Muscatine, Iowa -- Indian Hills made it to the championship game of the Region 11 post-season tournament on Sunday, but dropped a 10-6 decision to Iowa Western allowing the Reivers to claim the title. An IHCC win would have forced another game between the two teams, but Iowa Western jumped out to an early 8-2 lead and claimed a win that ended the Falcons' season.
A shutout pitching performance by sophomore Travis Neubeck against Marshalltown CC on Friday got Indian Hills off to a good start in the double-elimination tourney, IHCC winning 4-0. Neubeck allowed the Tigers only six hits in a route-going effort. That win moved the Falcons into their first matchup with Iowa Western, a game the Reivers won 8-0 on Saturday morning. The Falcons stayed alive in the tourney with a 4-2 victory against Muscatine, extending their stay til Sunday, and what turned out to be the season finale.
Neubeck, IHCC's wins leader for the season with seven, got the Friday shutout victory in a game whose start was delayed nearly six hours by rain. Indian Hills pushed across an early run and then added to the lead with three runs in the 4th, two of them scoring on a double by Paolo Montezuma. Joel Fuentes and Kyle Keck had the other RBIs -- Keck on a two-out single in the 2nd and Fuentes on a bases-loaded walk prior to Montezuma's double -- and Ben Reznicek and Justin Chalupa each had two-hit games for IHCC.
Neubeck didn't walk anyone and fanned nine in notching his 7th win of the year against only two losses.
Iowa Western's Mitch McIntyre scattered nine Indian Hills hits in the 8-0 win for the Reivers. They had a dozen hits including homers by Alex Krupa and Jake Scudder.
Johno Rodriguez started and took the loss for Indian Hills. He was followed to the mound by Trevor Kiminski and Cody Hinson.
Fuentes and Montezuma had two hits apiece and Olivier Basabe had three for the Falcons.
In the must-win victory against Muscatine, IHCC got strong pitching from Bryce Collins and Michael Starcevich to keep their season alive. Collins went the first eight innings, permitting seven hits and two earned runs with no walks and eight Ks. Starcevich finished up in the 9th and saved the win. The runs scored by the Cardinals came on a pair of solo homers.
Montezuma and Jake Lewis drove in first-inning runs for the Falcons and Mike Levar increased a 2-1 lead to 4-1 with a two-run home run in the 6th. Collins was lifted after a homer by Bryan Morales leading off the 9th cut the deficit to two runs, but Starcevich came on to nail it down.
Both Lewis and Levar had a pair of hits.
In the final game against Iowa Western, the Reivers scored six runs in the first two innings against IHCC starter David Kroger. Trailing 10-3, the Falcons tried to rally with a single run in the 8th and two more in the 9th.
Neubeck took over behind the plate in the contest and went 2-for-4 with a single and a two-run homer in the 9th. Keck and Chalupa had two hits and Keck scored three times.
Indian Hills closed the season with a 31-28 record.