Linn-Mar High School - Marion, Iowa

Linn-Mar gives its old field a special farewell

They're going to rip apart the baseball field at Linn-Mar High School later this summer and put a $5 million swimming pool in its place, but all that water won't be able to drown the happy memories from the final game at the old park Wednesday night.

The ninth-ranked Lions capitalized on a life-haunting error by the Muscatine second baseman with two outs in the bottom of the seventh and escaped the Muskies, 2-1, in eight dramatic innings in the Class 4A substate finals.

If Muscatine second baseman Tyler Kovach had made an accurate throw to first base on a simple groundball by Kevin Bogert in the bottom of the seventh, the Lions would have suffered a 1-0 loss at the hands of Muscatine ace Derek Burkamper and turned in their uniforms.

Instead, Linn-Mar (29-11) advanced to the Class 4A state tournament and will face No. 2 Kennedy (32-6) in an all-Metro battle in the opening round on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Principal Park in Des Moines.

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Stolley tosses shutout as Lions roar

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.

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Linn-Mar shares MVC title with split

IOWA CITY - The Linn-Mar Lions left Mercer Park in Iowa City Monday night proud of their accomplishments this season but sad they didn't accomplish a little more.

The ninth-ranked Lions split a makeup doubleheader with Iowa City High and finished in a first-place tie with Kennedy for the Mississippi Division title in the MVC with a 22-4 mark in the conference.

If the Lions had swept the twinbill, they would have claimed the division title all by themselves.

Linn-Mar won the first game, 7-2, but dropped the nightcap 4-1 on a grand slam by City High slugger Josh Crosby.

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Linn-Mar foiled by Rams in 10 innings

The Linn-Mar softball team will play in a brand-new stadium next year as part of a new joint baseball/softball complex in town.

Unfortunately for the Lions, the final game at their old field was not a happy occasion.

Dubuque Senior defeated Linn-Mar, 9-6, in 10 innings in the Class 5A regional semifinals.

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