Marion High School - Marion, Iowa

Marion enjoys 4th Wamac title in 5 years

It's not a dynasty.

Marion High School baseball coach Steve Fish made that clear Wednesday night. In fact, he won't use the word.

"I just think we have some kids that buy into it," he said.

The Indians buy into winning division titles in the historic Wamac Conference. They did it again this season, which makes four times in the last five years.

Marion has captured West Division flags in 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2011, but Fish insisted it's not a dynasty.

A mini-dynasty, perhaps.

"It's something we try to do every year," said Kasey Semler, Marion's all-state second baseman who has started since his freshman year in 2008. "It's not that important, but at the same time it's kind of nice to shoot for something."

The Indians tied Waterloo Columbus for the West Division title this year with an 11-3 record in the division. They clinched the pennant last week, which is a good thing considering the way their doubleheader with Western Dubuque turned out Wednesday night.

The Bobcats swept Marion, 9-3 and 8-7, in a Wamac Conference doubleheader at the Marion field, but the results had nothing to do with the division races.

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Marion's Fish notches his 500th career victory

Over the past 23 years as a high school baseball coach, Marion’s Steve Fish has had plenty of wins that were more polished than the one Tuesday night over Cascade.

Yet few have been as sweet.

With an 11-1 six-inning comeback that was really tighter than the score might indicate, the injury-depleted but scrappy Indians found a way to hand their beloved coach his 500th career victory.

Fish, 50, now joins an elite list of just 53 other Iowa coaches to reach that milestone.

“It’s an honor to be in that group,” he said. “But, in reality, what it means is that I’ve had a lot of assistant coaches who are just as passionate about the game as I am.

“And I’ve had a lot of good players who have been passionate about baseball.”

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Quick exits for Marion at coed tennis

JOHNSTON -- Marion's two entries in the Class 1A coed state tennis tournament lost their first matches and did not place Tuesday.

Joiah Bandfield and Brandon Hornback lost in straight sets to a team from Red Oak in the first round.The Red Oak team reached the championship, where it was beaten by a team from Dubuque Wahlert.

Juliah Bandfield and Michael Anderson were beaten in three sets by a team from Ballard in the second round.

COED STATE TENNIS TOURNAMENT

CLASS 1A
At Johnston

1st Round
Wahlert (Sarah Dalton/Jon Moore) over  Clarinda (Beth Reiter/Tyler Steeve) 6/0, 6/0
Norwalk (Kacci Clarkwilt/Aaron Katzureck) over Glenwood (Rachel Tucker/Garrett Hembry) 6/2, 2/6, 1 (6)
Red Oak (Emily Pierson/Matt Goracke) over Boone (Danielle Shearer/Mitch McPartland) 6/0, 6/4
Waterloo Columbus (Anne Nora/Alex Bernt) over Western Dubuque (Hannah Hingtgen/Travis Sahm) 6/1, 6/3
Clarinda (Kristen Clemont/Logan Sump) over Ballard (Steph Higgs/Tyler Johnson) 1/6, 7/5, 1 (7)
Waterloo Columbus (Lindsay McManus/James McManus) over Glenwood (Shelby Cronk/Dillon Stane) 6/0, 6/1
Dubuque Wahlert  (Celia Morton/Brandon Schneider) over  Clarke (Kelli Ehrhardt/Tyler Walters) 6/0, 6/3
Red Oak (Rachel Pierson/Pete Walker) over Marion (Joiah Bandfield/Brandon Hornbeck)  6/1, 6/4

2nd Round
Ballard (Kristy Carr/Peter Rietgraf) over Marion (Juliah Bandfield/Michael Anderson) 6/2, 4/6,  1 (1)
Wahlert (Sarah Dalton/Jon Moore) over Shenandoah (Mackenzie Johnson/Jeff Armstrong) 6/0, 6/1
Red Oak (Emily Pierson/Matt Goracke) over Norwalk (Kacci Clarkwilt/Aaron Katzureck) 6/3, 6/0
Waterloo Columbus (Anne Nora/Alex Bernt) over Grinnell (Emily Kriegel/Tim Kahl) 6/3, 6/0
Boone (Kelli Griner/Chad Moklestad) over Clarinda (Kristen Clemont/Logan Sump) 6/1, 6/3
Waterloo Columbus (Lindsay McManus/James McManus) over Grinnell (Ellie Havlik/Charlie Wilhelm) 6/2, 6/3
Dubuque Wahlert  (Celia Morton/Brandon Schneider) over Atlantic (Liz Metheny/Derek Tjepkes) 7/5, 6/2
Red Oak (Rachel Pierson/Pete Walker) over Norwalk (Michaela Pearson/Josh Temple) 6/2, 6/0

Quarterfinals
Wahlert (Sarah Dalton/Jon Moore) over Ballard (Kristy Carr/Peter Rietgraf) 6/1, 6/1
Waterloo Columbus (Anne Nora/Alex Bernt) over Red Oak (Emily Pierson/Matt Goracke) 6/1, 6/0
Waterloo Columbus (Lindsay McManus/James McManus) over Boone (Kelli Griner/Chad Moklestad) 6/2, 6/3
Red Oak (Rachel Pierson/Pete Walker) over Dubuque Wahlert  (Celia Morton/Brandon Schneider) 6/3, 7/5

Semifinals
Wahlert (Sarah Dalton/Jon Moore) over Waterloo Columbus (Anne Nora/Alex Bernt) 3/6, 6/1, 1 (3)
Red Oak (Rachel Pierson/Pete Walker) over Waterloo Columbus (Lindsay McManus/James McManus) 7/5, 6/3

Finals Class 1A Co-ed Tennis Champion
Wahlert (Sarah Dalton/Jon Moore) over Red Oak (Rachel Pierson/Pete Walker) 6/2, 3/6, 1 (7)

Third Place
Waterloo Columbus (Anne Nora/Alex Bernt) over Waterloo Columbus (Lindsay McManus/James McManus) Def.

Kristin Kramer picks SW Minnesota

Marion High School senior Kristin Kramer has decided to play soccer and basketball at Southwest Minnesota State in Marshall, Minn.

Kramer, 5-foot-6, averaged 10.5 points for the basketball team this season. She has scored 18 goals in 11 games for the Marion soccer team this spring and has set the school career record with 48 goals in two years.

She plans to sign her letter-of-intent Wednesday.

Southwest Minnesota State is an NCAA Division II school that plays in the Northern Sun Conference.