Connect with us
DAPA Banner
DAPA Coin
DAPA
COIN PAYMENT ASSET
PRIVACY · BLOCKDAG · HOMOMORPHIC ENCRYPTION · RUST
ElGamal Encrypted MINE DAPA
🚫 GENESIS SOLD OUT
DAPAPAY COMING ›
Web Wallet
webwallet.dapahe.com
›
Zodiac Wallet
dapahe.com/zodiac-gui-wallet
›
DapaPay NEW
dapapay.com
›
△ MINE DAPA NOW
CPU · NO FEES · 60s SETUP›

Sports

Indianola tops Pleasant Valley, wins program’s first Iowa baseball state title

Published

1 day ago

on

After years of waiting, Indianola has finally done it.

In the program’s fifth-ever trip to the Iowa high school baseball state tournament and its first-ever state championship game, Indianola claimed the program’s first state championship with a 9-6 win over Pleasant Valley on Friday, July 24.​

Advertisement

“This means everything,” said Indianola senior Zach Benge. “A lot of people sleep on the Indy boys, but we are here to play. We are here to compete.” ​

Advertisement

Now, the 2026 Indianola baseball team is cemented as the best team in school history, surpassing the historic 1969 team. But it took some time, unity, and understanding about what the next steps were to reach their goal. ​

1 / 43

See the action from Indianola vs Pleasant Valley at Iowa state baseball

The Indianola Indians hoist the championship trophy after defeating the Pleasant Valley Spartans 9-6 July 24, 2026 in the Class 4A Iowa state baseball final at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Advertisement

(Julia Hansen/Iowa City Press-Citizen)

“I had a conversation with (former MLB star and Indianola native) Casey Blake about three years ago,” said Indianola coach Nathan Carlin. “I was the head coach at Bondurant-Ferrer at the time and (Casey) just said, ‘I want you to be our next head coach,’ and we just kind of bought into each other. His kids, his nephews, bought into me. The entire team, the entire community bought into what we were trying to do.”

​After last season’s substate final loss to Iowa City West, there was immediate conversation matched with hunger to get better, to learn from that loss.​

Advertisement

Advertisement

“We took our lumps three years ago with a young team; last year we put it together. We had a really nice team, but we learned there was another level that to be a champion,” Carlin said. “That just motivated us for the next 365 days. We had a picture of City High holding the 4A state trophy in my classroom and in our dugout for the last year, and every day the kids walked by and looked at it and just knew they had to put in a little more.”​

More: Iowa high school state baseball tournament 2026: Scores, brackets

After Thursday night’s state semifinal win over Valley, Carlin said he wanted to keep things as normal as possible in preparation for the state title game.

Advertisement

​“We’re going to eat a good dinner, let them sleep a little bit, have a good breakfast, and then go lift,” Carlin said. “Some of our staff will stay, get a good scouting report done, and then we’ll go ahead and go through the same routine that we’ve done for every game.”​

Advertisement

But what Carlin forgot to mention was his team would get a chance to take a tour of Carver-Hawkeye Arena and shoot some hoops – that’s how they finished their preparation before arriving at Veterans Memorial Stadium.​

The Indianola Indians hoist the championship trophy after defeating the Pleasant Valley Spartans 9-6 July 24, 2026 in the Class 4A Iowa state baseball final at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

The Indianola Indians hoist the championship trophy after defeating the Pleasant Valley Spartans 9-6 July 24, 2026 in the Class 4A Iowa state baseball final at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

And it turned out the pregame shootaround worked well and Indianola rushed out to a 5-0 lead after the first two innings.

Advertisement

But slowly Pleasant Valley began to make noise. Dawson Bales blasted a solo home run in the top of the third, and it ignited the Spartans. Mason McCaw singled to bring in Jackson O’Melia, and it was suddenly 5-2.​

But Indianola answered right back. Brody Merema doubled to bring in two runs in the bottom of the third, and a wild pitch scored Dallas Harlan. Things looked stable again for the No. 2 seed in the tournament.

Advertisement

More: VOTE: Most outstanding player at 2026 Iowa state baseball tournament

Advertisement

But in the top of the sixth, the Spartans put pressure on Indianola pitcher Jackson Foust, ending his outing after 5 ⅔ innings and 79 pitches.​ Gavin Barber singled to bring in a run, then on a deep hit to right field, Bales came through again with a bases-clearing, three-RBI double. Pleasant Valley has all the momentum and was only down two runs, 8-6.​

Indianola used three pitchers in the sixth, from Foust to Joey Crabb, who went just six pitches, and then finally Jacob Orey, who got Indianola out of the sixth-inning jam. Pleasant Valley left two on after Orey struck out Evan Barr, but with an inning left, the game was far from over.

​”We were trying to stay after it, win every pitch,” said Pleasant Valley coach Derek Stecklein. “At that point, don’t worry about what happened earlier in the game, and focus on where we were and focus on every pitch.”

Advertisement

Advertisement

Indianola added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth as Benge added to his three-RBI day, sending out a home run to the left field patio seats.

“I was so excited, got the barrel extended, and I didn’t even feel it off the bat,” he added.​

More: Des Moines Register seeks fall high school sports intern

That final run was all Indianola needed to secure its first state title. While the 27 players on the roster are thrilled with their accomplishment, they’re even more excited to finally bring a state title back to the nearly 17,000 people who reside just south of Des Moines.

Advertisement

“Indianola is a type of town where you get sucked in, and you don’t want to leave because it’s such a tight-knit community that has each other’s backs and is so supportive of you, and a baseball town,” Carlin said.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Indianola tops Pleasant Valley, wins program’s first Iowa baseball state title

Source link

Advertisement
Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

Sports

5 biggest delinquents after the 2026 Hungarian GP

Published

7 minutes ago

on

26 July 2026

By

The F1 penalty points system has been put in place to keep the driving standards in the sport above a certain level. These were introduced in 2014 after the driving standards took a dip in the early 2010s, and there were quite a few incidents on the track. We even had Romain Grosjean getting banned in 2012 for the first-lap incident in Belgium.

As part of the Penalty Points system, drivers are given points based on the severity of their transgressions. These transgressions could be dangerous driving, causing a collision, etc. These points stay with the driver for 12 months, after which they expire.

Any driver who ends up accumulating 12 F1 penalty points faces a race ban. As we get ready to move on from the F1 Hungarian GP, who are the biggest delinquents on the grid? Let’s take a look.

F1 Penalty Points: Who is close to a ban?

#1. Ollie Bearman

Penalty Points: 4

Ollie Bearman now has 4 F1 penalty points to his name.

  • One point: Change of direction while defending during the 2025 Abu Dhabi GP (expires on December 7, 2026).
  • One point: Causing a collision with Liam Lawson at the 2025 Brazilian GP sprint (expires on November 8, 2026).
  • Two points: Causing a collision with Carlos Sainz at the 2025 Italian GP (expires on September 7, 2026).

#2. Kimi Antonelli

Penalty Points: 3

Kimi Antonelli has three F1 penalty points on his superlicense.

  • Two points: Causing a collision with Charles Leclerc in the 2025 F1 Dutch GP (expires on August 31, 2026)
  • One point: Forcing another driver off the track at the 2025 F1 Italian GP (expires on September 7, 2026)

#3. Lewis Hamilton

Penalty Points: 3

The seven-time F1 champion was issued a penalty point for his incident with Franco Colapinto. He’s now at 3 points.

  • One point: Causing a collision with Franco Colapinto during the 2025 F1 Brazilian GP (expires on November 9, 2026)
  • Two points: for failing to slow down under yellow flags during a reconnaissance lap prior to the 2025 Dutch Grand Prix (expires on August 31, 2026)

#4. Alex Albon

Penalty Points: 3

Alex Albon has three penalty points on his license.

  • One point: Causing a collision with Lewis Hamilton at the Las Vegas GP (expires on November 23, 2026)
  • Two points: Causing a collision with Franco Colapinto at the Azerbaijan GP (expires on September 21, 2026)

#5. Lance Stroll

Penalty Points: 3

Lance Stroll is currently at three F1 penalty points on his license.

  • One point: Change of direction while defending during the 2025 Abu Dhabi GP (expires on December 7, 2026).
  • Two points: Causing a collision with Esteban Ocon at the US GP sprint (expires on October 18, 2026)