The semi-tradition of “the team that beats North Tama, or the team that beats the team that beats North Tama, wins it all” came true again this year in baseball, as Mason City Newman shut out Pleasantville Saturday to win the Class 1A title. Newman mercy-rule’d every postseason opponent except one (Algona Garrigan, in substate), outscoring them 76-6. Gladbrook-Reinbeck, the team that beat North Tama this year, scored four of those six in the first round of the state tournament.
In the 24 Class 1A state baseball championship games since Norway High School closed, private schools have filled 23 of the 48 slots and won 11 of the titles. (Newman in 2009-15 counts for five of the 23 and three of the 11.) This year, private schools were six of the 16 district #1 seeds. However, the best record belonged to undefeated (public) Van Buren, who pulled off an impersonation of Kentucky and lost its first game at the wrong time.
Given this exchange of tweets involving IHSAA information director Bud Legg, don’t expect anything to change any time soon.