#6 Eagles Claim Regular Season Title and #1 Seed
Cedar Rapids, IA- Win out. Win out and the #6 Eagles controlled their destiny going into post-season play. Kirkwood hosted the Marshalltown Tigers this past weekend in a three-game series, and if they were to win all three games, they would solidify themselves as the #1 seed in the Region 11 Tournament.
The first game of the weekend began on Friday and stellar pitching combined with a great offense would prove to be the difference makers between the Eagles and Tigers. Andrew Carroll started on the mound for the Eagles and pitched 5 innings, allowing 3 hits and 0 runs; the starting pitcher struck out 6 batters as well. The top of the 1st began with Brayden Hellum getting walked. Clayton Campidilli would then hit a hard line drive for a single advancing Hellum to 2nd base. Cal Sullivan would step up and hit a line drive for a single as well, loading the bases for the Eagles. Hellum would next score on a wild pitch that would advance all runners. With runners on 2nd and 3rd now, Addison Binnie would get hit by a pitch that would load the bases again. The Tigers would walk a run home and with the bases still loaded, Bronx Lewis would hit a double that would score three runs. Alex Ritzer would follow him up with a double of his own, hitting Lewis home. At the end of the 1st, the Eagles had a 6-0 lead. After Campidilli hit a single in the bottom of the 2nd and Sullivan was walked, the Eagles would have runners on 1st and 2nd for Binnie. He would hit an absolute laser for a 3-run home run. It wasn't enough for Owen Ross who would follow that home run up with one of his own, putting the score and game out of reach for the Tigers at 10-0. Kirkwood would add another run in the bottom of the 3rd to end the game in 5 innings at 11-0.
In the second game of the afternoon, Kirkwood would get off to a quick start. Clayton Campidili hit a home run in the bottom of the first for a quick 1-0 lead for the Eagles. The Tigers would tie it up in the top of the 3rd but Kirkwood would respond quickly and put up two more runs in the bottom of the 3rd off a fielder's choice where Alex Ritzer would score and another run from a sacrifice fly hit by Cal Sullivan that scored Bowers. In the bottom of the 5th, the bases would be loaded for Kirkwood after Bowers was walked, Hellum hit a double, and Campidilli was hit by a pitch. The Tigers would then walk one in for the Eagles and then Bowers would score on a passed ball, advancing all runners as well. Risley would then hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Hellum. The Eagles would add another four runs from the 6th to the 8th inning and take the game 9-3 from Marshalltown.
In true Eagle fashion and to keep their 11-game win streak going, Kirkwood picked up right where they left off on Saturday. The Eagles rotated through three pitchers on the afternoon, with Jake Pemble and Pierce Anderson each pitching 2 innings and Devin Doyle pitching 3. Pemble would give up 0 hits and 0 runs while striking out 2 batters. Anderson would give up 1 hit, no runs, and would strike out 5. Doyle gave up 2 hits, 0 runs, and struck out 4 batters. These three pitchers allowed 0 runs for the Tigers and were the driving force behind Kirkwood's success on the day. The Eagles would start off by scoring in the bottom of the 1st off a fielder's choice that scored Hellum from 3rd base. There would be no more runs until the 5th inning when Campidilli hit Bowers home from third off a line drive single. Kirkwood wouldn't need it but they would then use the bottom of the 6th and 7th innings to score another 8 runs and lock the game up at 10-0. Win out indeed.
With these wins, the Eagles claimed their 3rd regular season title in the last 4 years. That accounts for the most by any team in a 4-year span in the last two decades. They have also claimed the #1 seed in the Region 11 Tournament when they play on Friday in Fort Dodge at 3:30 PM. As the one seed, they have a bye in the first round of the tournament that begins on Thursday.
