WD Bobcats end Comets’ baseball season with 10-0 substate first-round win

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

FARLEY — When Noah White throws strikes, good things usually happen.

During the Class 1A State Bowling Championships this past winter, White threw plenty of strikes while advancing all the way to the final match where he eventually finished runner-up despite rolling a 212 game against Vinton-Shellsburg’s Vann Lessig, who got hot at the best time possible with a hard-to-beat 262.

As a freshman member of the Charles City baseball team, White was tested again in the postseason when he got the start against No. 5-ranked Western Dubuque in the first round of the Class 3A-Substate 3 baseball bracket, Saturday at Farley Community Park.

With a sneaky fast fastball and a sharp-breaking curve, White held the heavily favored Bobcats scoreless in two of the three innings he pitched.

But in the middle inning — the second — White issued a couple of walks with the Comets’ defense giving the Bobcats an extra out, which led to a 4-run rally.

That proved to be more than enough to protect for the Bobcats, who — nonetheless — rallied for 6 more runs in the fifth inning to end the game with a 10-0 final.

The star of the game was Bobcat junior Aaron Kraft, who was the winning pitcher with a five-inning no-hitter while striking out four. Only two Comets reached base against Kraft — senior Jack Hanson, who reached on an infield error in the first inning; and Luke Jacobs, who was hit by a pitch in the fourth inning.

Kraft also drove in 4 runs on a pair of 2-RBI singles.

Bobcat catcher Brett Harris had a 2-RBI double during the 4-run second inning.

Comet senior Jordan Foster, whose multisport career at Charles City came to an end with the substate loss to the Bobcats, pitched a scoreless inning of relief in the fourth inning and got the first batter out in the fifth before yielding a walk and then lifted ahead of the decisive rally. Foster and White each recorded a strikeout against the Bobcats.

Western Dubuque (26-12) advanced to play Independence in Monday’s substate semifinal at Farley Community Park.  The Mustangs (14-20) had defeated Decorah (20-15) in their first-round game on Saturday.

In Monday’s other substate semifinal, Center Point-Urbana (27-8) hosted Waverly-Shell Rock (23-12).

The Class 3A-Substate 3 championship game is scheduled for Wednesday (July 17) at a site yet to be determined.