Fairfax sweeps twinbill from Norway

WALFORD - Fairfax continued its dream season Sunday by sweeping a doubleheader from the Norway Bandits in Walford.

Fairfax won both games by a single run, taking the opener 1-0 and prevailing 7-6 in the nightcap in eight innings.

Fairfax reached the halfway point of the Iowa Valley League season with a 9-1 record, good for a two-game lead over Red Top.

Austin Czerwiec tossed a five-hit shutout for Fairfax in the 1-0  victory in the first game for his fifth victory of the season. Walker Breard had an RBI double in the first inning for the only run in the  well-played game, driving in Cody Williams.

Jordan Hanlon pitched a four-hitter for Norway. JT Sole had two hits for the Bandits.

The second game was tied, 5-5, after seven innings. Norway took a 6-5 lead in the top of the eighth, but Fairfax responded with two runs in the bottom of the eighth for the victory.

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Big innings lift Walford to sweep

WATKINS - The Walford Hogs came into Sunday's doubleheader with Watkins at the bottom of the Iowa Valley League standings.

Coach Kevin Moser has had to juggle his roster for a variety of reasons and it showed as the Hogs got off to a 1-7 start through the  first four weeks of league play.

That changed on Sunday. Walford used a five-run fourth-inning outburst in the opener to post a 6-1 win, then rallied from a 7-2 deficit in the nightcap, scoring six again in the fifth inning en route to an  11-7 triumph at Gabe Kuester Memorial Ball Park.

After a pair of tough losses last week at home to Red Top, the Hogs showed Sunday they will be a force as the second half of the league schedule begins next week.

"A lot of these guys are college ballplayers and they know how to fight and never give up," Moser said.

The roster has changed quite a bit since the opening week of the season. Moser admitted it was tough to build any real team chemistry.

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Fairfax sweeps IVL games from Watkins

WATKINS - Fairfax got more good pitching Sunday and swept an Iowa  Valley League doubleheader from Watkins, 5-1 and 2-1, at Watkins.

Austin Czerwiec raised his record to 4-0 for Fairfax with the victory in Game 1. He struck out eight batters and was named the IVL Pitcher of the Week.

Alex Hayden belted a two-run homer in the seventh inning for Fairfax.

Blake Hargens collected the victory for Fairfax in Game 2 with help from Adam Lloyd, who got the save. Hayden had the game-winning hit with an RBI single in the fourth inning.

Fairfax raised its record to 7-1 and sits alone in first place.

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"Hellerball" alive and well in IVL

WALFORD - Just two short weeks ago, the University of Iowa baseball team came within an eyelash of hosting an NCAA Super Regional.

Many of the Hawkeyes on the field during that memorable weekend of baseball in Houston were back at it again Sunday as members of the Red  Top and Walford teams in the Iowa Valley League.

And, as fate would have it, two Hawkeye hurlers went against each other in the opening game of a doubleheader. Red Top's Cole McDonald  and Walford's Elijah Wood both showed that Iowa fans should feel good about the future of the pitching staff for Coach Rick Heller.

In the end, it was McDonald who prevailed, with a huge assist from reliever Jack Greene in the bottom of the seventh as Red Top held on for a 4-3 win. Coach Adam Sadler's team completed the sweep, taking the nightcap, 6-3, behind a complete game effort from Anthony Gagliardi.

The win was also sweet for McDonald as he got the win in front of his father, Cory, who, along with the rest of the McDonald family, made a surprise trip to watch his son pitch on Father's Day.

"I knew my grandpa would be here," McDonald said. "I didn't know my family was going to come and watch. It was nice that they took the time to drive down."

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