After back-to-back trips to the state tournament and a number nine preseason ranking, the Pella High baseball team’s season ended sooner than they’d hoped with last week’s loss to Knoxville in the opening round of district play.

Coach Jesse Jablonski says that while the end result wasn’t what they were hoping for, he was proud of the resolve that his team showed, especially at the end of the season.

“This team is a team that has battled all year long, and I couldn’t be more proud of the way that they’ve handled themselves and prepared themselves. I wouldn’t have gone to battle with any other team than this one. They’re the most battled tested team in the state, hands down. With everything that we went through with all of the youth and all of the adversity, that team is battle tested.”

The Little Dutch wrapped up the summer of 2017 with a final record of 22-16.