(MORAVIA, IOWA) – There will be a community blood drive held on Tuesday, Jan. 30 from 1:00 PM – 6:00 PM at the Nazarene Church Fellowship Hall, located at 405 Myra Lane.
To make an appointment, contact Carol Martin at 641-895-9090 or schedule online by clicking here.
It was a busy night in high school volleyball last night as Class 1A and 2A got their postseason play underway.
In Class 1A Region 4, Montezuma dispatched North Mahaska in straight sets as heard on 104.9 FM KBOE and kboeradio.com. Monte struggled in the opening set as the Warhawks forced several errors with strong defense. The Bravettes had to stave off two set points before rallying for a 26-24 win in the first set. The wind went out of the sails for NM after that as Monte cruised in the second and third sets, 25-9 and 25-11. North Mahaska’s season ends at 13-16.
Montezuma will host Grand View Christian next Monday in the quarterfinals of regional play. GVC dominated Melcher-Dallas in straight sets (25-9, 25-4, 25-6). Monte enters ranked #11 in the final Class 1A rankings and has a 30-5 record. GVC will enter unranked with a record of 25-22.
Also in Region 4, Lynnville-Sully was ousted at home by Collins-Maxwell in a sweep (25-16, 25-13, 25-13). Their season ends with a record of 16-13.
Region 6 produced a win for the area with a sweep for BGM. The Bears protected their home court with a win over Meskwaki Settlement School (25-16, 25-19, 25-23). That’s just the fourth win of the year for BGM, and all of them have occurred in the past six games. The next match for the 4-24 Bears will be on the road against #9 Iowa Valley, who has beaten BGM in their only meeting on October 2. That game is in Marengo on Monday, October 23 at 7 PM.
Class 1A Region 7 saw English Valleys a sweep at home over Tri-County (25-18, 25-21, 25-13). EV moves into the quarters to face conference foe HLV, who is ranked #14 in the final rankings. Tri-County’s season ends with a record of 1-22. Keota lost in their match at Winfield-Mount Union in four sets (25-19, 25-21, 24-26, 27-25). That tight match ends their season at 2-20.
In Region 8, Moravia had a tough battle against Moulton-Udell but survived to get the clean sweep (25-11, 29-27, 25-23). Moravia now faces #6 New London next Monday in the quarterfinals. In that same bracket, Twin Cedars fell to Seymour in straight sets (25-16, 25-17, 25-10). The Sabers finish the year at 3-16.
Jumping into Class 2A, Pleasantville won their first-round match in Region 4. The Trojans got a sweep over Martensdale-St. Marys (
In Region 5, Sigourney got a four-set win over Cardinal, as heard on 99.5 FM/740 AM KMZN and radiokmzn.com. Sigourney took the win at home by scores of 25-17, 25-22, 16-25, 25-23. The Savages now take on the Pekin Panthers in Packwood on Monday. Cardinal finishes their year with a record of 8-22.
Also in the bottom of that bracket, Pella Christian picked up a win at home over Colfax-Mingo in straight sets (25-8, 25-13, 25-14). PC moves to the quarterfinals to face Van Meter on Monday on the road.
More postseason action hits the court Wednesday night as the Class 3A, 4A, and 5A regions begin play.
In Class 3A Region 6, PCM will go on the road to face West Marshall in State Center. In Region 8, Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont hosts Albia. Those matches begin at7 PM.
Class 4A Region 4 is highlighted by Oskaloosa going on the road to face Knoxville. You can hear that match on 99.5 FM/740 AM KMZN and radiokmzn.com starting with the pregame show at 6:45 PM. In the bottom of that bracket, Newton plays at Carlisle. Region 6 sees Grinnell go on the road to face Clear Creek-Amana.
Finally, in Class 5A, Ottumwa hosts Des Moines North in Region 5. All matches start at 7 PM.
The football season is winding down with just two weeks of the regular season remaining. Even though there’s just two games left for most teams, there’s dozens of playoff implications that can come into play for several teams still hanging around for a postseason berth.
In Class 4A District 4, the Newton Cardinals improbably started their season 6-0. But a loss to Southeast Polk last week has put them in a dire position, needing to win both of their remaining games to squeak into the playoffs. With powerhouse West Des Moines Valley on deck, it would be a monumental feat for the Cardinals to be playing postseason football.
The same cannot be said for the Oskaloosa Indians, who will be looking to cinch up a playoff spot out of Class 3A District 5 in Washington this week. Osky has a very easy road map: beat Washington and you’re in, lose to Washington and you need to hope to get a wild card. A Week 9 matchup with West Burlington/Notre Dame should not deter the Indians should they get past the Demons.
Also in Class 3A, Pella is well on their way to another district title after holding off Norwalk last week. The Dutch are the only unbeaten team left in District 6 and have favorable matchups at North Polk and at home to Nevada to wrap up their season.
In Class 2A District 6, PCM is rolling through their schedule. After a tough non-district loss to undefeated Pella Christian in the season opener, the Mustangs have won six straight and are big favorites against Davis County and Clarke as they wind down a season where they’ll be named District 6 Champions.
Class 1A District 4 is pretty self-explanatory for Sigourney/Keota. There’s one open playoff spot after Iowa City Regina and the Cobras need to beat Wilton and Wapello the last two weeks of the season to clinch it. A win over Wapello this week would effectively eliminate them from the race and leave it between S/K and Wilton, and they will meet in Wilton to decide the automatic berth in Week 9.
District 5 in Class 1A is monopolized by a couple of area teams. Pella Christian is still undefeated after they knocked off Pleasantville on the road last week. PC should waltz to the district title. Pleasantville has to beat Woodward-Granger this week to clinch their spot in the playoffs.
Class A District 6 has been a fun one to follow all year and Lynnville-Sully is on their way to winning the district title. The Hawks started 8-0 last year before losing in Week 9 to Montezuma. Now, after gutsy wins over Pekin and New London, L-S gets a bye before seeing the Braves again looking for retribution on their way to the playoffs and a first round home game. Pekin faces off with New London this week to determine the #2 seed out of this district, while the loser hopes to get one of the wild cards.
Finally, 8-Player District 5 is chaotic. All we know is that HLV is sitting pretty at 5-0 in the district after a big win over Colo-Nesco. HLV faces Melcher-Dallas this week. If M-D were to drop this home game, they will likely fall out of the playoff race. Moravia is also hanging around. Their matchup this week with Colo-Nesco will factor heavily into that #2 seed. A Melcher-Dallas win this week would create even more chaos, however, as all four teams could end the week with hopes of the playoffs going into Week 9. There are no wild cards in 8-Player football so these matchups are huge for these schools.
We’ll be following the action closely the last two weeks of the season, so be sure to join us for Scores and More Presented By Bubbl’r after the games go final Friday night on 104.9 FM KBOE, 99.5 FM/740 AM KMZN, kboeradio.com and radiokmzn.com.
Postseason volleyball is just around the corner and the matchups are set.
The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union released the final brackets in all five classes for the 2017 volleyball playoffs. The two smallest classes will begin play on Tuesday, October 17th at 7 PM.
In Class 1A Region 4, four area teams are in the top half of the bracket. Lynnville-Sully (9-9) will host Collins-Maxwell (15-4). That match is in Sully even though C-M has the better record. This is their first year without Baxter as a part of the athletic teams. Winner of that matchup will face #8 North Tama (21-6) in the second round.
Also in that bracket is #9 Montezuma (19-3), who will host North Mahaska (10-12) in the first round. That match can be heard on 104.9 FM KBOE, kboeradio.com, and the KBOE mobile app starting around 6:45 PM on October 17th. Monte is 2-0 this season against North Mahaska. Winner of that match will face the winner of Melcher-Dallas (2-8) and Grand View Christian School (19-20). M-D will host that game.
BGM is the only area team in Class 1A Region 6. The Bears (0-22) will host Meskwaki Settlement School (4-15) in the first round with the winner drawing #10 Iowa Valley in the quarterfinals.
Region 7 has a trio of teams from the area in Class 1A. English Valleys (8-11) will host Tri-County (0-13) in North English. The winner will draw #14 HLV in the quarterfinals. Also in the top half of that bracket is Keota. The Eagles (2-11) are on the road to face Winfield-Mount Union (11-18). Winner of that match will face either Iowa Mennonite School (12-9) or WACO (5-15).
Class 1A Region 8 involves Moravia and Twin Cedars. The Mohawks (9-12) will host Moulton-Udell (0-14) in the first round. Winner will play at #5 New London in the quarterfinals. Also in the top half of that Region 8 bracket, the Twin Cedars (3-10) will face Seymour (14-5) in Centerville. Winner will matchup with either #7 Holy Trinity Catholic (24-5) or Notre Dame (13-20).
In Class 2A, Pleasantville is the lone area team in Region 4. The Trojans (3-7) will play at home in the first round against Martensdale-St. Marys (4-11). Winner draws Des Moines Christian (19-8) in the quarters.
In Region 5 of Class 2A, Pella Christian (13-12) will play host to Colfax-Mingo (9-10). PC has been ranked for much of the year and their strength of schedule is one of the best in Class 2A. Also in the bottom of the bracket, Sigourney (6-10) will host Cardinal (6-16) with the winner taking on Pekin (19-11) in the quarterfinals.
We’ll be keeping close tabs with all of these games when they happen. You can check out a preview of Class 3A, 4A, and 5A in the coming days. Check out South By South Central on Wednesdays at 5:15 PM on 104.9 FM KBOE and kboeradio.com to hear more volleyball coverage as well.
Five weeks of high school football are in the books and we are starting to learn who the contenders are in every district in the state.
For our listening area, there are several teams who seem to be look to push towards the playoffs.
Oskaloosa (3-2) made the playoffs in 2016 after a great 7-2 regular season after a couple of down years. They are looking to repeat the dose here in 2017, and their road map is identical. Wins in their last four games will clinch the #2 spot in Class 3A District 5 and send Osky to the postseason. Their biggest challenge will be in Week 8 against Washington, who sits at 4-1 on the year.
Pella (4-1) also sits pretty as one of the top teams in Class 3A District 6 along with Norwalk (4-1). Those teams will battle for what will likely be the District 6 Championship in Week 7.
In Class 2A, PCM (4-1) should run away with the District 6 Title once again, following up a dominant run in 2016. District 6 is fairly weak after the Mustangs which has to door wide open for someone to grab that second spot. After EBF’s (3-3) tough loss to Albia last Friday, Central Lee seems to be in the best shape to snag that #2 slot and an automatic playoff berth. Do not rule out a wild card team either, as Centerville (2-3) snuck into the playoffs last year after having a high district point differential.
In Class 1A District 4, Sigourney/Keota (2-3) is looking to bounce back after a couple of tough weeks to start the year. Their playoff aspirations likely rest on their Week 9 matchup on the road at Wilton (5-0) as Iowa City Regina (3-2) will run away with the district. Don’t sleep on Louisa-Muscatine (2-3), as they still have a road to the playoffs they can follow as well.
Class 1A District 5 seems to be locked up for Pella Christian (5-0) and Pleasantville (5-0) to make it back to the playoffs. They will meet in Pleasantville in Week 7 to likely determine the district champion and who will get home field in the first round.
Chaos is the name of the game in Class A District 6, as Lynnville-Sully (5-0), Pekin (6-0), and New London (4-0) are all rolling so far this year. A huge matchup will be featured in our Game of the Week on 104.9 FM KBOE and kboeradio.com this Friday, as Lynnville-Sully hosts Pekin. Winner of that matchup sets themselves up nicely to get into the playoffs and potentially win the district while the loser will need to win out. New London gets their crack at the top when they host Lynnville-Sully in Week 7 and travel to face Pekin in Week 8.
In 8-Player District 5, Moravia (5-1) seemed to have the best chance to make the playoffs, but a slip up last week at HLV (4-2) has the Mohawks desperate. A Week 8 duel at Colo-Nesco (4-1) will in all likelihood decide who gets the only other playoff berth at stake barring any upsets to HLV. Melcher-Dallas (4-1) has played well this season and have a route to the playoffs, but will be a solid underdog in their matchups with HLV and Moravia in Weeks 8 and 9.
Newton (5-0) has looked great in Class 4A so far this year, but the Cardinals have benefitted from the weakest schedule in the state’s largest class. They have two top teams in Southeast Polk and West Des Moines Valley in as opponents in District 4 and will need to beat at least one of them to have a chance at the postseason. That doesn’t include tough matchups against Indianola and Fort Dodge that the Cardinals will be also find themselves as underdogs.
The playoffs begin October 27th, but we will be able to track every single movement of our area teams between now and then. Check kboeradio.com or radiokmzn.com for weekly looks at the area playoff picture.
It’s never easy to become an All-State athlete, but a few area baseball players received that honor, as the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association released their 2017 All-State Teams earlier this week.
In Class 1A, Twin Cedars senior Trace Embray was named to a utility position on the First Team. Embray pitched over 37 more innings than anyone else for the Sabers. He tossed 62 innings while going 8-2 with a superb .90 ERA while striking out 98 batters and walking only 19. Opponents only had a .150 batting average against him.
He was no slouch at the plate either, hitting .440 with 4 homers and 32 RBI. He also had a .567 on-base percentage, went 33 for 34 stealing bases, and struck out only twice in 75 at bats.
He is joined by a pair of area players on the Second Team: Moravia third baseman Tucker Babbit and Sigourney outfielder Avery Moore.
Babbit finished a great junior year in which he led Moravia with a .413 batting average and a .570 on-base percentage. He hit the only home run on the season for the Mohawks while driving in 23. He was also a thief on the basepaths, going 23 for 25 in swipes. He also did some work on the mound, going 4-2 with a 2.22 ERA as the #3 pitcher in the Moravia rotation.
Moore was a great multi-sport athlete and he wraps up his senior season with an All-State Second Team honor. Moore hit .477 in 2017, hitting a homer with 19 runs batted in. He went 35 for 35 in steals and reached base at a .578 clip. He scored 39 runs on the season in just 23 games for Sigourney.
There were no area players named in Class 2A, but there were four players from the area in Class 3A.
On the First Team, Pella’s junior catcher Jaden Rolffs and senior utility player Tyler Hillman were both honored.
Rolffs was the best hitter for the Dutch in 2017, batting .450 with a .522 on-base percentage. He hit 3 home runs with a team-leading 38 RBI. He also walked twice as many times as he struck out.
Hillman finished a great senior season where he was excellent on the mound while doing more than his share of damage at the plate. He went 5-3 with a 2.20 ERA as the Pella ace. At the dish he hit .400 with a team-leading 6 homers with 33 runs driven in. He had a .511 on-base percentage and walked a team-high 23 times.
On the All-State Second Team in Class 3A, Oskaloosa outfielder Tyler Miller and Grinnell shortstop Ethan Mitchell made the team.
Miller finished an outstanding freshman campaign that saw him lead the state qualifying Indians with a .444 batting average. He reached base at a .492 clip while driving in 22 runs. He also led the way in steals with a 23 for 27 mark.
Mitchell helped lead Grinnell’s bounceback season with a .409 average, a .485 on-base percentage, 2 homers, and 36 RBI, all team-highs. The junior was 11 for 13 in steals and also contributed on the mound with a 4-4 record and a 3.32 ERA.
Finally, Ottumwa senior Austin Shotts was named to the All-State Second Team in Class 4A as the third baseman. Shotts batted .476 with a .563 on-base percentage. He hit one homer with a team-leading 25 RBI. He walked 19 times to only 10 strikeouts and went 17 for 21 in stolen bases. He also went 4-2 on the mound with a 2.12 ERA.
It was a successful summer sports season and these players were the cream of the crop on the baseball diamond in our listening area.
Today, it’s time to take a look at who excelled on the baseball diamond in Class 1A and 2A and earned All-District nominations from the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association.
In Class 1A, all of our honorees fell into the Southeast District.
On the First Team, Twin Cedars senior pitcher Trace Embray made the team after going 7-2 in 2017. Embray wraps up an impressive career that began as an important piece to an undefeated championship team in 2014.
Joining him on the First Team is a pair of Moravia Mohawks, also out of the Bluegrass Conference. Junior Tucker Babbitt batted .419 and was named as the First Team 3rd baseman, while Mateo Varese hit .403, went 5-2 on the mound, and was listed as a utility player on the top squad.
To wrap up our area players on the First Team, three players representing three different schools out of the South Iowa Cedar League were honored. Sigourney’s Avery Moore and BGM’s Keegan James were both outstanding this season and both were listed in outfield spots, while Lynnville-Sully’s Tyler Van Zante had a good all-around year at the plate and on the mound en route to being named to a utility player spot.
On the Second Team, there is a huge chunk of players from the area.
Pekin leads the way with four honorees. Senior pitcher Garrett Greiner, sophomore shortstop Tanner Bainbridge, senior outfielder Jake Huff, and junior utility player Torell Washington all were named to the Second Team for the Panthers.
Moravia, Sigourney, BGM, and Lynnville-Sully had more honorees on the Second Team as well.
Moravia’s junior pitcher Griffin Cosgrove went 5-0 on the mound and was nominated to the second squad.
The Sigourney duo of sophomore catcher Carson Crawford and sophomore outfielder Mac Conrad also made the cut for the Savages who reached a district final.
BGM had a trio of nominations. Senior catcher Dylan Shafbuch, senior 3rd baseman Eric Weiss, and junior utility player Kyle Doty all made the second team.
Rounding out our listening area athletes in Class 1A is a tandem of Lynnville-Sully upperclassmen. Senior outfielder Caden Dunsbergen and junior utility player Elijah Collins have starred in multiple sports for the Hawks and that continued on the diamond with Second Team All-Southeast District honors in 2017.
In Class 2A, only three area players made lists, and all three were listed in different districts.
The lone First Team honoree is Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont junior KJ McCrea, who was listed as the Southeast District shortstop after batting .436 this season.
In the Central District, PCM junior pitcher Noah Henkenius went 6-1 and was named to the Second Team, while Pleasantville’s sophomore catcher Cael Lester hit .429 en route to being named to the Second Team of the Southwest District.
It was an extremely successful baseball season for our listening area, and that was directly reflected by the amount of players that were named by the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association as All-District athletes.
It was a busy night on Tuesday in terms of postseason baseball, as the Class 1A District Quarterfinals and the Class 2A District Semifinals were on tap.
In Class 2A District 11, Pella Christian held off Davis County, 7-6, to get into the district final on Saturday. They’ll play Centerville, who won a slugfest over Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont, 15-11. That matchup will be on Saturday at 7 PM in Centerville.
Also in Class 2A, PCM was in the District 14 semis, but fell to conference foe Roland-Story, 5-0. PCM’s season ends at 16-8.
In Class 1A District 8, in a game heard on 104.9 FM KBOE, Sigourney defeated Iowa Valley in a tight matchup, 7-6. Sigourney will be playing HLV on Thursday in Keota at 5 PM in the district semis. HLV beat English Valleys, 14-2 in 5 innings.
On the other side of that bracket, BGM destroyed Keota, 18-0 in 5 innings. The Bears will play Iowa Mennonite School, who got a 16-0 win over Tri-County Tuesday night. That game will be at 7 PM in Keota on Thursday.
In Class 1A District 10, Pekin beat Cardinal in Riverside, 5-4. The Panthers will play Highland in Riverside on Thursday night at 7 PM.
District 11 is loaded with area teams, and three local schools won their matchups. Moravia beat Moulton-Udell, 11-0 in 5 innings. They’ll play Lynnville-Sully in the semifinals, who beat Melcher-Dallas, 3-0. That game is in Bussey Thursday at 5 PM.
Colfax-Mingo and Twin Cedars will play in the other semifinal in Bussey Thursday at 7 PM. The Sabers beat North Mahaska, 6-5, while Colfax-Mingo defeated Montezuma, 12-2 in 5 innings.
We’ll have continuous coverage of local baseball on our website, kboeradio.com.
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