The third-seeded Des Moines Roosevelt Roughriders cruise into the semifinals after topping the sixth-seeded Urbandale J-Hawks 11-3 Wednesday night in a 4A quarterfinals thanks to a four-run fourth inning. John Swanda paced the Roughriders offense going 4-for-4 with three doubles, a triple and six RBI.
Urbandale struck early when Trey Cowley singled to left field and advanced to second on a wild throw by Roosevelt pitcher Will Nigut. Ross Kramer brought him home with a two-out RBI-double to give Urbandale the 1-0 lead.
Roosevelt battled back in the second as a walk and back-to-back doubles by Zach Lin and Swanda put two on the board for the Roughriders. They didn’t hold the lead for long as Urbandale responded with two runs in the top of the second following a double off the bat of Michael Van Riessen and a single by Cody Pearson.
The Roughriders struck again in the third as an error and a walk put two on for Swanda, who knocked them both home with his second double of the night. He added to Roosevelt’s lead in the fourth when he smashed his third double of the night to left center, putting his team up 8-3.
Roosevelt extended its lead with three insurance runs in the fifth inning. Ben Norman knocked two home with a single to left for his first hit of the night. Swanda continued his hitting brigade with a triple to deep right field, tallying his sixth RBI.
Ross Kramer was tagged with the loss for Urbandale allowing five runs – four earned – on three hits while whiffing five batters before exiting in the fourth.
Zach Lin got the win for Roosevelt giving up no hits and striking out one.
Des Moines Roosevelt (33-10) advances to the semifinals and will face Iowa City West on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Principal Park.
Urbandale finishes at 29-11.
http://www.iowa-baseball.com/aspx/news.aspx?id=489
Urbandale struck early when Trey Cowley singled to left field and advanced to second on a wild throw by Roosevelt pitcher Will Nigut. Ross Kramer brought him home with a two-out RBI-double to give Urbandale the 1-0 lead.
Roosevelt battled back in the second as a walk and back-to-back doubles by Zach Lin and Swanda put two on the board for the Roughriders. They didn’t hold the lead for long as Urbandale responded with two runs in the top of the second following a double off the bat of Michael Van Riessen and a single by Cody Pearson.
The Roughriders struck again in the third as an error and a walk put two on for Swanda, who knocked them both home with his second double of the night. He added to Roosevelt’s lead in the fourth when he smashed his third double of the night to left center, putting his team up 8-3.
Roosevelt extended its lead with three insurance runs in the fifth inning. Ben Norman knocked two home with a single to left for his first hit of the night. Swanda continued his hitting brigade with a triple to deep right field, tallying his sixth RBI.
Ross Kramer was tagged with the loss for Urbandale allowing five runs – four earned – on three hits while whiffing five batters before exiting in the fourth.
Zach Lin got the win for Roosevelt giving up no hits and striking out one.
Des Moines Roosevelt (33-10) advances to the semifinals and will face Iowa City West on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Principal Park.
Urbandale finishes at 29-11.
http://www.iowa-baseball.com/aspx/news.aspx?id=489
