The Sigourney Savages (13-0, 9-0) emerged victorious as the final undefeated team in Class 1A, avenging their season-ending loss in last year’s state quarterfinals in an 8-7 walk-off win against the Lynnville-Sully Hawks (12-1, 9-1).
Sigourney jumped out to an early lead as senior Brady Clark singled and later scored in each of the first and third innings to establish a 2-0 lead. The Savages extended their lead to 6-0 in the bottom of the fourth as a flurry of walks was capped off by a Lincoln Power single, forcing Lynnville-Sully ace Carson Maston off the mound.
The Hawks began mounting their comeback from there, though, plating a pair of runners in the top of the fifth and bringing the tying run to the plate in Gavin Olea. Starting pitcher Chase Clanahan escaped the jam though, throwing a curve ball that froze Olea in place for the second out of the inning before getting Brody Borg to fly out and end the frame. The sides traded runs in the sixth, setting Sigourney up with a 7-3 lead headed into the seventh.
With reliever Brady Clark now in the game due to Chase Clarahan maxing out his pitch count, the Hawks strung together a long top of the seventh, ending Clark’s night on the bump with one out and the tying run on first base.
Freshman Jordan Tremmel was called upon out of the bullpen to close the game for the Savages, but a Jack Bowlin single scored Borg and tied it up at seventh. Bowlin advanced all the way to third on the throw to the plate, which overshot its target and put the go-ahead run 90 feet away. The freshman locked in from there, though, as Tremmel earned a strikeout and a groundout to escape with a tie ballgame.
As the game advanced to the bottom of the seventh, Sigourney head coach Lee Crawford called on another freshman in the biggest moment of the game, Hunter Sellers, who has been in and out of the Savages lineup. Once again, a young player rose to the occasion for Sigourney, as Sellers hit a laser into center field before advancing on a passed ball to reach second with one out. Ike Molyneux hit a high fly ball to center, allowing Sellers to tag, and a near-perfect throw was in time to catch the freshman at third, but a missed tag left him on base. That mistake proved fatal for the Hawks, as Sellers didn’t hesitate to take home plate when another passed ball left it open, sealing the 8-7 win for Sigourney. Sellers described the joy he felt at the moment of the walk-off as his teammates rushed to him at the plate, “I haven’t had that feeling in a long time, since my sixth grade year when we won a state tournament for travel ball.”
Tremmel was credited with the win for his efforts. Clarahan received no decision while throwing 5.1 IP and conceding two runs, both earned, his first two earned runs conceded this year, and five hits while earning 4 strikeouts.
Lynnville-Sully reliever Trace Carlson received the loss, while Maston took the brunt of the damage, conceding six runs, all earned, in 3.2 innings of work. Prior to Monday’s game, he had only conceded one earned run in his first 29.1 innings.
The still-undefeated Savages now sit alone on top of the South Iowa Cedar League, but they have no time to relax as they face the red-hot North Linn Lynx (13-2, 6-2) Tuesday night. The Lynx are No. 7 in the most recent Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association poll released Monday morning, while Sigourney is No. 2.