Upper Iowa Conference

[rushtoexcellence]

Looking ahead to the baseball season, who do you see as the favorites in the Upper Iowa?

Kee High always has to be in the conversation. South Winn and SF should be mentioned as well with who they have returning. Any one else that could sneak up to challenge?

 

[OHS4life]

I think Kee is the front runner again this year but the sleeper team I think will be Clayton Ridge/Central.

 

[rushtoexcellence]

Who has the best or deepest pitching staff? Who has the best hitters?

 

[rjt62]

I would have to put SF out in front with SW and CR 2nd and 3rd. I think Kee will find it tougher going this year. Come tournament time it might be tough beating Steege,Nuss,Mohs for SF on the mound?
This post was edited on 3/28 6:58 PM by rjt62

 

[Superbee922]

Top tier: S-F and SW.
2nd tier: Kee, NF, TV, CR/C

I know Clayton Ridge / Central has many athletes returning, but they are returning from a 6 - 11 team. (conference record). Not ready to jump too hard on their band wagon yet.

Turkey Valley lost a lot of talent to graduation, but they return a little more than people might realize. They developed a little pitching depth last year.

NF looks like they return a little more than people might realize, as well. Probably not enough to contend for the conference title, but enough to contend with CR / R I think.

 

[OHS4life]

The biggest reason I have Kee up front is because they always reload, never really rebuild. They only returned 3 guys last summer who got solid playing time the summer before and ended up 11-5 in the conference. Heiderscheit had a lot to do with that.. but they have plenty of guys who can hit the ball, that won't be an issue. It's finding 2 or 3 pitchers who will be able to be consistent. I do see a close race with SF, SW, and Kee though.

 

[AllDayEveryDay.]

I would be looking for South Winn to be able to take the title, with Sumner-Fred and Kee High to challenge. The reason for this is because they should have probably have had it last year if not for horrible loses to Valley and Clayton Ridge last year (no disrespect), and swept Kee High, Turkey Valley, and North Fayette who were the other top three in the conference. On top of all of that they don't seem to be losing a lot, they gained their experience early in the season with their loses and played very well ending the season on 17-4. But just because I say that doesn't mean that I don't think that Sumner-Fred or Kee High could easily win the conference to, besides that I'm not sure.

 

[rushtoexcellence]

It does appear that there will be plenty of teams with lineups that can hit the ball. How deep does their pitching go?

SW has Opperman, Schweinefus and Rommes and lost 3 seniors that played.

SF has Steege, Nuss and Mohs and lost 2 seniors that played.

CR/E has everyone back but will their pitching be improved?

I see these three as the favorites but Kee and NF could surprise at any time.

 

[Clones1515]

My predictions...

1. SF - Steege and Nuss are going to get a lot of wins for the Cougars this year. They will have to score some runs to support them which they struggled with at times last year. Should be much improved on offense this year though.

2. SW - Losing their head coach Alex Smith might hurt them this year quite a bit. He really got the most out of the talent at SW. However I think Hageman is the best player in the conference and they have a good amount of pitching returning as well. Look for them to challenge SF. Might have the best offense in the conference.

3. Kee - It's Kee, they're going to reload. However, replacing Heiderscheidt is going to be tough as he was definitely the workhorse there last year.

4. North Fayette - Coach Hovden always has his teams ready to play, especially on the offensive side. They lose some really good players but it wouldn't surprise me to see them finish in the top 5.

5. Turkey Valley - Return some good pitching depth, even if none of them were ace-type material.

6. CR/Central - Return everybody as they do almost every year. However, I refuse to predict them in a top half finish until they actually do it one year.

I'll be honest, I really don't know much about the other teams in the conference.

Also, does the Valley/North Fayette merger affect baseball or will that not take place for awhile?

 

[maxstabs13]

I think Rommes is the best pitcher in the conference but SF has the best pitching duo in the conference. They need to say healthy though for SF to be successful.

Right now...
SW
SF
Kee
North Fayette
CRC- I don't know how good the coaching staff is at developing talent, because this team should be better than NF this year talent wise. I know Hovden is proven and that is why I have NF ahead of them at this point.
TV
Valley
Postville
MFL

 

[DodgeCountry12]

I think this whole conference will be down this year.

Here are some of my thoughts. This is based a lot on what teams have returning, as it is hard to predict what growth returning players will make over the offseason. I'm also not claiming to be an expert. I'm just stating my thoughts.

This is in order of how I think they will finish in the conference.

SF- don't know much here but I think they will be near the top of the conference again

SW- I think will be solid again but hurt by not having head coach Alex Smith, he always did a good job finding ways to win

Kee- Always a favorite near the top, but I do think they will take a step back from last year, Heiderscheit picked up a lot of wins for them on the mound last year

Valley- Takes another step forward, I think they lost only 2 seniors from last year, and have a group of guys that have been together for 3 years or so, have a lot of pieces in place

CRC- I think this team will be at the top of the conference. I think they return everyone from last year and they have had the same guys playing together for a while now.

NF- Lost a group of seniors that were solid for them for a few years. I think they will be down this year as well.

TV- have some arms coming back but lost a lot of significant seniors last year, may struggle this year

MFL- lost a big bat in Hundt, I think they take a step back

Postville- Lost some good seniors but have some pieces back, will continue to grow

 

[turbospeed]

I think Kee, SWinn, and SF have to be the favorites. I watched Clayton Ridge play a few times last year so im not completely sold on the idea that they will put it together this year. As for Valley, Postville, and MFL MarMac they are young like always. It seems like Postville and MFL always have 2-3 good players but they never seem to be able to keep kids out. Postville returns Brockway and Imehol while MFL returns Burke, Larson and Schultz. I will be interested to see if Postville or MFL can finally get over the hump and have a winning season.

 

[SportsIAFan]

I would put the teams in about the same order as Dodgecountry did. I think that the loss of Coach Alex Smith from South Winn could be huge factor for them but with all of those athletes they should contend for the conference title. Both North Fayette and Turkey Valley seem to have lost some key contributers and North doesn't have many upper classman players at all. Valley and Clayton Ridge seem to be the two teams that are bringing the most back but both were bottom of the conference teams last year, so it'll be interesting to see if they can be more consistant this year. Valley seems to have very good pitching depth but no one that stands out as dominating. It also seems that the conference lacks any big time hitters this year. I can't really think of anyone who pitchers should really fear.

 

[BDOGdad]

dodge has it about right. I think mfl could be ahead of tv and very close to NF. Postville will depend on how well Imehol is recovered. MFL as usual will be hampered by Basketball program. How well the Soph class can play will determine a lot for MFL.

 

[gtberghawk]

Kee High and Clayton Ridge/Central split tonight . . . 15-3 first game to Kee and 8-2 second game to CR/C.

 

[gtberghawk]

A good week conference-wise for Clayton Ridge/Central. Six games with Kee, North Fayette, and South Winn resulted in a 4-2 record. The WarEagles swept NF and managed splits with Kee and SW. If this team can get more consistent defensively they can be very good. Junior pitchers Dylan Preston and Colten Connelly, along with sophomores Ryan Moser and Colin Connelly have been throwing the ball extremely well. Moser and Preston each hit home runs this week and both Connelly boys have been getting on base pretty regularly. Junior Trey Roehlk is currently batting .500 on the year (11 for 22).

Next year is really the year for this group (they only have one senior starter), but they could really sneak up on some people this year.

I would love to hear how others have been looking thus far!

 

[Superbee922]

Standings after Monday June 11 games: record in parentheses included non-conference games.

Kee 5-1 (13-5)
Clayton Ridge-Central 5-3 (8-4)
North Fayette 4-2 (9-5)
South Winneshiek 4-2 (11-2)
Turkey Valley 3-1 (4-5)
Sumner-Fredericksburg 3-3 (10-5)
MFL-Mar-Mac 0-2 (1-8)
Valley 0-2 (2-8)
Postville 0-6 (0-9)

Kee swept Sumner-Fredericksburg last night; they play South Winneshiek this Thursday (at Kee). A sweep by either team would certainly put the winner in the driver's seat for the conference title.

Clayton Ridge-Central indeed had a pretty good week in the conference last week, and indeed is a much improved team from last year. Their conference schedule concludes with doubleheaders against S-F and the 3 bottom teams.

North Fayette and Turkey Valley have the toughest remaining conference schedules of the teams that would be considered contenders. North Fayette has 4 doubleheaders scheduled Monday-Friday the first week in July.

MFL-Mar-Mac, Valley, and Postville are struggling.

 

[Superbee922]

Standings after Saturday June 15th games: record in parentheses included non-conference games.

Clayton Ridge / Central 7-3 ( 11-5 )
Kee 6-2 ( 14-6 )
South Winneshiek 5-3 ( 16-3 )
North Fayette 4-2 ( 11-7 )
Turkey Valley 3-1 ( 7-5 )
Sumner-Fredericksburg 3-3 ( 11-6 )
MFL-Mar-Mac 2-2 ( 3-8 )
Valley 0-4 ( 3-12 )
Postville 0-10 ( 1-12 )

Games Monday:
Turkey Valley @ Sumner-Fredericksburg
Valley @ Sooth Winneshiek
Kee @ North Fayette
MFL-Mar-Mac @ Clayton Ridge / Central

Opportunities for Turkey Valley and North Fayette to establish themselves as legitimate contenders.

Top 3 teams have all played doubleheaders against one another.

Thursday June 20 doubleheader between Sumner-Fredericksburg and Clayton Ridge / Central (at Sumner) should be interesting and will go a long way towards sorting out the top of the conference standings.

 

[gtberghawk]

Clayton Ridge / Central did themselves no favors tonight . . . 6 errors lead to five unearned runs and they fell 5 to 4 in game one vs. MFL Mar Mac. They did earn the split with a 5 to 0 win in game two, but their defensive mishaps will keep this team from achieving their ultimate goal.

The team as a whole looks like it is having no fun playing the game. The dugout is quiet, except when negativity can be heard from the coaching staff. This team plays scared, as if they are wondering what bad thing or comment will come next. Losses to MFL and Turkey Valley will be their detriment in the conference race. I will be surprised to win one at Sumner on Thursday. Hope I'm wrong!

 

[Superbee922]

gtberghawk,

Did your team have more fun winning the 2nd game? Connelly threw a a 4 hit shut out with 10 strikeouts, and 6 different guys in the lineup got hits. Didn't any of them have any fun with that? Were they playing scare that game also, or just during the 6 error game?

In my experience, it's pretty difficult to have much fun or to be very positive when you are making 6 errors in a game.

I think they will split with Sumner-Fredericksburg tonight. Problem is, that will give both teams 5 conference losses, which will effectively eliminate both teams UIC title hopes.

 

[gtberghawk]

The plain and simple answer to your fun question is: NO, with the exception of the Connelly boys who were pitching and catching. They are a different breed though. When your players come into the dugout during a 5 to 0 win and immediately say, "What did we do wrong that inning?", it is alarming.

I haven't liked the team's body language since a huge comeback against North Fayette earlier in the year. After trailing 9 to 2, the boys showed great resiliance, and yes, they were getting fairly loud in the dugout. After an 11 to 9 victory, there was little praise and they were essentially told to "Shut up" during the game. Talk about deflating.

CR/Central hasn't been the same since. There is enough talent to win more games, but I haven't seen the same resiliance since.

I also understand that there will not be a lot of positives or fun during a 6 error game, but from where I'm sitting the errors are often times due to tightness and/or fear.

Just stating what I am seeing . . .

 

[OHS4life]

South Winn and Turkey Valley split tonight. SF swept CRC, so it looks like Kee is in the driver's seat to win the conference...unless they choke against Valley and TV.

This post was edited on 6/21 8:35 AM by OHS4life

 

[maxstabs13]

Kee 10-2--- Remaining conference opponents records 7-9
South Winneshiek 8-4--- Remaining conference opponents records 4-16
Turkey Valley 5-3--- Remaining conference opponents records 17-11
Sumner-Fredericksburg 6-4--- Remaining conference opponents records 9-15
Clayton Ridge / Central 8-6--- Remaining conference opponents records 0-12
North Fayette 4-4--- Remaining conference opponents records 22-16
MFL-Mar-Mac 3-5--- Remaining conference opponents records 17-17
Valley 2-6--- Remaining conference opponents records 24-14
Postville 0-12--- Remaining conference opponents records 16-10

Based on the schedules... My thoughts
Kee 3 losses at the most
South Winn 5 losses at the most
Clayton Ridge 6 losses at the most
Sumner Fredericksburg 7 losses at the most
Turkey Valley 7 losses at the most
North Fayette 9 losses at the most
MFL 5 wins at the most
Valley 5 wins at the most
Postville 0 wins

 

[OHS4life]

Like I said from the start, Kee never rebuilds..won the conference title to themselves with a sweep of TV tonight. Not sure how many years it is now that they have been conference champions/co-champions but it's got to be around 8 years.

 

[maxstabs13]

So...
Kee 14-2
South Winn 12-4
Sumner Fred 11-5
Turkey Valley 10-6
Clayton Ridge/Central 10-6
Valley 6-10
North Fayette 4-10
MFL Mar Mac 4-10
Postville 0-16

MFL and North Fayette are duke it out for 6th, 7th, or 8th place. If either team sweeps they jump Valley because they both had a better run differential in the games they split with Valley(That is how I rule it, which is why TV is ahead of CR/C).

 

[kruck5]

went to watch Kee & Newman the other day. I have no kids at either school but thought it would be a good game with a couple of top 10 teams. Game was pretty good, with Newman eaking out the victory.
Was SUPRISED to watch and listen to the Kee dugout. I played alot of ball, I understand dugout chatter, but I dont understand just screaming and yelling anything and everything? Really sounded like a bunch of Jr. High girls? I guess thats OK if thats what you want to portray, but a school with the success and history, and the coaching of Kee, I guess I was really surprised. Kee has a great coach. I am surprised he has not addressed it? just not the image of a proud program. Thoughts? Umpire eventually had enough and told them to knock it off. I guess I just dont get it. If I were a team member or leader, I would be embarrest. Is this the norm for them?

 

[SportsIAFan]

I think Valley stays ahead of North Fayette and MFL in a tie with either team. They have a sweep over North Fayette and have a one run advantage over MFL in the head to head conference split.

 

[SportsIAFan]

That is very typical of Kee High and something that they've been doing for as long as I can remember. Valley and Turkey Valley split on Tuesday. Turkey Valley ends with a record of 9-7 and Valley ends with a record of 7-9.

 

[kruck5]

Too bad. Kind of tarnishes the image I had in mind of the Kee program.

 

[SportsIAFan]

I agree, it's not the kind of thing that you would typically see from a team and community with so much baseball pride and tradition. It's not uncommon to get similar behavior from their fans.

 

[OHS4life]

Kee has always done that while they are batting. Don't try to tell me that was the first Newman/Kee game you have watched either. They are cheering on their teammates with "Yep"s..that's about it. I don't know if you've ever gotten the chance to play the #1 team in the state in a sport, but you've got to keep everyone amped if you're going to have any chance at winning. Maybe they were doing it a bit excessively that game, I don't know, but I've never witnessed an ump having to tell them to quiet down.

 

[maxstabs13]

Originally posted by SportsIAFan:
I think Valley stays ahead of North Fayette and MFL in a tie with either team. They have a sweep over North Fayette and have a one run advantage over MFL in the head to head conference split.

Not that any of it makes a difference, but...
MFL 7-6
Valley 5-4

Not sure on NF/Valley... Looks like NF won both and won the non-conference game, but NF forfeit the conference games for some reason?

 

[SportsIAFan]

Last I heard is that North Fayette had to forfeit both conference games to Valley. I believe that they had an ineligible player for both games.

 

[turbospeed]

MFL MarMac split on 7/5 with NF.

 

[kruck5]

OHS, I have seen them play each other a hand full of times. Yes, I do see that kind of screaming and yelling coming from the dug out, at 7th and 8th grade softball games. Again, I have seen 40 years of many great programs, I have never seen a good program ( and I believe Kee is a good program) act like that. If I were a team leader, I would put a end to it, I would have too much pride to let it continue.
And yes, the ump did tell them to shut up. They were just screaming to hear themselves scream. I would guess most of it comes from people who never see the field.
Win, loose, draw, you can always show class on and off the field.

 

[OHS4life]

You've seen them play a handful of times yet you are just now speaking up about this? Once again...Kee has ALWAYS had the loud dugout chatter. I'd rather see them off the bench screaming and yelling than sitting down twiddling their thumbs while their teammates are up to bat. I honestly do not see how that takes away class from a team. I've never seen Coach Schultz ejected from a tournament game....

 

[kruck5]

OHS, like I said before, I dont have a dog in the fight. At this point in life, I am more of a observer, I like to see what good teams and programs are doing, why they always are winners. I guess if that works for them, and thats the way they want to role, more power to them. I see alot of ball in all classes 1-2-3-4A. I guess I was, as I said before, just surprised. Sorry, enough said. I was just curious.