Council Bluffs, Massena to play for IWL Tourney title

 PORTSMOUTH -- Council Bluffs and Massena will play in the Iowa Western Baseball League Tournament title game on Sunday, July 27 (1:00 p.m.) in Portsmouth. The two teams punched their ticket to the final by winning semifinal games last week.
 Council Bluffs 9, Persia 1 - Alex Johnson had three hits, including a home run, and four other players had two hits as Council Bluffs beat Persia 9-1 on July 14. Council Bluffs outhit Persia 14-5 and blew open a 3-1 game by scoring two runs in the fourth and four in the fifth. Devin Gardner was the winning pitcher and Aaron Porter took the loss in a game that featured 24 total strikeouts. Josh Weis and Beatty both had a double for Persia and Luke Stamp singled and drove in the team’s only run.
 Massena 7, Portsmouth 4 - Keyed by a four-run second inning, the second-seeded Red Sox built a 6-1 lead after five and held off Portsmouth 7-4 in the other semifinal July 15. Jamie Sherley earned the win and Grant Guse took the loss.
 Massena finished with seven runs on eight hits with only one error and eight men left on base. Portsmouth scored four runs on nine hits, committed two errors and stranded nine.
 Brent Hansen had two hits and one RBI for Massena and Williamson hit a two-run homer. Top hitters for Portsmouth included Eric Croghan and Mike Leinen, who both singled and doubled, and Keith Grap with a two-run homer.