Cubs' season ends; Mescher honored

     While the final game of the Monticello Cubs’ semi-pro baseball season didn’t come out the way the team hoped, nor did the season as a whole, there was a bright spot that came out of it.

     Monticello lost the game 9-1 at Key West Aug. 17, finishing the season with an 8-17 record. But the Cubs also learned that second baseman Andrew Mescher was selected to the honorary Eastern Iowa Hawkeye League All-Star team.

     What would have been the league’s 35^th annual all-star game was wiped out due to COVID-19 concerns, but the league selected all-stars anyway.

     “Andrew had a great year at the plate, and matured from last year to this year,” Cubs player-manager Tanner Felton said. “He put together better at bats, waited for his pitch, took advantage of a lot of mistakes, and ultimately led our team in about every category offensively.”

     Mescher hit seven of the team’s 15 home runs, stole 19 bases, and led the team in hits, doubles and triples.

     At Key West, the Cubs fell behind 5-1 after one inning, and gave up four more runs in the fourth to lose 9-1. Zach Monk went 2-for-4 at the plate, and Mescher was 1-for-2 with a double. Dylan Roher and Tyler Felton were the Monticello pitchers, with Roher taking the loss.

     “The season did not go the way we planned,” Tanner Felton said. “We had a lot of confidence at the beginning of the year. We had guys do great things; we just could not put it together as a team to get more wins. I saw a lot of glimpses of how good we could be.

     “I look forward to next season, which hopefully will be a little more normal. I’m happy we were able to play despite COVID-19. It’s pretty special that our league was one of the first to play.”

Aug. 17

Key West 9, Monticello 1

MONTICELLO                            AB     R    H   BI

Mescher, A. 2b                              2      1      1      0

Monk. Z. lf                                     4      0      2      0

Reuter, M. c                                   3      0      0      0

Felton, Ta. cf                                 3      0      1      0

Manternach, R. ss                        3      0      1      0

Felton, Ty. 3b                                2      0      0      0

Roher p                                        3      0      0      0

Kraus rf                                         3      0      0      0

Mescher, D. 1b                             2      0      0      0

Totals                                          40     5     13     5

Monticello        100  000  0             –    1      5      2

Key West         500  400  x             –    9      4      1

2B – R. Manternach.

SB – Z. Monk, A. Mescher.

Monticello                    IP    H     R    ER   BB   SO

Roher (L, 0-2)              3.2    3      9      2      8      4

Felton, T.                      2.1    1      0      0      2      3

Totals                            6      4      9      2    10      7