Historic season ends: Panthers blank CR/C to reach district final, fall to Beckman

     This historic season for the Monticello High School baseball team came to an end in the Class 2A, District 4 final in Dyersville.

     The Panthers had some fun first, beating Clayton Ridge/Central 3-0 in the district semifinals July 11. They then faced Dyersville Beckman in the final, and lost a 5-2 decision.

     “As coaches, it was really fun to be part of, and the kids have a lot to be proud of,” Monticello coach Josh Soper said.

     To open the postseason, Monticello pitching held Clayton Ridge/Central to four hits in a 3-0 victory Tuesday, July 11 in the district semifinals at Dyersville.

     “For a lot of our guys, this was their first experience (with) playoff baseball,” Soper said. “I thought we executed in certain areas really well. We pitched well, we defended well.”

     The Panthers scored a run in the third inning, and two in the second, and that was plenty for starting pitcher Ryan Manternach. He allowed three hits and no walks in six innings, striking out four.

     “Ryan’s very effective when he establishes his fastball, and he’s able to work from there,” Soper said.

     “I just tried to throw a lot of strikes, low in the zone and hit my spots, and let the defense behind me do the rest,” the junior pitcher said. “We have a lot of great playmakers in the field.”

     Monticello got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third inning. Tyler Hospodarsky drew a one-out walk. With two out, Kyle Sperfslage followed with a double, putting runners on second and third. Jacob Manternach walked to load the bases, bringing Ryan Manternach to the plate.

     He ran up a 3-2 count, then delivered an infield single that brought home Hospodarsky with the game’s first run.

     “I had two strikes,” Ryan Manternach said, “so at that point I was just trying to make contact and put the ball in play, and try to make them make a mistake or hit the ball hard on the ground somewhere. I got lucky and hit it between short and third.”

     Monticello scored twice more in the fourth. Avery Martensen reached base on an error, Jon Mootz singled to left, and both runners advanced on a wild pitch.

     After an out, Hospodarsky came to the plate, and dropped a squeeze bunt between home plate and third base, just a couple of feet inside the foul line. Martensen scored easily, and Hospodarsky was safe at first.

     “We work on it all the time,” Soper said of the squeeze play. In that situation, with one out, I knew we needed to score a run there. Tyler executed it perfectly, and our runner at third executed it perfectly.”

     Hospodarsky said he knew there was a chance Soper would give the squeeze sign.

     “I knew to be ready to execute if he gave me the sign,” Hospodarsky said. “I was just lucky that it was fair, and right down the third base line where I needed it to be. Off the bat I knew right away it was pretty good.”

     Cooper followed that with a sacrifice fly to left that scored Mootz, and the Panthers led 3-0.

     Clayton Ridge/Central had a brief bit of life in the sixth, when Austin Helle hit a one-out double. But he wound up stranded on third.

     The War Eagles never got a runner as far as second after that, as Ryan Manternach completed the sixth inning and got the win. Sperfslage worked the seventh, allowing one hit, to pick up a save.

     Sperfslage and Ryan Manternach both went 2-for-3 in the game.

     On Saturday, the Panthers ran up against the powerhouse Dyersville Beckman team in the district finals. And while this game was nothing like the 11-1, five-inning defeat Monticello suffered a year ago in the same spot, Beckman did prevail, 5-2.

     That this game might be different was apparent right away, when Panther leadoff batter Cooper singled to left. But he wound up stranded on first.

     Neither team scored until the bottom of the second inning, when the Trailblazers turned two singles and a double into two runs.

     The Panthers rallied in a bizarre third inning. Cooper hit an infield single, and then the next three batters  – Sperfslage, Jacob Manternach and Ryan Manternach – were all hit by pitches. Cooper scored on the latter of those three, and moments later Sperfslage scored on a passed ball, tying the game 2-2.

     “We recognized what the strike zone was after the first inning and made some adjustments,” Soper said. “We asked our kids to jump up on the plate to be able to hit the outside strike, and that if we got hit by the pitch, to take it. Our kids did just that, which got us back into the ballgame. I think that says a lot about this team.”

     Three straight strikeouts by Beckman pitcher Conner McDermott, however, ended the inning.

     The 2-2 score held up until the bottom of the fifth. Riley LeGrand led off with a bunt single for the Blazers.

     “I think the game turned on the bunt single,” Soper said. “They executed the play perfectly and caught us off guard.”

     A triple by Beckman’s Joel Vaske brought home Riley LeGrand with the go-ahead run. Two walks and two hit batsmen later, the Blazers had two more runs and a 5-2 lead.

     “Our bullpen had been good all season, but we struggled to execute pitches in that fifth inning,” the coach said. “Credit to them for making things happen.”

     Monticello threatened in the sixth, putting runners on first and third with one out, but couldn’t score, and the Panthers went down in order in the seventh, facing relief pitcher Jackson Bennett.

     Panther pitcher Ryan Manternach worked the first four innings. He was relieved by Hospodarsky and then Mescher.

     “Ryan Manternach pitched well and gave us a chance to win,” Soper said. “He was getting tired in the fourth inning but was able to get out of a bases-loaded situation to keep the game tied at 2. Unfortunately, they did a nice job of running up the pitch count, and he had to come out of the game.”

     The Panthers finished with five hits. Mescher was 2-for-3, and Cooper finished 2-for-4.

     Monticello ended the season as River Valley Conference, North Division champions with a 15-2 record, and were 22-7 overall.

     “This group of kids had success in the past at the lower levels, so we knew that we had a chance to be pretty good,” Soper concluded. “They worked extremely hard this season, and constantly got better. Also, the kids grew more and more confident with each game.”

     Soper said the team achieved several of its goals.

     “They wanted to finish in the top half of the conference. We ended up not losing a single game in the North (11-0),” he said. They wanted to extend the string of 20-win seasons to a decade, and they did. And they wanted to get better every day.”

     The Panthers will lose seniors Tyler Hospodarsky, Alex Kremer and Andy Tjaden.

     “Tyler had a great all-around season for us,” the coach said. “He worked hard and was a team leader that guys looked up to. Alex played a flawless outfield. He has been an outstanding teammate all five years that he was in the program. He made a ton of big plays.

     “Andy Tjaden came out for baseball for the first time in his high school career. He was great to have around the team. He was always willing to do whatever was asked, and was a positive teammate.

     “I have no doubt that all three of these guys will be successful in their adult lives.”

July 11

Class 2A, District 7 semifinal

(at Dyersville)

Monti 3, Clayton Rdg./Ctrl. 0

MONTICELLO                            AB    R     H     BI

Cooper cf                                      1      0      0      1

Sperfslage 3b                                3      0      2      0

Manternach, J. c                           2      0      0      0

Manternach, R. p                          3      0      2      1

Mescher ss                                   3      0      0      0

Martensen 1b                                3      1      0      0

Mootz dh                                       3      1      1      0

Kremer rf                                       3      0      0      0

Hospodarsky 2b                            1      1      1      1

Nealson lf                                      0      0      0      0

Recker cr                                       0      0      0      0

Totals                                           22     3      6      3

Clayton Rdg./Ctrl.        000  000  0   –   0      4      2

Monticello                    001  200  x    –   3      6      1

2B – Sperfslage.

SB – J. Manternach 2, Cooper, Martensen,

Mootz, Recker.

Monticello                  IP      H     R    ER   BB   SO

Mntrnch.,R. (W, 1-0)     6      3      0      0      0      4

Sperfslage (S, 1)          1      1      0      0      0      0

Totals                           7      4      0      0      0      4

July 15

Class 2A, District 7 final

(at Dyersville)

Dy. Beckman 5, Monticello 2

MONTICELLO                            AB    R      H     BI

Cooper cf                                      4      1      2      0

Sperfslage 3b                               3      1      0      0

Manternach, J. c                           3      0      0      0

Manternach, R. p                          2      0      0      1

Mescher ss                                   3      0      2      0

Martensen 1b                                2      0      0      0

Mootz dh                                       3      0      1      0

Kremer rf                                       3      0      0      0

Hospodarsky 2b                            3      0      0      0

Nealson lf                                      0      0      0      0

Recker cr                                       0      0      0      0

Totals                                           26     2      5      1

Monticello                  002  000  0     –   2      5      2

Dy. Beckman             020  030  x     –   5      7      0

LOB ­– Dyersville Beckman 10, Monticello 7.

Monticello                  IP     H      R    ER   BB   SO

Manternach, R.            4      5      2      2      2      4

Hospodarsky (L, 0-1)    0      2      3      3      0      0

Mescher                        2      0      0      0      1      0

Totals                           6      7      5      5      3      4