Moravia had some chances early, and their SP gave them a good chance. Moravia seemed like frontrunners. The game would have been completely different if the Fr SP for Newman had lost composure in some of the tight spots early. But he didn't and Moravia definitely did the first time they were really threatened. The balk call shouldn't have mattered, but definitely did.
High School Sports Thread
- Thread starter qwerty
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To get to, and win, state, you've got to have more than 2 pitchers. The team that won their conference only had 2, and only used those 2 in the head to head regular season games. Only 1 of the 4 pitchers Newman used in those 2 conference-determining games even pitched at state.
Pretty sure it was the inverse last year. Newman won the conference but lost in the substate final and St. Ansgar won state. St. Ansgar lost in the substate final this year but won the conference.
I feel like this on me. I am a Moravia alumni, I wore and old moravia shirt from 2004 and turned the game on in the bottom of the 5th, when the wheels fell off.
My bad fellas.
They aren’t the only team to play each other 3 times. Imagine having to beat a single team twice to get into the finals and to win the whole thing you just need to beat them once
Double elimination maybe okay but a different bracket system could eliminate teams playing each other three times.
It really is a simple fix, just flip the bracket for the losers, top half losers go to the bottom of the bracket and the bottom half move to the top bracket. That way at worst you could play a school twice.
I would think they are going to talk about how the tournament went, under the new setup and nobody would like the idea that they had repeated games where teams were playing each other multiple times. But this is the Girls Union we are talking about here.
New eras begin at state tournament
Change has been the theme at this year’s state softball tournament. With it comes opportunity. And sometimes, of course, growing pains. Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union Executive Director Erin Gerlich believes the evolution of the event to five fields and a double-elimination format at...
www.messengernews.net
The IGHSAU is taking a patient, measured approach to observing both the good and the bad of the 2026 event, which is serving as a trial run of sorts for future tourneys.
"We're only a few days into the first year, so it's important that we allow this all to play out," Gerlich said. "Any time you make a significant change, there are going to be lessons learned, and we'll certainly evaluate everything. Our staff is very detailed when it comes to our own critiques on events. We've already got lists of changes and thoughts to be processed.
"We'll gather feedback from coaches, administrators, officials, our staff, the City of Fort Dodge, Iowa Central and others who help make this event successful. If there are opportunities to improve the experience for student-athletes and fans, we'll absolutely explore them. That's been our approach for many years, and it's one of the reasons this tournament continues to evolve."
Our friends cousin umped at the state tourney and he said the double elimination format was for 3 years and then go from there after evaluating it.
I really hope they keep the formate, just change it up to eliminate teams playing each other 2 or 3 times, before the final game. The need to make it harder for a higher seeded team that loses their first game to come back and win the tournament. Grand View is the perfect example, they were the #1 seed and lost their first game, but being able to stay in the same bracket allowed them to still play the #6, #8 and #4 seeds to advance. Losing that first game should have forced them into playing either the #2 or #3 seed to get to the championship. They gave up the right for an easier path to the championship when they lost that first game to the #8 seed.
Baseball Championships
1A - (3) Newman Catholic def. (8) Moravia, 11-1 [6 inn.]
2A - (1) Pleasantville def. (7) Durant, 8-1
3A - (7) Assumption def. (1) Wahlert, 5-3
4A - (2) Indianola def. (5) Pleasant Valley, 9-6
Softball Championships
1A - (2) Clarksville def. (8) Edgewood-Colesburg, 5-2
2A - (1) Grand View Christian def. (3) Wapsie Valley, 7-6
3A - (2) Wahlert def. (1) Williamsburg, 13-6
4A - (1) ADM def. (2) Carlisle, 6-0
5A - (1) Waukee Northwest def. (2) Ankeny Centennial, 3-1
1A - (3) Newman Catholic def. (8) Moravia, 11-1 [6 inn.]
2A - (1) Pleasantville def. (7) Durant, 8-1
3A - (7) Assumption def. (1) Wahlert, 5-3
4A - (2) Indianola def. (5) Pleasant Valley, 9-6
Softball Championships
1A - (2) Clarksville def. (8) Edgewood-Colesburg, 5-2
2A - (1) Grand View Christian def. (3) Wapsie Valley, 7-6
3A - (2) Wahlert def. (1) Williamsburg, 13-6
4A - (1) ADM def. (2) Carlisle, 6-0
5A - (1) Waukee Northwest def. (2) Ankeny Centennial, 3-1
Better team won but the better pitcher lost. Moravia only scored one run and that was not going to win a Championship game. Their outfield took some poor angles which got by them at key times that hurt also. Probably the Newman players were also not as tight due to prior success at that level. The balk call on a routine fly ball out was also a pivotal moment. Congrats to both teams.
The balk call was a huge call at that juncture in the game, but Moravia really had done nothing offensive wise, and had already gotten out of a couple of jams. Newman was by far the better team, Moravia plays in one of the worst conferences in the state, got on a roll and took them to the state finals.
It was a great story. I was pulling for Moravia. Talk about getting hot. They beat a lot of good teams along the way. One great argument against the double elimination. Tough to have a Cinderella.
It was a great state tournament. Lots of great games, and the talent in the state has made a huge jump in the past decade or so.
While the pitching is tough due to the pitch limits, teams have figured it out, and it is for the best. I remember a few years ago in the 4A title game in a tight game a kid was pitching his first varsity innings. Programs have really built up pitching depth.
