While the season has come to an end, the Pella Christian baseball team accomplished several feats this summer.

On May 31st, the Eagles not only beat Indianola for the first time since 2019 but earned their first sweep over the Indians in the Bound era dating back to 2017. Four days later, Pella Christian dominated and won the Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont Tournament. Following a mid-to-end season lull, things clicked again for the Eagles at the right time. 

Pella Christian opened the postseason with an 8-2 win over Centerville, before rolling over Central Decatur 16-1 in the District Final. In the Substate Final the Eagles took down the four-time defending State Champs Van Meter with a 2-1, ten inning win to qualify for the State Tournament for the first time in 29 years. At state, Pella Christian went down fighting, taking top-seeded Beckman Catholic into extra innings before falling 5-4. Eagles head coach Chris Fynaardt says that while the season ending stings, it’s still unbelievable just what all the team accomplished this season.

“When you just sit back and think about the teams we actually played, I mean, we were playing with perennial 2A powerhouses, I’d say. I mean anytime you’re talking about a four-time repeating state champion, and you can take them down and then a team like Beckman Catholic with their tradition. I mean, it’s too fresh right now. The loss stings but, I mean, we don’t have anything to be embarrassed about or to hang our heads about. We played good baseball. Give it another week, and I think I’ll really, just be like, wow, we had a really good season.

Hear more from Fynaardt here.