By: Nathan Bloechl — sports@kilj.com
Softball Playoff Pairings Announced by IGHSAU:
The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union has released their 2020 softball pairings, with playoffs beginning statewide in a little under two weeks.
Here’s a look at where and when area and regional teams will play come postseason time.
1A
In Class 1A, area teams are grouped in Class 1A-Region 6.
- New London will take on the Crusaders of Holy Trinity Catholic in a first round match-up at home on July 13th at 7:00 p.m.
- The winner of New London-Holy Trinity will take on #12 (1A) Winfield-Mount Union in Winfield on July 15th at 7:00 p.m.
- The top seed in the region is Lynville-Sully, who will await the winner of Tri-County and Keota for their first round match-up on July 15th.
2A
Class 2A area schools are have been placed in Class 2A-Region 8.
- Top seeded #2 (2A) Louisa-Muscatine will await the winner of Cardinal and Van Buren County who will meet up on July 13th at Cardinal at 7:00 p.m.
- Mediapolis will host Danville in a first round tilt at Mediapolis on July 13th at 7:00 p.m. The winner will move on to play Wilton on July 15th.
- Also in 2A-8 is Wapello, who will take on Durant in a quarterfinal clash on July 15th at 7:00 p.m. in Wapello. The Arrows were a state qualifier in 2A last year, but the road gets significantly tougher as Louisa-Muscatine bumps down from 3 to 2A.
4A
Mount Pleasant and the rest of the Southeast Conference schools will tango in Class 4A-Region 7.
- Mount Pleasant will be on the road to begin their 2020 postseason push when head to Burlington to lock horns with the Greyhounds. That game will be played on July 16th at 7:00 p.m. The winner will await top-seeded Oskaloosa on July 18th — a 7:00 p.m. first pitch.
- Fort Madison and Keokuk will tango on July 16th in a first-round date, with the winner earning the right to scrap with Fairfield on July 18th at 7:00 p.m. in Fairfield.
Mount Pleasant Sweeps Fort Madison in Conference Doubleheader:
The Mount Pleasant baseball team earned themselves a huge sweep last night taking down previously unbeaten and conference leader Fort Madison.
In game one the Panthers scored two runs in the 7th inning to pull away for a 4-1 win.
Mount Pleasant, playing at home, was the road team as Friday’s games at Mapleleaf were treated as home games for Fort Madison after they cancelled due to poor field conditions.
In game two, Mount Pleasant secured an 8-5 victory to pull of the conference sweep.
The set of wins improved the Panthers to 8-5 overall and pulled them into a virtual tie for the conference lead with the Bloodhounds.
Corbin Broeker recorded the final three outs for Mount Pleasant in game two.
With the conference title now in reach, the Panthers will host Washington in Southeast Conference doubleheader on Monday at Mapleleaf.
Other regional scores last night in the baseball included:
- Lone Tree 14, Winfield-Mount Union 4
- Wapello 4, Louisa-Muscatine 3
- Burlington Notre Dame 6, Van Buren 2
- Cardinal 11, Danville 4
Mount Pleasant Softball Swept by Fort Madison:
The Mount Pleasant softball dropped a pair of Southeast Conference games last night to Fort Madison, losing 7-0 and 13-3.
The Panthers’ losing streak slumped to seven games with the set of losses, Friday.
Mount Pleasant, now 2-11, will host Washington next Monday.
First pitch is set for 5:30 p.m.
Other regional softball action last night:
- Louisa-Muscatine 10, Wapello 0
- Winfield-Mount Union 2, Lone Tree 0
- Highland 10, Holy Trinity 0
- Cardinal 16, Danville 0
NBA Barreling Towards Restart:
And in National Sports, the coronavirus numbers kept climbing Thursday, with a single-day record for new cases being set in Florida and the NBA revealing that the count of players and staff from the 22 remaining teams that have confirmed diagnoses of COVID-19 continues to grow — but the NBA is steadfast in beginning their Orlando restart.
The NBA numbers: nine more positive players from tests conducted between June 24-29 to bring the total to 25 who have been positive since mandated testing began June 23, as well 10 positive-testing staff members from the teams that will start arriving at the Disney complex near Orlando, Florida next week for the resumption of the season.
At Disney, preparations continued for the arrivals that start on Tuesday.
Practice courts have been put into place in what typically are hotel ballrooms.
The arenas that will play host to games are being set up for NBA needs, and some staff were getting set to arrive to begin their quarantines.
The NBA season is set to resume by July 30th.