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The Little Dutch baseball team will have to contain one of the best offensive teams in Class 3A baseball if they will return to the state championship game for the second time in program history.
Pella will take on Carlisle in the state semifinals this morning. The Wildcats came back with their bats in an 8-7 victory prior to Pella’s 6-0 shutout of Humboldt on Tuesday, and are averaging 9.5 runs per game in the postseason.
Tyler Hillman will head to the mound to try and continue Pella’s playoff pitching dominance, as they have yet to allow an opposing team to score. Head Coach Jesse Jablonski says his junior right hander will have a tall task in keeping Carlisle’s scoring to a minimum, but he’s confident Hillman and the defense can keep a high number of tallies off the board.
“Tyler’s been a guy that’s been pounding the zone all year,” he says. “He really works off his fastball very well and then mixes in his off-speed pitches.”
“We really haven’t changed this game plan or his M.O. at all–he’s going to go out there and do the same things he done for us all year.”
The Dutch may also have plenty of scoring opportunities of their own against a Wildcats pitching staff that’s allowed 15 runs in their past two playoff games.
Pella is hoping to advance to the state tournament finals for the second time ever, as they finished runners-up to Spencer in the 1997 championship game.
Pella vs. Carlisle in the state semifinals is set to begin at 11 a.m., with pregame beginning at 10:30 live from Principal Park in Des Moines on 92.1 KRLS. Andrew Schneider and Trevor Castle will call the action, which is also available at KNIAKRLS.com and the free KRLS mobile app.

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