The matchup between 3-seed North Polk and 6-seed Harlan Community kicked off the festivities in the Class 3A Iowa high school state baseball tournament in Cedar Rapids on Monday.
The Comets entered the tournament as last year's runner-ups while the Cyclones were looking to return to the state semifinals for the second straight year.
But it was North Polk sophomore Chase Fjelland who played the hero with a walk-off RBI single in the seventh inning to help North Polk (27-6) defeat Harlan Community, 5-4, to advance to the state semifinals.
“We had two outs; I knew we had to do something good,” Fjelland said. “So, he threw me two strikes, got a little lower and hit off the wall.”
It was a defensive battle in the first few innings. North Polk ace Reece Wrage came out aggressive with 11 straight strikes against the top of the order for the Cyclones.
Harlan had an opportunity to open things up in the top of the third. A North Polk error and hit by pitch loaded the bases for the Cyclones, but Wrage escaped the bases-loaded jam with a popup to strand the runners.
After a sacrifice bunt that put Brayden Foster on second, North Polk's Drew Owen delivered an RBI double thanks to a to give the Comets a 1-0 advantage at the bottom of the fifth inning.
Back-to-back RBI singles to center field by Wrage and Hunter Cook made it a 3-0 advantage.
“As a hitter, you just got to do everything you can to do the job--put it in play, see what happens, make them make a play--and I just tried my best to spread out and put a ball in the front and was able to get it up the middle,” Cook said. “It wasn’t the hardest hit ball but when you’re two outs like that, you just got to do what you can; spread out and put it in play. It went my way… I feel like it built some confidence for us.”
Facing a 3-0 hole, Harlan countered with a single by Jozef Reisz. After Landon Kaufman was hit by a pitch, Weston Reisz hit an RBI double to deep right field to make it 3-2 in the top of the sixth.
The top of the seventh inning wasn’t too kind to the Comets. A single by Harlan senior Matthew Sorfonden got things rolling for the Cyclones. A hit by pitch and a walk loaded the bases and Jozef Reisz capitalized. He hit a two-RBI double that sliced down the left field line and drove in Sorfonden and Quinn Koesters to give Harlan a 5-3 lead.
It wasn't anything new to the Comets. They entered state tournament play with tight games in their last two wins in substate competition.
“I didn’t have to say anything, they knew, 'OK, here it comes again...who's up?'," said North Polk coach Wyatt Zoske. "Make the pitcher work a little bit, make them take a strike...and when you get a good pitch, put your best swing on it."
North Polk needed a spark. After an Owen single to center field and walk by Isaac Zoske, Wrage sliced his own shot to left to load the bases. Cook hit a deep fly ball to left-center field, but Landon Kaufman made a clutch snatch to thwart the walkoff attempt.
But Fjelland made his own deep shot that smacked the left-field wall to seal the game for the Comets and clinch a spot in the state semifinals.
"Counting this win, five of the last six we've come back by at least three runs to get here," Wyatt Zoske said. "They don't give up and they're not sure who it's going to be, but it just seems like it's somebody different every night; What a resilient group, something special about this group."
The Cyclones fell to 27-9 to end their season. They will lose nine seniors in the offseason.
“Made the state tournament last year, this year and got a lot of guys hitting in both of them,” said Harlan coach Heath Stein. “So, we’ll come in next season (with) high expectations again and see what we can do.”
North Polk will face the winner of 2-seed Marion and 7-seed Center Point-Urbana in the 3A state semifinals on Wednesday.
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.
Most Popular
Comments / 0