Marion Baseball

Indians squander chances in 5-4 Metro loss

It was clear Monday that Washington was ready to put its preseason problems behind it and get out on the baseball diamond. A 12-hit attack and solid pitching
gave the Warriors 5-4 win over Marion in the opening round of the Bob Vrbicek Metro Tournament at Xavier.

Sam Kacena led the way for the Warriors collecting four hits in as many at bats and driving in two runs. Zach Zingula had two RBI singles and Dan White two hits and an RBI.

“It feels great to win,” said Kacena.  “We have had a little adversity, and it feels good to get off to a good start.  I hit pretty well last year, but had no idea I would get off to this fast of a start this year.  All we have to do is keep our focus.”

The adversity Kacena referred to was a change of coaches that happened one day into practice. Byron Schlotterback asked for a leave of absence and then resigned. Assistant coach Brent Henry is the interim coach. Also, the Warriors' top pitcher, Dakota Freese, is suspended for the Warriors' first seven games for a violation of school rules.

It was a tight game all the way.  With the score tied 3-3 in the top of the sixth inning, Kacena led off with a double and was replaced at second by courtesy runner Robert Hogg, who promptly stole third base for his third stolen base of the game. Two batters later, Zingula delivered his second RBI single to put Washington up 4-3.

“I just try to do my job to help the team win,” said Zingula.  “We just have to block everything out, keep our same goal, and do our jobs.  It was good to get a win.”

In the top of the seventh, Kacena delivered a critical RBI single that plated White and put the Warriors up 5-3.

Marion had some hitting stars as well.  Kasey Semler and Addison Johnson each collected three hits and Andrew Charipar had a triple, home run and two RBI.

For Marion, its seemed like a night of missed opportunities and bad timing.  With the bases loaded in the first and none out the Indians only managed one run.  Again in the sixth, they had runners on second and third with no outs and failed to score. Charipar’s homer in the seventh came right after the Indians had a runner picked off first base.

Mike Troendle garnered the win for the Warriors, scattering eight hits in five innings. Zingula closed the game out giving up only one hit in two innings.

Cale Cannoy took the complete game loss for Marion.

Washington plays Xavier, a 9-5 winner over Linn-Mar, Tuesday night in a semifinal game scheduled to start at 7. Marion plays Linn-Mar at 5 in a consolation round game.

Washington Warriors 5 (1-0)                   Marion Indians 4 (0-1)

Player                      AB  R  H BI       Player                      AB  R  H BI
---------------------------------------       ---------------------------------------
Jordy Brown cf/lf..........  4  1  1  0       Kasey Semler 1b............  4  1  3  1
Noah Dostal 3b/2b..........  4  0  1  0       Mitch Wagner 3b............  4  0  0  0
Dan White ss...............  3  1  2  1       Zach Nielsen ss............  3  1  1  0
AJ Puk 1b..................  4  0  1  0       Andrew Charipar cf.........  2  1  2  2
Cole Rhatigan dh/3b........  3  1  1  0       Trev Biery dh..............  4  0  0  0
Sam Kacena c...............  4  0  4  2       Dusty Albaugh rf...........  3  0  0  0
Robert Hogg ph............  0  2  0  0       Addison Johnson c..........  4  0  3  0
Grant Dostal rf............  3  0  0  0        Christian Stekl ph........  0  1  0  0
Zach Zingula 2b/p..........  3  0  2  2       Byron Fish lf..............  3  0  0  0
Mike Troendle p/cf.........  3  0  0  0       Joshua Davila 2b...........  3  0  0  0
Jacob Hand lf..............  0  0  0  0       Cale Cannoy p..............  0  0  0  0
Totals..................... 31  5 12  5       Totals..................... 30  4  9  3

Score by Innings                  R  H  E
-----------------------------------------
Washington Warriors. 100 201 1 -  5 12  3
Marion Indians...... 100 110 1 -  4  9  1
-----------------------------------------

E - N. Dostal; Rhatigan; Kacena; Albaugh. DP - Warriors 1. LOB - Warriors 7; Indians
9. 2B - Puk; Kacena; Semler; Johnson 2. 3B - Rhatigan; Nielsen; An Charipar. HR - An
Charipar. SF - White; An Charipar. SB - Brown; N. Dostal; White; Hogg 3; Nielsen. CS
- Rhatigan.

Washington Warriors            IP  H  R ER BB SO  WP BK HP IBB  AB BF  FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mike Troendle  W,1-0.......   5.0  8  3  2  1  3   0  0  0  0   23 25   7  4
Zach Zingula  S,1..........   2.0  1  1  1  2  2   0  0  0  0    7  9   2  1

Marion Indians                 IP  H  R ER BB SO  WP BK HP IBB  AB BF  FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cale Cannoy  L,0-1.........   7.0 12  5  5  1  7   1  0  0  0   31 33   6  7

WP - C Cannoy. PB - Kacena.

Strikeouts - Puk 3; Rhatigan; G. Dostal 2; Troendle; Semler; Wagner; Biery 2; Fish.
Walks - Rhatigan; Nielsen; An Charipar; Albaugh.

Umpires -
Start: 5 p.m.   Time: 2:20   Attendance: 140

Troendle faced 1 batter in the 6th.

Marion faces busy start to baseball season

(Editor's Note: This is the fourth in a series of preseason stories about Metro baseball teams. Next: Prairie)

The Marion Indians, featuring a young pitching staff, will open the 2011 baseball season with five big games in four days next week.

They'll play three games in the Bob Vrbicek Metro Tournament on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, then host Dyersville Beckman in a Wamac Conference doubleheader Thursday.

"With our young pitching staff," Coach Steve Fish cracked, "I'm kind of hoping for some rain."

Garrett Fortner and Dalton Combs, who combined for 14 of Marion's 25 wins last season, graduated. Jake McDonald, who went 4-2 last year, is not playing baseball this season. Neither is Justin Dolly, who made  six appearances for Marion in 2010.

"Instead of having some proven kids on the mound, we'll have to start the year off with some inexperience," Fish said. "But I really like our defense and I really like the way our kids are throwing the ball right now."

Fish will build his staff around junior southpaw Cale Cannoy (5-3, 3.07) and a young group that features five left-handers. He described the development of his pitching staff as "crucial" to the team's success.

He listed Tyler Hedtke and Joshua Davila as pitchers who could help this season, along with several other candidates.

The Indians will be tested quickly in the Metro tournament, starting with the opener against Cedar Rapids Washington on Monday. That game is scheduled for 5 p.m. at Xavier High School.

Fish hopes the pitching develops rapidly, because he thinks the rest of the ballclub is solid. "I think we'll be pretty good," he said. "We have some quality kids back."

It starts up the middle for Marion, with Zach Nielsen (.390) at shortstop and Kasey Semler (.413) at second base. "I really like those two up the middle. They're as good as I've had, probably," Fish said.

Nielsen hit three homers and drove in 29 runs last year when the Indians finished 25-13. He was charged with 26 errors in 38 games, however, and will be looking to reduce that total.

Semler, who has signed to play basketball at Kirkwood Community College, also hit three homers and collected 32 RBIs. Semler has made Class 3A all-state teams in basketball and baseball during his successful prep career.

Trev Biery, who played third base last season, had surgery this year to repair a rotator cuff and torn labrum. Fish hopes Biery (.348) can serve as the designated hitter or play first base by mid-season.

Mitch Wagner, a transfer from Kennedy, could be in position to replace Biery at third base.

Dusty Albaugh (.391) returns in right field and Andrew Charipar (.393) is back in center. Albaugh, a four-sport athlete, told the Metro Sports Report on Sunday that he plans to attend Iowa State this fall and not play sports in college, but left the door open a crack if something develops this summer.

Fish said Addison Johnson will be the starting catcher after serving as the understudy the last two years. Byron Fish, the coach's son, is one of the candidates for left field.

Marion has proven hitters with Semler (.413), Albaugh (.391), Nielson (.390), Charipar (.393) and Biery (.348). Fish is confident the Indians will score runs, but the trick could be trying to outscore the opposition.

"We'll put a good product on the field," he said. "There will be some nights when it's interesting."

Marion made the Class 3A state tournament for the first time in school history in 2006 with a strong club, but the Indians lost in the substate finals in 2008, 2009 and 2010. "We'd like to get over the hump," Fish said.

Metro baseball tournament pairings set

Area baseball fans will be treated to a triple-header at Veterans Memorial Stadium on Wednesday, May 25 on the final day of the 2011 Bob Vrbicek Metro Baseball Tournament.

The Cedar Rapids Kernels will play Clinton at 12:05 p.m. that day in a Midwest League game, followed by the third-place game of the high school tournament at 5 p.m. and the championship game at 7 p.m.

Kennedy, the defending Class 4A state champion, will face Jefferson in the opening round of the Metro tournament on Monday, May 23 at Kennedy at 7 p.m.

The other first-round pairings are Marion vs. Washington, Linn-Mar vs. Xavier, and Mount Vernon vs. Prairie. Kennedy is hosting the tournament, with Xavier serving as co-host.

OPENING ROUND
Monday, May 23
 At Kennedy
5 p.m. - Mount Vernon vs. Prairie
7 p.m. - Jefferson vs. Kennedy
 At Xavier
5 p.m. - Marion vs. Washington
7 p.m. - Linn-Mar vs. Xavier

SEMIFINALS
Tuesday, May 24
Consolation Round
 At Xavier
5 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Championship Round
 At Kennedy
5 p.m. and 7 p.m.

FINALS
Wednesday, May 25
Consolation Round
 At Kennedy
5 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Championship Round
 At Veterans Memorial Stadium
5 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Livingston leads Marion girls at Williamsburg

WILLIAMSBURG - Alicia Livingston shot a 48 Monday to lead the Marion girls golf team in a triangular meet at Williamsburg.

Williamsburg won the title at 188, followed by South Tama (205) and Marion (211).

MARION (211): Alicia Livingston 48, Brooke Eichelberger 51, Nicole Matheny 53, Heather McGuire 59.