The Pella baseball team finished their journey to Iowa City and the Class 3A state tournament with an upset over Little Hawkeye Conference champions and 3rd-ranked Grinnell 2-0, as heard live in the Substate Final on 92.1 KRLS Wednesday.
On to state! Final@PellaBaseball 2
Grinnell 0#iahsbb@kniakrls pic.twitter.com/2VRYgSTAcn— Andrew Schneider (@xzono) July 14, 2022
Both pitchers faced 10 batters through the first three innings and seemed to be on cruise control before Pella loaded the bases with two outs in 4th. While the Dutch didn’t score, it seemed to create confidence that they could hit off of Grinnell Ace Brady Steward.
The critical juncture for Pella came as No. 9 hitter Jack Howard reached base following an eleven-pitch at bat in the top of the 5th inning, and advanced on a pair of wild pitches to get into scoring position. From there, the Dutch called a daring suicide squeeze bunt with senior Quinn Rhamy at the plate, and Howard scored to give the road team the eventual game-winning run.
FULL INTERVIEW WITH RHAMY:
Jason Knox added another run with a single immediately following the squeeze play to give Pella insurance that he ultimately didn’t need on the mound, as he turned in a brilliant nine-strikeout complete game shut out.
Pella heads to the Class 3A state tournament for the fourth time in school history, which will be played at the University of Iowa in Iowa City next week, starting on Monday. The brackets will be determined this afternoon after a seeding meeting.