a sacrifice groundout to drive in Spieker. Facing an 0-2 count, Zoske hit an RBI single to center field to even the score.

With the bases loaded in the seventh inning, Fjelland hit the go-ahead RBI single to left to help the Comets claim state title glory for the first time since 2014.

"Probably how it was supposed to happen after the last four or five games. Probably appropriate that it happened that way," Zoske said. "What a special group, they never doubted for a second."

Bishop Heelan closes its season with a 34-11 record. The Crusaders reached the state tournament for the first time in five years. They will graduate seven seniors in the offseason.

"Credit North Polk, they got the big hit. That's what they've done all postseason," said Bishop Heelan coach Andy Osborne. "That's state championship baseball...we play them 10 times it might be 5-5; very similar teams."

After being moved from junior varsity to the varsity squad this season, Fjelland has grown into a clutch bat for the Comets; a move that paid off under the bright lights.

"Always knew his bat was going to be there, just gave him a couple at-bats early and it gave him confidence and he took off," Zoske said. "He slowly moved up in the batting order and ended up in the right spot."

Marc Ray is the high school sports reporter for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. He can be reached at MARay@gannett.com, and on X, formerly Twitter, at @themarcszn.

This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: North Polk claims Class 3A Iowa baseball state title with walk-off win over Bishop Heelan