Three of the eight semifinal matchups in the 2017 Iowa high school state baseball tournament will be between private schools.
Mason City Newman and Remsen St. Mary’s, Dyersville Beckman and Iowa City Regina, and Davenport Assumption and Dubuque Wahlert all play in the next two days.
In the Class 1A field, either Newman or RSM has made the final four every year for 11 years (Newman was eliminated in the first round in 2006). The matchup will guarantee one private school in the championship game, as there has been every year except three in the past quarter-century.
In Class 2A, with Carroll Kuemper lurking on the other side of the bracket, that class has potential for a third all-private championship game this school year, and that’s only because Western Christian and Regina played the 1A title game in football.
Tangentially related: Last week’s epic Class 2A softball championship game had seven runs scored in the SIXTEENTH inning, and the Ottumwa Courier’s recap is worth your time. (Regina won on an EBF error.)