Johnston earns walk-off win over Waukee Northwest in Iowa high school state baseball tournament

CEDAR RAPIDS—It’s been hard to stop the rolling train that is Johnston baseball, the reigning back-to-back Class 4A state baseball champions.

The Dragons were riding a 12-game winning streak heading into the start of the 4A Iowa state baseball tournament on Tuesday.

Not even a two-hour weather delay or a seventh-inning deficit could derail their path to the state semifinals.

It was no easy task, but sophomore Mason Tell hit a two-RBI walk-off single in the seventh to lead Johnston to a 4-3 walkoff win over Waukee Northwest in the state quarterfinals.

"Right as I hit it, saw it go over his head, I was in shock," Tell said. "Everything we've put in this season-- all those long practices, all those late nights and a really good team, really good senior leaders and a really good group-- I wouldn't want to do it with anyone else."

Johnston has proven to be Waukee Northwest’s kryptonite this season, earning a three-game sweep over the Wolves in the regular season.

But it’s a different feel in the state tournament and Johnston baseball knows all about it.

The Dragons have competed at state in each of the last nine seasons under head coach Michael Barta. That state experience was on full display Tuesday.

The Wolves were the first to strike. Following a Brady Walton single, junior Tanner Jackson cranked a two-run homer that cleared the left-field wall to give Northwest a 2-0 advantage in the top of the first inning.

"The message was like, 'Hey, dealt a little adversity; what are you going to do about it?'" Barta said. "Real men rise up in times of adversity and I feel like our guys answered."

After a double play to end the top of the third, Johnston junior Will Nuss capitalized following a Blake Lundholm walk and hit an RBI triple that dropped down the right baseline to make it 2-1 at the bottom of the third.

The game resumed play in the fourth inning following a rain delay. After Tyne Weeden was hit by a pitch and Nuss dropped a shot into right field, Johnston’s Adam Kayko sliced a hit near second base and the Dragons capitalized on a throwing error to even the score at 2-2 at the bottom of the fifth inning.

After a double by Northwest junior Cayden Kitzman junior put a runner in scoring position, a sacrifice bunt from Jonah Sweeney made it 3-2 in favor of the Wolves at the top of the seventh.

But there was still fight in the Dragons. Nuss hit a single and Sam Kemmer doubled to left field to shift the momentum in Johnston’s favor. An intentional walk loaded up the bases. Tell drilled the ball to left, bringing in Nuss and Kemmer to send the Dragons to the state semifinals on Thursday.

"I always wanted to be here (and) wanting to go state since I was a little kid," Tell said. "Just to be here and just to experience it with just a really good group of guys--really good energy all week, all year--it's just really special to me."

The Wolves finished their season with a 26-15 record. They will lose 10 seniors in the offseason.

"This group was fun to watch, super proud of them," said Waukee Northwest coach Jeremy Heinen. "We were right there, and it's just a crazy game. You got the rain and we go up 3-2...that's baseball."

Johnston (34-5) will face 1-seed Cedar Rapids Kennedy (34-4) in the state semifinals on Thursday.

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: Johnston earns walk-off win over Waukee Northwest in Iowa high school state baseball tournament