Photo courtesy of Troy L. Hugen Photography

After wrapping up the regular season with a thrilling 1-0 senior night victory Wednesday, the Pella Christian baseball team now turns their attention to postseason play. 

The Eagles, who earned a first round bye in the Class 2A Substate 6 bracket, will begin their playoff run on Tuesday against the winner of third-seeded Albia and sixth-seeded Central Decatur. The Blue Demons and Cardinals will play Saturday night at 5 pm at PCM Middle School, with the winner advancing to face Pella Christian at Des Moines Christian. Eagles head coach Chris Fynaardt says that regardless of who their opponent is, their focus needs to be on improving in different areas of the game. Fynaardt says that the biggest area of the game his team will work on improving is being more consistent on the mound. 

“We need to throw strikes. We’ve walked a fair share of batters this year. We need our pitchers throwing strikes. If a team’s going to beat us, we want them to beat us, we don’t want to beat ourselves. And just allowing kids to get on base for free, that’s one of the first ways that you’re going to get beat. So, we’re going to preach and preach and preach to our pitchers, get ahead of the hitters, first pitch strikes, finish them off. If they get a hit, they get a hit, but let’s not have a ton of walks.”

Pella Christian’s first postseason game against Albia or Central Decatur at Des Moines Christian on Tuesday is scheduled to begin at 5 pm.