Cyclones knocked out by third-ranked Tigers

 GILBERT (July 19) -- They didn’t decide the final outcome, but the result of each team’s leadoff at-bat set a subtle tone for Monday night’s Class 3A, Substate 8 baseball semifinal between Harlan Community and third-ranked Gilbert.
 In the top of the first inning, HCHS junior Joey Moser put a charge in the ball, sending Tiger center fielder Owen Blumhagen on a dead sprint to his right. He made an outstanding diving catch in front of the fence and the Cyclones were retired in order.
 In the bottom of the first, Gilbert leadoff man Tucker Hanson hit a rope to left field that was initially misplayed and sailed over the head of left fielder Luke Musich for a triple.
 Hanson scored on a passed ball moments later to make it 1-0, then doubled in his next two at-bats and scored three total runs as the top-seeded Tigers pulled away in the late innings to eliminate HCHS 7-1.
 Gilbert (23-8) was knocked off by Winterset 4-2 in eight innings in Wednesday’s Substate 8 final, finishing one win shy of its second consecutive trip to the State Baseball Tournament. The Tigers were last year’s 3A runner-up.
 The Cyclones, who toiled under the .500 mark throughout much of the season, played some of their best baseball in recent weeks and finished 16-16 overall.
 First-year HCHS head coach Heath Stein could only play the ‘what if’ game when recalling the first play in each half of Monday’s first inning.
 “They make that diving catch to start the game. Joey’s on second when they catch it, so that’s at least a triple [if it falls]. We probably get on the board in that first inning; everything changes,” Stein said. And then (Hanson’s) ball hit very hard to left... I think (Musich) took one step in, kind of (fell) down. Boom - they got the triple that we could have had.”
 Stein added, “If we get on them early, they’re going to tense up a little bit and realize that they’re going to have a dog fight all night long. They made the outstanding play, they got the (break) and then they’re up and we feel like we’re playing catch up. Not necessarily pressing the whole time, but just always down, always really trying to find something to break for us where we can get back in it.”
 The Cyclones’ best chance to tie the score came in the top of the third when Ben Muenchrath and Moser drew back-to-back two-out walks off Gilbert starter Jacob Papesh, who had retired the first eight batters. With Muenchrath green-lighted to steal third, he was picked off on an inside move by Papesh and eventually tagged out in a rundown.
 “Things like that where you try to force an issue a little bit to claw your way back in it just didn’t happen for us tonight,” Stein said.
 The Tigers scored two runs in the bottom of the third to go up 3-0 and later added two-spots in the fifth and sixth to make it 7-1.
 HCHS appeared to have scored momentarily in the fourth when a long fly ball by Isaiah Ahrenholtz was not caught at the wall by the left fielder Hanson. The field umpire initially signaled ‘home run’ but it was later ruled that the ball bounced through a hole in the bottom of the fence. Ahrenholtz was credited with a double and was stranded at second base.
 One inning later, the Cyclones scored their only run when Kelby Lasher reached on a one-out error and pinch-runner Brehden Eggerss slid home safely on Moser’s two-out RBI single to left.
 Papesh (5-0) pitched five strong innings for the Tigers, allowing just two hits and an unearned run. He walked three and struck out five. Sam Vanderpool worked the final two innings, allowing an infield hit but facing the minimum.
 Papesh, although not overpowering, did an effective job of mixing his pitches and working the edges of the plate. Four of his five Ks came on called third strikes.
 “Just looking at stats and talking to people, he had (32) innings and eight walks, so we thought we needed to try to put good swings on early in counts, and when we got good swings we kind of rolled it over or popped up,” Stein said. “He did a nice job. He pounded the zone. They didn’t give us anything. The shortstop made one error and other than that their defense was clean, so they made it very tough on us.”
 Ahrenholtz, Moser and Alex Monson had the Cyclones’ only three hits on the night while Muenchrath drew a pair of walks and stole a base.
 Freshman Franz Reisz started on the mound for HCHS and threw a better game than his final numbers indicated. Reisz (2-5) gave up four hits and four runs (three earned) in four-plus innings, walking three with three strikeouts. He exited following Hanson’s second double leading off the fifth.
 Stein was pleased with the way Reisz finished his second varsity season on the mound.
 “I thought Franz threw the ball pretty dang good,” he said.
 “He was throwing the ball very hard early. The sky’s the limit for that kid with his frame and his arm... [and] he’s got a very good changup. That’s why we went with him tonight. His last four outings, and his progress throughout the year, have been outstanding, so we were hoping... he’d have his composure and throw the ball over plate. He did a very good job keeping us in it.”
 Teagon Kasperbauer relieved Reisz and surrendered two hits and three runs (two earned) in two innings. He issued an uncustomary five walks, including four in the fifth, but escaped a bases-loaded jam in that inning to temporarily keep the score at 5-1.
 Muenchrath also played a key role in holding Gilbert to just two runs in the fifth, making a running, jumping catch at the wall on a long drive by Papesh that turned into a double play when Easton Johnson was called for leaving second base too early on a tag.
 “Outstanding catch by Benny. He can really roam out there,” Stein said. “We got a couple outs (on that) and minimized the damage.”
 Strategically, the Cyclones also looked to minimize damage by not giving Gilbert three-hole hitter Easton Johnson (.446, 30 RBI, 19 extra-base hits) anything to hit. The Creighton University recruit walked his first three times up - twice intentionally - and drove in the Tigers’ final run with a ground ball in the sixth.
 Johnson scored just one run on the night, but Hanson more than picked up the slack with his three extra-base hits and three runs scored. Number two batter Nick Chasey walked twice and scored two runs while clean-up hitter Eli Eldred hit an RBI single in the third and a two-run single in the fifth.
 “(Hanson) was a pest all night. He jumped on pitches early in the count, got on base,” Stein said.
 “When you play a team you don’t really know too much about, you try to talk to anybody you can and you look at stats, and obviously (Johnson’s) jump out... He’s their guy, so if you circle somebody in their lineup and say, ‘He’s not going to beat us,’ that was obviously him. But the guy behind him hit two ground balls through holes and drove in three, which really extended the gap.”
Progress praised
 Stein expected some ups and downs in his first year taking over the program from Hall of Fame head coach Steve Daeges, and that level of inconsistency added up to a .500 record in the end.
 Stein, though, always wanted the emphasis to remain on the team’s progress, rather than its win-loss record, and he was “absolutely” happy with what he saw.
 The Cyclone coach talked about batting average jumps of more than 130 points by Ahrenholtz and Musich - the team’s three and four hitters - compared to last year, as well as continued progression by the veteran shortstop Moser. He also noted Muenchrath and Quinn Koesters going from “JV players” last year to .300 hitters at the varsity level and called Monson (team-best .390 batting average) a “legitimate ace” pitcher with his 4-3 record and 2.61 ERA.
 “The at-bats and the approaches at the plate... the jumps that all these guys made and the hard work they put in really showed,” Stein said.

Class 3A, Substate 8 Baseball Tournament
Substate Quarterfinal Scores - Friday, July 16
Gilbert 9, Greene County 0                      Winterset 10, Atlantic 0 (5)
Harlan Community 13, Glenwood 2 (6)    Denison-Schleswig 8, Carroll 1
Substate Semifinal Scores - Monday, July 19
Gilbert 7, Harlan Community 1                 Winterset 11, Denison-Schleswig 7
Substate Final - Wednesday, July 21 (at Gilbert)
Winterset 4, #3-ranked Gilbert 2 (8 innings)