Photo courtesy of Troy L. Hugen Photography

In pursuit of their second State Tournament berth in as many years, the Pella Christian baseball team will take #2 Des Moines Christian in the Class 2A Substate 6 semifinals tonight.

For the second consecutive season, the Eagles find themselves facing one of the top two teams in 2A on the journey to Carroll. A season ago, Pella Christian defeated top-ranked Van Meter in the substate final to qualify for the State Tournament for the first time since 1994. To duplicate that success and move within a game of a return trip to Carroll, the Eagles will try to avenge a 10-0 loss suffered to Des Moines Christian on May 24th. Pella Christian head coach Chris Fynaardt says that while the Lions won that early season contest, his team’s only focus tonight needs to be playing to the best of their ability.

“We talked about it already in practice last night, just don’t even look at the scoreboard. Each at bat, just focus on what you need to do. Don’t worry about if we’re ahead or behind, if I ask you to bunt, bunt, if I put a hit and run on, do your best to get it done. Just do what you can. I mean, it doesn’t matter if you’re ahead 10-0 or behind 10-0, you just do what you need to do and let things happen. So, that’ll be the same message and ultimately the kids just need to play.”

Coverage of the Class 2A Substate 6 semifinal game at Des Moines Christian High School tonight between the Eagles and Lions begins at 6:30 pm on 92.1 KRLS.