Thanks to the hard work of baseball supporters the back stop area project is nearly complete. New stone around the back stop plus a more level area behind the fence is a great improvement. After the fence is put back up and grass seed is planted, the project is complete!

The coaches, players, parents and families spent some time talking about the memorable baseball season and recognizing players for their contributions:

Cameron Gingerich

Jackson Brokaw

Team congratulates Jackson Brokaw after his home run.

Ethan Gingerich

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IMS took on another Super Conference South Division opponent at IMS Saturday night but this time for the District Championship.  Danville put pressure on the IMS defense in the top half of the first inning plating two runs on three hits and giving the Bears the early 2-0 lead.  The IMS offense responded well when leadoff hitter Ethan Gingerich provided a hard ground ball up the middle, the Bears shortstop made a diving play to field the ball cleanly and throw to first base but just a step in front of the throw was Ethan for the infield hit.  After a fly-ball out, Jackson Brokaw came to the plate and hit a hard ground ball down the left field line for a double while scoring Ethan to cut the lead to 2-1. Marshall Schrock reached base on a fielding error by the second baseman, then Cameron Gingerich helped himself at the plate with an RBI double.  Christopher Perez then finished the four run first inning scoring Gingerich and Schrock and put IMS back on top 4-2.  Malachi Bontrager and Ethan Gingerich began the second inning with back-to-back walks.  Jackson Brokaw then got his second hit with a two RBI triple.  Marshall Schrock hit a sacrifice fly to score Brokaw from third.  With the score 7-2, Danville would not back down scoring three runs of their own in their half of the third inning.  The score would stay that way until IMS’s fourth inning when Brokaw would have another productive at-bat hitting a two-run homer.  IMS scored two more runs in the inning, giving them an 11-5 lead which would end up being the final score and giving IMS the district championship and opportunity to play Preston in the Substate 4 final with the right to play at Principal Park in Des Moines for the State Tournament on the line. 

As the game went on Cameron Gingerich got better and better on the mound for IMS.  He would allow seven hits, striking out six for his seventh victory of the season. 

Leading IMS offensively was Marshall Schrock with a triple and two runs scored.  Cameron Gingerich with two doubles and Jackson Brokaw a single shy from hitting for the cycle with three hits, three runs scored, and five RBIs.

IMS will play Preston on Tuesday (18th) at Iowa City West. The game starts at 7 pm.

Levi Schrock

Ethan Gingerich

IMS 3 – New London 1

Jackson Brokaw

Malachi Bontrager

Senior Jackson Brokaw provided the spark on the mound for IMS after a 13 day lay-off from game competition to help the Maroon and Black advance to the District Final Saturday night against Southeast Super Conference South Division opponent Danville. The Bears out hit the Holy Trinity Catholic 10-6 in a match-up also on Thursday night at Burlington Notre Dame. 

The game was scoreless until the bottom half of the fourth inning when sophomore Cameron Gingerich walked on four pitches.  Gingerich would advance to third base on two pass balls providing the opportunity for a run scoring chance.  Junior Christopher Perez hit a ground ball to the third baseman’s left and was able to field cleanly and throw Perez out at first but not before Gingerich was able to cross home plate putting IMS on the scoreboard and lead 1-0.  In the bottom half of the fifth, Malachi Bontrager would lead off with a perfectly placed bunt-for-hit down the third base line and reach safely at first.  Ethan Gingerich followed with a sharply hit single off the right field fence and allowed Bontrager to advance to third base.  A couple of passed balls allowed Bontrager to score IMS’s second run and help Gingerich to advance to third.  After a fly-out for the first out, Jackson Brokaw came to the plate and hit a hard ground ball past the third baseman for a double and scoring Gingerich for a 3-0 lead. 

Ethan Gingerich

In the top half of the sixth inning, New London finally provided enough offense to score a run when they got a two-out run scoring double from their hitter in the third slot in the batting order.  Jackson would eliminate any further threat from there striking out the final out in the sixth and striking out the side in the seventh to seal the 3-1 victory for IMS.  

Jackson ended the night with 15 total strikeouts and only allowed two hits. He also added the offensive spark with two hits, including a double and RBI. 

IMS moves to 15-12 on the season and will host the District Final on Saturday night.  First pitch will be at 7 pm.

Christopher Perez

Riley Hochstedler

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