Above, the 2024 Class 1A State Baseball Champions, the Lynnville-Sully Hawks. Shown are: Kneeling, Gavin Olea, Jaiden Richards, Kendric Johnson, Matthew Mintle, Connor Deal; back, coaches Scott and Stacey Alberts, Trace Carlson, Blake Wilmesmeier, Tyler Routier, CJ Nikkel, Cameyon James, Blake Van Wyk, Jack Bowlin, Lucas Sieck, Terran Gosselink, Davis Utech, Lannon Montgomery, Corder Noun Harder, Wyatt Mathis, Karter Smead, Carson Maston, Ethan Dunsbergen, Colton Alberts, Jordan Dunsbergen, and coach Conner Maston.
The Lynnville-Sully baseball team’s quest for a State title continued after defeating Sigourney in an SICL showdown at State to advance to the Semifinals. Two days later on Wednesday, July 24, the Hawks took on top-seeded Akron-Westfield in a game that will be long remembered by Hawk players, coaches, and fans.
The game did not get underway until one minute before 10 p.m., three hours late due to a lightning delay, and the first Semifinals game—the longest in Iowa High School State Baseball history—going 14 innings. L-S was ready to go when the first pitch was finally thrown at 9:59 p.m, and faithful Hawk fans stuck around and were ready to cheer L-S to victory despite the late hour.
L-S, the visiting team on the scoreboard, took on the top-seeded Westerners. Senior Corder Noun Harder drew an opening walk, and quickly stole second and third. He crossed home plate to score the first run of the game on a sacrifice fly to center field off the bat of junior Carson Maston.
Maston toed the rubber for the Hawks in the State Semifinals. He attacked early for a good start, sending the lead-off batter back to the dugout on strikes. Akron got on base with a single, but that runner was erased when Noun Harder fired down to senior Blake Van Wyk on a steal attempt. Maston threw another K for the third out. Hawks had the lead early, 1-0, after the first.
“When Corder threw out a steal attempt, it pretty much silenced any kind of run threat that Akron may have wanted to have in that game,” said coach Scott Alberts of his team’s pitching and stout defense.
Senior Lucas Sieck drew an opening walk in the second, but L-S went down on strikes. The Westerners threatened in the bottom of the second, drawing a walk. Maston responded by striking out the next two batters before a Westerner single put two on base. A ground ball fielded cleanly by sophomore Jaiden Richards put L-S back on offense.
In the third, Van Wyk reached base on error, but the next three Hawk batters flew out. L-S defense went back to work, putting down the Westerners with fly balls caught by Van Wyk and Sieck, and another strikeout.
Junior Lannon Montgomery roped a double to center field to power up the Hawks in the fourth. With two outs, senior Davis Utech and junior Terran Gosselink hit back-to-back singles to push the Hawks’ lead to 3-0. Akron could not get going in the bottom of the fourth with two more strikeouts added to Maston’s stats and a grounder fielded by Richards.
Noun Harder, leading off for the Hawks in the fifth, hit a bomb over right field—his eighth of the season—on a full-count pitch. In the bottom of the fifth, Maston and the L-S defense worked their way out of a jam. Montgomery caught a fly ball in foul territory for the first out. The Westerners reached base on error, and Akron put another runner on with a walk. A wild pitch put runners on the corners. Senior CJ Nikkel caught a ball in left field, and Maston got the next batter out swinging to keep the 4-0 lead intact.
Sieck singled to start off the sixth inning, which chased out Akron’s starting pitcher, but he was left stranded after the lineup change. The Westerners put a runner on base with a lead-off single in the bottom of the sixth. Maston responded with three straight strikeouts to keep the Westerners off the board.
L-S led, 4-0, going into the final frame with dreams of a title game in reach. The Hawks went down in order and back out on defense, determined to shut down the Westerners. Maston was looking to go the distance with just 13 pitches left in his arsenal. A-W came out swinging. The first batter of the bottom of the seventh grounded out to Van Wyk followed by a Westerner single. Maston struck the next batter out. With the clock nearing midnight, a fly ball caught by Utech at third base sealed the game and put the Hawks in celebratory mode. Hawks won with yet another shutout, 4-0, to advance to the championship game, a feat the program had not done since 1988.
Maston threw a complete game shutout, hitting spots and keeping the Westerners off balance. He hit double digits in strikeouts with 12, allowed zero runs, and held the top-seeded team to four hits and three walks.
“We really liked the way Carson matched up against the Akron batters,” said coach Alberts. “Carson’s slider was the knock-out pitch we needed to stifle the Akron batters. Both pitchers have the slider in their tool box, Carson’s is just lethal. It just runs off the table in the last few feet approaching a batter. His combination pitching speed combined with both a curveball and slider made him the right choice.”
The shutout against Class 1A’s top-seeded team was the fifth shutout the Hawks have secured in the postseason. Offensively, the Hawks scored four runs on five hits. Noun Harder homered, while Montgomery, Sieck, Gosselink, and Utech each collected hits. Maston had a sacrifice fly to score the first run. Two Hawks drew walks. Noun Harder had two stolen bases; Sieck was credited with one. The Hawks did not make a single error against the top-seeded Westerners.
State Championship Game
L-S versus Remsen St. Mary’s
The Hawks were back in Carroll not even 36 hours later on Friday, July 26, to accomplish a feat that hasn’t been done in L-S baseball program history in over three decades: Play for a State Championship.
It was a battle of the Hawks for the Class 1A crown. The Lynnville-Sully Hawks faced a familiar foe, the Remsen St. Mary’s Hawks who outlasted L-S in last year’s State Semifinals game, 1-0.
With both redemption and a State title on the line, the Hawks came to play and were firing on all cylinders. L-S put forth a dominant effort and never once trailed in the 7-1 victory to claim the school’s first baseball State title since 1988.
“Going into this final game versus Remsen St. Mary’s, there were so many emotions playing out,” said coach Alberts, who has been at the helm of the Hawks’ baseball program for the last seven years. “So many memories of the players past, both softball and baseball, with the goal of winning the State title. So many memories of how hard this game is. And as perfect as you try to make it, it is an imperfect game.”
The Hawks, visiting team on the scoreboard, put up two runs in the first. Noun Harder led off the game with a single up the middle and advanced to second on a wild pitch. He moved to third base on a bunt by Nikkel that wasn’t fielded cleanly.
L-S had runners on the corners when Maston reached on an error that advanced Nikkel to second and drove in Noun Harder. Montgomery singled to center field to drive in another run. The Hawks scored two runs on three hits in the first inning for the early lead against the defending champs, 2-0.
Lynnville-Sully defense was solid and steady, and all nine positions recorded a defensive out in the victory. In the first, Montgomery got the first out in center field on a fly ball. Sieck, back on the mound for his last game as a Hawk, gave up a single before striking out RSM’s offensive leader. Utech at third cleanly fielded a grounder for the final out of the first inning.
In the second frame, L-S went down in order. RSM put two on base with a walk and hit by pitch, but Sieck powered through and got a strikeout to end the inning with no damage done.
L-S made contact in the top of the third, but RSM defense played tough to go three up, three down. In the third, Maston made an impressive over-the-shoulder catch down right field line for the first out. Back-to-back doubles from the heart of RSM’s lineup pushed a run across the plate. L-S maintained a narrow 2-1 lead after three frames.
Both teams went down in order in the fourth. Gosselink doubled to lead off the fifth. He moved his way to third on Utech’s sacrifice. The Hawks continued the small ball and squeezed in Gosselink for a score on Van Wyk’s perfectly-placed bunt. L-S was up,
3-1, after five. Defensively, the Hawks got out of a jam with the infield trio of Richards, Van Wyk, and Maston turning a 4-6-3 double play.
Both teams were quiet in the sixth inning, but all Hawks felt the building excitement and tension going into the final frame with a 3-1 lead. L-S hoped to add insurance runs in the seventh and did just that with a final offensive surge. Gosselink led the inning with a single. He moved to second base on a Van Wyk single and was driven home by a single off the bat of Noun Harder. Hawks were up, 4-1. Maston doubled off the fence to clear the bases and score both Van Wyk and Noun Harder. Hawks were up, 6-1, but they were not done yet. RSM was still looking for that final out when Montgomery slammed a triple to score another Hawk run and go up, 7-1. The offensive surge gave L-S players, coaches, and fans the insurance runs they wanted to go into the bottom of the seventh, just three outs away from a State Championship.
Sieck got the strikeout for the first out. RSM then juiced the bases with a single and two walks. With Sieck at his 110-pitch count, sophomore Jack Bowlin entered the game as pitcher with just one out and bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh of the State Championship game. He attacked early and got two strikes on RSM before the batter flew out to Nikkel in left field. Still with bases loaded, Bowlin faced RSM’s leading homerun hitter who had the ability to quickly make it a two-run game. Not deterred, L-S remained calm, cool, collected, and ready to finish a job they set out to do after last year’s defeat in the Semifinals. RSM made strong contact to right field, but it was no match for the diving Gosselink, who made a tremendous catch for the final out of the game.
“It seems fitting that Terran catches the final out in a diving effort from right field,” said coach Alberts. Gosselink’s tourney run featured great catches for the final out in three of the last four games.
The Hawks played with power, patience, and poise in the championship game. Every Hawk in uniform contributed to the game plan on Friday. “Our L-S Hawks executed a game plan and played about as perfect as they could have played,” said coach Alberts. “Every player from the field to the dugout had a hand in us finishing this game on top.”
The defense and offense shone with every starter recording a defensive out and L-S scoring seven runs on 10 hits. Gosselink had two powerful hits to lead off innings. Noun Harder and Montgomery each went 2-for-4. Nikkel singled, as did Utech and Van Wyk, who also laid down sacrifice bunts. Maston hit a bases-clearing double to the wall in the seventh that scored two, followed by Montgomery’s triple that pushed the final Hawk run across the plate.
Maston led all players with three RBIs on the day. Montgomery was credited with two RBIs and Noun Harder and Van Wyk each had one.
The defensive finale was a good one, with no errors and every position recording an out. Sieck threw 112 pitches in 6-1/3 innings. He struck out eight, gave up five free bases, and allowed five hits and one earned run. Bowlin came in with the bases loaded in the seventh inning and forced the final two batters in the top of RSM’s lineup to fly out. “We couldn’t have asked for a better performance from the mound, and Lucas delivered. Corder was outstanding behind the plate and called a great game,” said coach Alberts. “Other than a miscommunication in left center, the boys played a perfect championship game.”
After a celebration that included a blue-and-gold dog pile on the field, a trophy presentation, and a plethora of pictures and media interviews, the Hawks and their caravan of fans made the trip back to Sully where the State Championship victory was celebrated with a welcome home ceremony well attended by Hawk supporters.
The L-S Hawks went into the Class 1A State Tournament as a four-seed. L-S blanked Sigourney, 2-0, in the Quarterfinals and upset top-seeded Akron-Westfield, 4-0, in the Semifinals. The Hawks then took down the defending State Champions and third-seeded RSM, 7-1, to capture Lynnville-Sully’s second State baseball title in school history.
Defense Wins Championships
In seven postseason games, the Hawks only gave up four runs. In the postseason opener on July 6, ACGC plated three runs against the Hawks. L-S locked it down from there and held opponents scoreless for 35 straight innings. Remsen St. Mary’s in the third inning of the State Championship game scored the only run the Hawks allowed at State. Five of the seven teams L-S played in the postseason were held to zero runs.
The defense was impressive all season long and really shone in the biggest moments. Heads-up plays, working their way out of jams, diving and over-the-shoulder catches, wiping runners off the bases, and turning double plays headline the Hawks’ defensive effort. L-S was on the field for 49 innings over the course of seven postseason games and only committed three defensive errors.
Stellar Pitching
Lynnville-Sully relied on the pitching duo of Sieck and Maston in the postseason. They were on the mound for all but 1-1/3 innings in the final seven games. The duo had Noun Harder as their trusty veteran backstop who caught four runners attempting to steal in the postseason. Of the 187 batters Sieck and Maston faced in the last seven games, they struck out 77 and only allowed 30 hits. Lynnville-Sully’s hurlers relied on the solid gloves of the defense behind them to take care of the rest.
Bowlin pitched 2/3 of an inning against Montezuma and came in for the final two outs in the State Championship game to account for the 1-1/3 innings where Sieck or Maston were not on the mound.
Timely Offense
Lynnville-Sully went into the postseason with one of the highest team batting averages in the state, led by Noun Harder, whose .545 was tops in Class 1A, and Maston, who averaged .434. Additionally, Mont-gomery and Sieck hit .368 and .379, respectively, to give L-S four batters in the lineup hitting over .350.
Although the bats were quieter than they would have liked during early games in the postseason, L-S hitters made noise at just the right moments – hitting homeruns, leading off innings with multi-base hits, putting down the clutch bunt or sacrifice, sealing games with a walk-off, or rallying on two outs and scoring multiple runs in the seventh inning to secure the championship game.
Historic Win
The victory on Friday resulted in the Hawks piling up in a massive dogpile celebration on the field and fans in the stands cheering their hearts out for good reason. Friday’s win marked the second time in school history that Lynnville-Sully has won a State Championship title in baseball. Last year’s team was close, falling just short in the State Semifinals in a 1-0 pitcher’s duel the Hawks fell just short in.
It’s been 25 years since L-S has had a team playing for a State title in any sport. Several impressive track and field and golf champions have been crowned during that time, but the last State team title celebrated by the Hawks was a girls State Basketball Championship won in 1999.
“I want to give a shout out to every player who has ever played for us, every coach who has coached with us, every parent who has supported us and heard us tell you, ‘we are playing for a State title,’” said coach Alberts. “You have all contributed a piece of yourself to shape this team who is bringing back the State title to our community.”
L-S finishes the season 29-3. All three of those losses came against Class 2A schools. On the journey to a State Championship, the Hawks maintained an undefeated home-field status and claimed the SICL and District Championships for the third consecutive year.
