No. 1 Solon blanks I-35

For the third year in a row, the Interstate 35 baseball team made an early exit from the Class 2A State Baseball Tournament, with a 4-0 loss to top-ranked Solon Monday afternoon in Des Moines.

The Roadrunners were held scoreless on two hits by Spartan undefeated ace Brandon Shulista.

"He is what he is. He's 11-0 and he's their number one," I-35 head coach Jeff Douglas said. "I thought we might hit the ball better than we did. I thought we might get five, six, seven hits, but he's got some good stuff."

I-35 senior right fielder Zach Moore said, "He threw hard. He was probably one of the quicker pitchers we saw all year. He was a good pitcher. He hit his spots and did a good job."

I-35 ends the season with a 19-7 record, while Solon (39-2) advances to the semifinals tonight (Thursday) against Waterloo Columbus (23-15), which knocked off defending champion Fort Dodge St. Edmond in the first 2A game of the tournament.

EARLY DEFICIT

After all three I-35 batters struck out looking against Shulista in the top of the first inning, Solon went on top with a run in the bottom half of the frame. Roadrunner starter Blake Brommel walked the lead-off batter and allowed a one-out RBI single. The inning ended on a nice running catch by the foul line by left fielder Logan Tibbits.

The Roadrunners remained hitless through three innings, while Solon tacked on unearned runs in the second and third innings for a 3-0 lead.

I-35 got its first hit and base runner of the game in the top of the fourth when Nathan McKinney beat the throw to first on an infield single behind the second base bag. He was erased at second base when Dillion Wickett reached on a fielder's choice. Cory Strable reached on an error to put runners on first and second, but Shulista recorded his eighth strikeout of the game to end the threat.

And while the I-35 offense was getting better at-bats against Shulista, Brommel was hitting his stride on the hill.

The senior I-35 ace struck out a pair of Spartans in the fourth inning and struck out the side in the fifth around I-35's third error of the game.

The Roadrunners had their second and last hit of the game in the fifth when Kyle Johnson ripped a sharp single to left field. He was forced out at second on a ground ball by J.D. Fickes, who went to second on an error on the throw for a possible double play. But he was left standing there when Shulista forced a weak infield pop-out.

"Each year we get closer. Even though it was 4-0 this year, 4-0 against the number one team in the state with a couple chances to get a score and just didn't get a hit, it could have easily been a 4-2 game," Douglas said. "Just keep getting here and give ourselves a chance.

"We were always in it and that's all you can ask for once you get here. Keep yourself in the game."

Solon tacked on one more insurance run in the bottom of the sixth and Shulista retired the Roadrunners in order in the top of the seventh to end the contest.

I-35 has made four trips to State under Douglas and are still searching for that elusive first State Tournament victory.

"My goals every year are pretty much the same. First you want to win the conference and do as well as you can do in conference play. Second goal is to win the district. Third goal is to win substate. And the fourth goal is to win state," Douglas said. "And we've knocked on the door. Maybe the outside door, not the kitchen door, but we've knocked on the door. And we'll break through. We just have to keep giving ourselves an opportunity."

Brommel finished the game with eighth strikeouts, walked two and allowed four runs on six hits against a team that entered the tournament hitting .411. The Spartans have averaged more than 10 runs a game this season, but were held to four by Brommel.

"Blake threw really well. For no more looks than what he's gotten from people at the next level, to play the number one team in the state and hold them to six hits, with their credentials coming in offensively, I couldn't have asked for any more as a coach," Douglas said.

Brommel said he pitched a good game, but wasn't entirely pleased with his final high school start.

"I wish I could have done a little better, but you take what you get I guess," he said. "I knew they would hit the ball and put it in play and that's exactly what they did. They just got more hits than we did."

Brommel ended the season with a 7-4 record and an ERA under two.

Solon head coach Keith McSweeney was impressed with both pitchers.

"It was a great pitcher's duel. I give a lot of credit to their pitcher. He relaxed after the first couple of innings and really settled in. He started gaining some movement it looked like," he said. "And he started getting ahead of our hitters. At the start of the game that wasn't necessarily happening. That's baseball right there. It's not 11-4 or 12-11, it's when you have a game under five runs."

As for the performance of Shulista, McSweeney said, "He did a really nice job. He got ahead on about every hitter and didn't walk anybody. When he does that, he's mighty tough to beat. Very happy with the pitching performance and our defense tonight."

Shulista allowed two hits, struck out nine and hit one batter.

McSweeney added that he was pleased with how the Spartans came out ready to play. They didn't let the No. 1 ranking or No. 1 seed get to their heads.

"The rankings and the records at this time of the year don't mean anything. We've been knocked off our perch two years in a row here and it can end pretty quickly," he said. "They're here for a reason as well. They're a well-coached team and they pitch really well. In many ways when you win a ball game like that you're very happy, because you saw good pitching and you're going to get better because of that."

SOLID SENIORS

The Roadrunners had several underclassmen starting in the State Tournament, but will lose the services of seniors Brommel, Moore, McKinney and Dillion Wickett. Brommel and Wickett were starters on the past three I-35 State Tournament teams.

"They've been with us for the last three years and they've played really well and been leaders," Douglas said. "Zach Moore stepped up as a starter for the first time this year and had a tremendous year. Dillon has been very consistent all the way through high school and the same with Blake. Nate McKinney stepped in last year as the starter in center field and did a great job.

"They're going to be sorely missed and tough to replace. But we have to find them somewhere. We have some good kids in the program. We'll be alright. It just depends if those guys step up and play and we can replace these guys, we might be back here again, who knows?"

Moore said it was tough ending his career without a State Tournament victory.

"It's really disappointing to not get a win. It's an honor to be here and Blake pitched a great game and they're a really good team. It just sucks not getting it," he said.
"We had to fight hard to get here. But when we were here we felt we could do it. We had all the belief in the world, we just ended up falling short."

Brommel said he hopes the Roadrunners will continue the State Tournament streak next summer.

"It's been fun coming up here and playing every year. I'm just happy we made it back here and got a chance to play here again," he said. "We lost a lot of seniors last year, but I knew we had a good chance to make it again. We have a lot of good athletes on our team. And hopefully they can make it again next year."

The returning starters who will be looked to as leaders next season include pitcher/shortstop Cory Strable, catcher Ethan Calvert, third baseman Kyle Johnson, first baseman J.D. Fickes, outfielder Logan Tibbits and pitcher Ryan Deuel.