Prep baseball: Mohawks rolling into postseason

MORAVIA, Pitching depth is worth its weight in gold for Iowa High School baseball teams when the postseason arrives.

The Moravia Mohawks may be sitting on a gold mine. With over five different pitchers that have allowed less than two earned runs a game over 11 or more innings so far this season, Moravia is rolling into the final week of the regular season having won 14 straight games and a chance to secure at least a share of the Bluegrass Conference title with postseason play on deck at the end of the week.

"This pitching staff, I can't hardly say enough about them," Moravia baseball coach Bill Huisman said. "We've got guys who are experienced and established starters as well as guys that are coming on. Everyone that pitches for us throws a lot of strikes. We're really comfortable with six guys out there on the mound. That's pretty good when you have six pitchers you can rely on."

Moravia enters the week as one of only six teams in Class 1A with a pitching staff to record at least 200 combined strikeouts, a number that could improve before Friday's district tournament opener against Moulton-Udell with four games in three days including a showdown with seventh-ranked Lynnville-Sully on Tuesday. During their 14-game winning streak, Moravia has allowed just 12 runs as pitching staff including a 3-2 win over Ankeny Christian Academy that tied the Bluegrass Conference race in a game that Kale Moore was able to complete after it had been rained out 13 days earlier.

"One of the best features of our team is we can bring in any one of seven guys that can come in and can get outs on the mound," Moore said. "We've also been hitting the ball really well. It allows you, as a pitcher, to go out there and be relaxed that we can go out and get a few runs even if we give up one or two."

Moore experienced that resiliency while pitching in the championship game of Moravia's home tournament earlier this month. The Mohawks responded after allowing the first run of the game to Mount Ayr as a two-out, two-run single to right by Casen Woodward put Moravia on top for good in an eventual 11-1 win closing out an 8-0 week for the Mohawks.

"They've got the whole ball of wax going right now. We just have to keep it going," Huisman said. "That week was huge for us. To play eight games in six days and then win all eight games gave us a lot of momentum."

Carsen Seals gave Moravia early momentum in their home tournament, pitching a two-hit shutout against Albia in a 10-0 semifinal win at the Mohawk Invitational. Seals pitched out of danger in the opening inning against the Blue Demons, striking out the side after loading the bases with nobody out before connecting on a double and bringing in three runs at the plate.

"I just knew I had to get the job done," Seals said. "Part of it was my fault for letting those three runners get on base. I figured I owed it to my team to get all three of those batters out. I was confident. I've been in that situation before and been able to get out of it."