Errorless baseball, timely hitting, and masterful pitching were the ingredients in Pella High’s 2 – 0 shutout concoction of Oskaloosa in last night’s Class 3A substate baseball final, sending the Little Dutch to the state tournament for the second straight year.
Grant Judkins made sure the defense didn’t have to move much in the sweltering heat, as he struck out 12, eight-in-a-row at one point, and he retired 13 straight batters to end the game. Tyler Hillman had two of Pella’s five hits, and he came around to score what wound up being the game-winning run on an RBI single from Jaden Rolffs in the third. Payton Shull added a double in the sixth and scored on an RBI knock from Landon Vander Leest. Shull says the way Judkins was pitching, his run was just icing on the cake.
“He was dealin’ up there,” Shull said. “He was pitching very, very well. It was just nice to have that extra insurance run. It was really exciting.”
Coach Jesse Jablonski feels the team played every facet of the game well last night which helped lead them to the trip back to state.
“I guess the first time will probably always hold a little bit of a special spot,” Jablonski exclaimed. “Honestly, this was just as exciting as it was last year to go out and get the ‘W’ and play a very solid game. The thing went by so fast, it seems like we just started and here we are already in the post-game.”
Pella High improves to 30 – 8 on the season, and they are the No. 2 seed for next week’s tournament at Principal Park. They will play on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. versus Humboldt. Pella’s entire ride for the school’s third state championship this school year can be heard live on 92.1 KRLS all next week.