Cedar Rapids Kennedy takes down Johnston to reach Iowa state baseball tournament title game

CEDAR RAPIDS— There's no better way to put an exclamation point on a game than what Cedar Rapids Kennedy sophomore Ty Donels did in the Class 4A Iowa state baseball tournament semifinals against Johnston on Thursday.

The infielder hit a walk-off home run to lead the Cougars to an 8-7 win over Johnston to advance to Friday's state championship game.

“Nolan (Grawe) was on deck, he told me to get on base and he’ll do the job,” Donels said. “So I was just working my approach up the middle and got in a hittable count that I like and saw a fastball was in the zone, and that’s my pitch and got it; it was the best hit of my life.”

Johnston, the reigning back-to-back state champions, were no strangers to big-time moments, but the Cougars answered the call when it mattered the most. With such high stakes, there was little room for error. Still, the start of the contest was highlighted by several miscues.

After back-to-back walks, Kennedy senior Matt Stoltenberg reached first on an error, which advanced Grawe to third and brought home Donels. Grawe later scored on a wild pitch to give the Cougars a 2-0 advantage in the first inning.

After a hit by pitch and a wild pitch, Johnston senior Caleb Hanson scored on a throwing error to cut the Cougars’ lead to 2-1 at the top of the second inning.

Scott Jace kicked off the bottom of the fourth for the Cougars with a shot that dropped into left field. A wild pitch advanced pinch runner Jackson Popelka to second and Donels hit a line drive to center field to give the Cougars a 3-1 lead.

After Owen Hutchison advanced to first with a hit by a pitch, Donels hit a single down the third baseline. Grawe reached on a fielder’s choice to advance Hutchison to third. A wild pitch advanced the runners and brought in Hutchinson to extend Kennedy's lead.

Grant Mather followed a walk by Grawe with an RBI single to right field. Stoltenberg scored on a wild pitch and a fielder's choice extended Kennedy's lead to 7-1.

But the Dragons didn't go down without a fight in the seventh inning.

They hit back-to-back singles and a walk that loaded up the bases. Three straight hit batsmen added three runs to cut the deficit to 7-4. After sophomore Mason Tell reached first on a fielder’s choice to drove in another run, Jack Ruddy hit a two-RBI triple to tie the game, 7-7 before heading to the bottom half of the seventh.

"Our defense is usually good, we just had a couple of mess ups but you trust them (and) you have to trust them," Donels said. "We knew we had a chance... they got the momentum at the end of the game and we knew one hit, hit by pitch or one little play would go back our way."

Facing a two-strike count with two outs, Donels cranked a walk-off homer to deep left field to win in dramatic fashion for the Cougars. Donels was 3-for-3 with two RBIs to lead the Cougars to the 4A state title game.

More: Iowa high school state baseball tournament: Scores, bracket updates

The Dragons end their season with a 34-6 record. Despite falling short, Johnston made its ninth-straight state tournament appearance.

“That's the beauty of the game, that’s baseball. You’re up so much and you’re down so that’s another example of being a baseball player,” said Johnston senior Tyne Weeden. “We work so hard—I know everybody does— but we take it to another level, so to see it rub off and have two rings back-to-back... love these guys, love this team (and) brothers for life.”

Cedar Rapids Kennedy will face either No. 3 Iowa City High or No. 7 Dowling Catholic at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.

"It would mean a lot (to win a state title). It's been a long time and even more than that, I know we have a big senior class and we've been together for a while now," Donels said. "Even last year we had an unfortunate loss and winning it here (at state) would be incredible."

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: Cedar Rapids Kennedy takes down Johnston to reach Iowa state baseball tournament title game