The Linn-Mar Lions blanked Burlington, 8-0, in the opening round of the Class 4A substate tournament Friday night behind an outstanding pitching performance from Jake Stolley.

Stolley went the distance, giving up only four hits while striking out 11 and walking two.

“I’ve thrown the first (playoff) game each of the last two years, so I was used to the situation,” said Stolley. “So I just went out and played my game. It went pretty well. Banks (catcher Austin Banks) keeps me focused.”

Linn-Mar raised its record to 28-11, setting a school record for most victories in one season. The old mark was 27 wins in 1995.

Stolley, the ace of the staff, helped make it happen.

“Senior on the mound, been there before,” said Linn-Mar Coach Chad Lechner. “His confidence just rubbed off on everyone else, so while it was a close game most of the way, Jake was in control.”

Linn-Mar plated two runs on two hits and two Greyhound errors in the first inning. That was all the scoring until the big top of the seventh for the ninth-ranked Lions.

Linn-Mar sent nine batters to the plate and scored six times in the frame. The big blow was a three-run homer by Banks.

“He threw me a fastball a little up and it was the pitch I was looking for,” said Banks. “He was a challenging pitcher. He just gave me a pitch right where I wanted it.”

The most heads-up play of the night also came in the seventh inning. With the bases loaded and two outs, Stolley took ball four, which was also a wild pitch, and Mitch Stickney, who was running with the pitch, scored from second base.

“I have never seen anybody score from second base on a wild pitch before,” said Lechner.

Nate Greve was the only batter on either team with more than one hit. He collected three safeties for the Lions.

“I feel pressure to be the guy that leads off and I’m the guy that’s supposed to get on,” said Greve. “I just try to put the ball in play.”

“Things went well,” said Lechner. “Greve set the table for us, we got some timely hitting and heads-up play, great pitching and good defense. If you can do all that, you are probably going to win.”

Linn-Mar draws a bye in the second round of the tournament Monday night and will host Muscatine or Prairie in the substate finals on Wednesday.

BURLINGTON (0)

McChesney, lf, 3 0 0 0, Falls, 1b, 3 0 0 0, Patterson, cf, 1 0 0 0, Atkins, 3b, 3 0 1 0, Elmore, c, 3 0 1 0, Dunn, 2b, 3 0 0 0, Cordero, p, 2 0 1 0, Martin, cr, 0 0 0 0, Clayton, ph, 1 0 0 0, Allsup, dh, 2 0 1 0, Gates, ss, 0 0 0 0, Werner, rf, 3 0 0 0. Totals 25 0 4 0.

LINN-MAR (8)

Greve, lf, 4 1 3 0, Mortensen, pr, 0 1 0 0, Bogert, cf, 3 1 0 0, Redmond, 2b, 3 1 1 0, Stickney, rf, 4 1 1 2, Stroschein, 3b, 3 0 0 0, Roth, 1b, 3 1 1 0, Stolley, p, 3 1 0 1, Banks, c, 4 1 1 3, Blackford, dh, 1 0 0 0, Strellner, ss, 0 0 0 0, Kvach, dh, 2 0 0 0. Totals 30 8 7 6.

Linn-Mar      200 000 6 - 8 7 1

Burlington    000 000 0 - 0 4 3

Stolley and Banks; Cordero and Elmore. W - Stolley. L - Cordero. 2B – Allsup, Greve. HR - Banks.