It’s opening day for the No. 4 in Class 1A Sigourney Savage baseball team, as they welcome non-conference opponent Pella Christian to town in the KCII Area Game of the Week.

One year removed from the program’s first ever state tournament appearance, and with many key pieces returning, hopes are high for a return trip to Merchants Park in Carroll this season. Sigourney begins the year ranked No. 4 in preseason polls released by the Iowa Baseball Coaches Association and IAbaseball. Last season, the Savages compiled an impressive 21-5 overall campaign that included a 13-1 mark to finish runner-up to 1A state champion Lynnville-Sully in the South Iowa Cedar League. In 2024, Sigourney scored 230 runs on 225 hits, with a .328 average, .468 OBP and a fifth-best in 1A .469 slug. On the mound, the Savages allowed just 86 runs on a second-fewest in 1A 99 hits, a .169 opponent average, 2.66 ERA and 1.47 WHIP. Sigourney returns one of the state’s best in senior Caden Clarahan. A 1A all-stater from a season ago, Clarahan returns to the roster after having posted the fifth-best OBP in the state last year at .649, and was also top-five in 1A in home runs, RBI, batting average and slug. Clarahan’s 1.60 ERA on the bump was top-five in the SICL. Sigourney is replacing three seniors from 2024, which included Reid Molyneux, Carter Wyatt and Jake Moore. Sigourney head coach Lee Crawford spoke with KCII Sports about his outlook for the 2025 season.

“I’m looking forward to this season, I think we’re a veteran group,” Crawford said. “We’ll have senior Caden Clarahan coming back. He’s a first team all-state pitcher for us last year and catcher. We’ll have Isaac Bruns in center field. He really got hot late in the year last year, and we’ve got the core of our infield back with Cole McKay and Brady Clark at short[stop] and second. We’re really excited to put all those kids together as athletes and let them have fun on the baseball field!”

Pella Christian went 14-21 overall last season and tallied three wins in Little Hawkeye conference play. Their season ended in a Class 2A substate loss to Des Moines Christian. Last year, the Eagles scored 152 runs on 224 hits, with a .256 average, .365 OBP and .357 slug. As a staff, PC allowed 230 runs on 248 hits, a .271 opponent average, 5.39 ERA and 1.75 WHIP. Key seniors returning for the Eagles include the duo of Connor Van Zee and Grant Kelderman. Van Zee did the bulk of the work on the mound with over 55 innings pitched, striking out 54, with a 4.53 ERA and 1.67 WHIP. At the plate, Kelderman hit .185, with an OBP of .343 and a .309 slug.

In the Varsity Bound era, Pella Christian has a 2-1 all-time series lead over Sigourney dating back to 2015. The Savages pulled the series within one game last season in a 11-7 comeback victory.

You can hear tonight’s matchup between Sigourney and Pella Christian streaming online at KCIIRadio.com on the KCII3 Stream and on the KCII3 App, beginning with pregame coverage at 5, and first pitch between the Savages and Eagles to follow at 5:30 from Sigourney High School.