Marion High School - Marion, Iowa

Marion bats go silent in 8-0 setback

VINTON – The deafening silence couldn’t be blamed on the couple of hundred yellow-shirted Marion fans who nearly outnumbered Benton Community supporters at Wednesday night’s Class 3A substate final.

The sounds of silence, instead, came from their boys’ bats as the Indians lost a chance for a repeat state tournament appearance in a resounding 8-0 loss.

Marion was credited with just one hit for the night and that was on a grounder to short by Alex Charipar that could have been an out if handled cleanly.

“We didn’t get good swings on the ball,” said Marion Coach Steve Fish, whose team bowed out at 29-13 and tied a school record for victories in a season.

Read more...

Marion breaks out the bats in win over Solon

SOLON – After seemingly leaving their bats at home three games in a row, the Marion Indians came out swinging Monday night and pounded Solon 9-5 to advance into Wednesday’s Class 3A substate baseball final for the fifth year in a row.

And in the winning the district final, they boosted their record to 29-12 and tied the school mark for victories in a season.

In the past three games, the Indians had scored a total of just seven runs.  They tallied nine in the first three innings Monday on Solon’s exquisite home field.

And it was a good thing they got off to a fast start since they were held to a single hit over the last four innings.

Read more...

Class 3A playoff games make no sense

There is something very odd about the Class 3A baseball playoffs this year. In a nutshell, the IHSAA got it backwards.

The Marion Indians had a vastly superior season than Solon this year, yet the Indians have to play the Spartans on Solon's field Monday night in the district finals.

Likewise, the Benton Community Bobcats have to face Vinton-Shellsburg on Vinton's field even though the sixth-ranked Bobcats are the No. 1 seed in the district and the Vikings have a losing record.

"It kind of bothers me, because I think both of us are kind of up against it a little bit, having to go to Solon and having to go to Vinton," Marion Coach Steve Fish said Saturday. "Baseball is one of those games where every little advantage helps, and I think you need to reward the teams that have had better regular-season records. But who am I to say that?"

Read more...

Shades of 2011: Indians escape Clippers

SOLON -- The Marion Indians began the postseason tournament a year ago with a precarious victory in the district tournament and wound up reaching the semifinals of the Class  state tournament in Des Moines.

Coach Steve Fish hopes history repeats itself this year.

The Indians squeezed past Clear Creek Amana, 2-1, in the 3A district semifinals at Solon on Friday night in a game they were heavily favored to win.

Marion arrived with a 27-12 record, including a pair of easy victories over Clear Creek Amana earlier in the season, and the Clippers began the night with a lowly 6-27 mark.

On paper, it looked like a mismatch. On grass, it looked like a nailbiter.And in the scorebook, it looked like a victory. "It's not about the score of games at this time of the year," Fish noted.

A year ago, the Indians needed a two-run, walk-off homer by Kasey Semler in the eighth inning to survive Center Point-Urbana, 3-1, in the district opener. Fish reminded his club of that game after Friday's close call.

"Absolutely," he said. "That's one of the first things I said. I said, 'Do you remember last year?' We had to go eight innings against Center Point and had a walk-off home run."

Read more...