District baseball roundup: Rebels advance, Wolverines upended by Hawks

SOUTH HAMILTON 2, DIKE-NEW HARTFORD 0: The 2A No. 4 Wolverines were dealt a stunning shutout by the Hawks in Dike on Tuesday, ending D-NH's season at 27-5.
   "We didn't get the hit when we needed to," D-NH head coach Sean Leonard said. "Their pitcher threw extremely well, was ahead of almost everybody. … Our defense was good, we had a couple of errors that didn't hurt us, it really just came down to not getting the big hit."
   Zeke Balderas limited D-NH to three hits in six innings as the starter for South Hamilton and Cole Berg kept the Wolverines off the board in the seventh inning, ending the game with a strikeout when D-NH had runners on first and third. Balderas also escaped a bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning. In all, D-NH stranded nine runners on base.
   Leonard said the loss did not detract from a strong two-year run for the Wolverines, with this summer's senior class taking the mantle to run an overall record of 57-9 in the last two seasons.
   Trent Johnson, Rhett Ehmen, Nick Durnin, Ethan Weichers, Ethan Huntington, Clayton Mapel and Collin Vanderlind all played their final games in the Dike-New Hartford blue on Tuesday.
   "They were good for us last year and great for us this year," Leonard said of the seven Wolverine seniors. "Every hope and wish I can ask for out of a senior group, they fulfilled and then some. … I'm very pleased with what they gave the program."
GLADBROOK-REINBECK 11, GRUNDY CENTER 1 (5 INNINGS): The Rebels advanced to Thursday's 1A district semifinal against North Tama in Traer with the victory over the Spartans in Reinbeck on Tuesday.
   Bronson Wrage drove in three runs on two hits to lead the Rebels' strong offensive explosion, with G-R scoring five runs in the first inning and four runs in the fourth inning to lead to an early end to the game with the Spartans.
   Tyler Tscherter was 2 for 3 at the plate with a pair of stolen bases and also struck out five with one walk and one hit allowed in two and two-third innings as Tuesday's winning pitcher.
   Grundy Center's 2017 campaign ends at 1-21.
NORTH BUTLER 5, AGWSR 4 (9 INNINGS): Nathan Karsjens smacked a two-run home run when AGWSR was down to their final outs in the seventh inning, but North Butler escaped with a run in the ninth inning to end the Cougars' season in Sheffield on Tuesday.
   Matt Pfaltzgraff added a solo home run in a 2-for-4 night at the plate, with Josh Bartling going 3 for 4 with two stolen bases.
   Luke Starr allowed four runs on two hits in three innings pitched as the night's starter, with Caleb Bartling going the final six innings with six strikeouts, four walks, and no earned runs allowed on three hits.
   AGWSR's season ends at 8-8.