Chickasaws win Class 2A district baseball title

Aggressive base running in the fifth inning put New Hampton up for good and the Chickasaws tacked on four runs in the sixth on their way to a 7-2 victory over Osage in a Class 2A district championship game Saturday.
And now New Hampton is knocking at the state tournament door again. The Chickasaws can break down the door Tuesday night when they play Northeast Iowa Conference rival Oelwein in the substate game that will be played, starting at 7 p.m., at Wartburg College’s Hertel Field in Waverly.
New Hampton jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, but Osage rallied to tie the game in the fifth inning.
The Chickasaws, who improved to 27-9, rebounded in bottom of the frame as Hunter Pesek reached on an error and then advanced around the bases to third on an overthrow.
Osage made an error on a Keegan Kane grounder, and Pesek raced home to make it 3-2.
In the bottom of the sixth, New Hampton broke the game open as a bases-loaded walk to Max Babcock, who fouled off seven pitches in the at-bat, scored one run and Brayden Anderson’s single into the hole scored two more.
That was enough for Mason Cleveland, who pitched 2 2/3 innings of hitless relief to improve to 5-3.
The win gave New Hampton its third district title in the last four years, but the Chickasaws have yet to make their first appearance at the state tournament.
That can all change on Tuesday when the Chickasaws take on Oelwein, an 8-7 winner over Cascade earlier Saturday, in Waverly. The two teams met three times this season with the Huskies taking the first game of a June 7 doubleheader 7-1 before New Hampton earned a split with a 7-3 victory. New Hampton won the regular season rubber match 6-2 on June 21 in Oelwein.
— For more on this story, see the July 23 Tribune