Xavier coach Duane Schulte, Source Media Group's KJ Pilcher, and Solon football coach Kevin Miller.

Coach Miller and Coach Schulte talk about their outlook for the 2010 season and the state of prep football in Eastern Iowa as football season hits full stride this Friday.

Members of the Iowa City West baseball team welcome teammate Sean Moore (15) to home plate after he hit a game tying home run in the bottom of the fifth inning of their substate baseball game against Xavier Wednesday, July 21, 2010 in Iowa City. West won the game 6-4 to advance to the state tournament in Des Moines. (Brian Ray/ SourceMedia Group News)

If there was a comeback player of the year award in high school baseball, Neil Madsen would be a lock.

The Iowa City West senior had surgery last February for a torn labrum and partial rotator cuff tear in his right shoulder. Not only did he return to the Trojans lineup, he did so about three weeks ahead of schedule.

“I knew hitting wise, I’d be back sometime this season,” Madsen said after Iowa City West’s 6-4 win over Cedar Rapids Xavier last night in a terrific Class 4A substate final. “I had a pretty early recovery. I originally thought I’d be able to go about two weeks before substate. Instead it was five weeks. So I got a lot of at-bats before this, and I was ready to go.”

You bet he was. It was his two-out, two-run double to left-center in the bottom of the sixth inning that broke a tie and sent West (28-8) to the state tournament for a second consecutive year.

It’ll be a rematch of last year’s title game in Wednesday afternoon’s quarterfinals as five-seed West plays four-seed Sioux City North (29-10) at 2.

“We told our juniors that we’ve been there before, so we just need to go in and threat it like it’s any other baseball game,” said West second baseman Sean Moore. “We’ve just got to go out there and do what we’ve been doing all year.”

Moore had two home runs against Xavier ace Jon Keller to set the school career record (24). Keller’s fastball was clocked as high as 94 miles per hour, but West made him work, and he was lifted after 110 pitches in the fifth.

The Trojans had six hits and three walks against him.

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“We scouted him a little bit, and he threw like 90 percent fastballs,” Moore said. “So we were up at the plate, back of the box, we’re all thinking fastball. He’s going to bring it.”

Xavier (23-16) had leads of 2-1 and 3-2, rallying for a 4-4 tie on a clutch Alex Ries two-out RBI single in the sixth. The Saints stranded the bases loaded against West ace Ryan Rumpff (10-0) with Matt Goiffon flying to center to end the threat.

Chris Lauer, the No. 8 hitter, singled for the third-straight time against Xavier reliever Ean McNeal to lead off the West sixth. With two on and two out, Madsen laced a 3-1 breaking ball from Mac Mattke to the gap to win it.

“I just said stay inside the ball and hit the ball to the left side of the field,” said Madsen a lefty hitter. “And I did that.”

Blake Helms had three hits for Xavier, with Jake Ratz adding two, including a two-run double after Keller was intentionally walked in front of him. In fact, Stumpff issued three intentional walks in the game, two to Keller, Xavier’s leading hitter.

“Just a good ballgame,” said Xavier Coach Dave Schemmel. “Back and forth. They’re a good ballclub, we had to play good to have a chance. Give them credit for coming back. But I think our guys kept coming back, too.”

Cedar Rapids Xavier's Tyler Sampson bobbles the ball and Ottumwa's Courtney Klyn is safe at second base during a first round Class 4A game at the state softball tournament, Tuesday July 20, 2010 in Fort Dodge, Iowa. (Steve Pope/Freelance)

FORT DODGE — Cedar Rapids Xavier made the big comeback, but couldn’t make the small one.

Katie Sammons drove in three runs, including a tie-breaking sacrifice fly in the top of the sixth inning that ultimately gave 13th-rated Ottumwa a 6-5 win over No. 10 Xavier in a Class 4A state quarterfinal at the state softball tournament Tuesday afternoon at the Rogers Sports Complex.

“I just knew I had to hit it somewhere,” said Sammons, a freshman and a No. 9 batter, who hit a two-run home run earlier in the game.

Ottumwa (31-8) advances to meet No. 1 Des Moines East (28-11) in a semifinal game at 1:30 Thursday afternoon.

Xavier (34-9) rallied from an early 5-0 deficit by plating five runs in the bottom of the third, but the Saints’ offense dried up after that. They managed just one baserunner, on an error, in the final four innings.

“The outside pitch just got us,” said Xavier’s Tyler Sampson. “We knew (Ottumwa pitcher Missy Staloch) was going to throw it, too.”

The Saints collected six hits in their third-inning rally. The first four batters reached, then Sampson delivered a two-run single that cut the Ottumwa advantage to 5-4. Jenna Schulte followed with the tying hit.

“I knew we could get back in it,” Sampson said. “We never gave up. We were going to fight to the end.”

Xavier sent nine batters to the plate in the third. The ninth, Jenny Drahozal, singled to center, but Schulte was cut down at the plate on a throw by center fielder Sammy Garrett.

That turned out to be the Saints’ last hurrah.

Garrett led off the sixth with a single, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt, moved to third on Courtney Klyn’s single, then tallied on Sammons’ fly out to left.

Sammons hooked a home run inside the foul pole in the second, which gave Ottumwa a 3-0 lead. The Bulldogs extended it to 5-0 before the Saints came back.

“I’m happy with the way we bounced back,” said Xavier Coach Brian Erbe. “The ball didn’t bounce our way early, and we expended a lot of energy to get back in it.

“We just couldn’t get over the hump.”

Xavier meets Sioux City East (25-12) in a consolation semifinal at noon Wednesday. The fifth- and seventh-place games are at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

Ottumwa …………………………………………. 122 001 0 – 6  11  0

Cedar Rapids Xavier ………………………….. 005 000 0 – 5  8  1

Missy Staloch (W) and Lindsey Evans. Jenny Drahozal (L) and McKenna Miller. HR: Ottumwa, Katie Sammons.

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Xavier 's Kristen Winter (18, center) runs into a huddle of her teammates after hitting a home run against Iowa City West in the sixth inning of their regional softball final on Wednesday, July 14, 2010, at Cedar Rapids Prairie. (Liz Martin/SourceMedia Group News)

CEDAR RAPIDS — No balls. Two strikes. Clutch spot.

Kristen Winter’s mentality?

“I had to get the ball on the bat and move the runner over,” she said.

She did more. Much, much more.

Winter skied a two-run home run to left field in the top of the sixth inning and Jenny Drahozal did the rest as 10th-ranked Cedar Rapids Xavier defeated No. 6 Iowa City West, 2-0, in a Class 4A regional softball final last night at Prairie High School.

Winter’s homer was the moment. Drahozal’s performance was the story.

The senior allowed only three base runners — two on hits, one on an error — as the Saints (34-6) advanced to state for the fifth time, their first as 4A contestants.

“Jenny was masterful,” said Xavier Coach Brian Erbe. “In the past couple years, she was one of our top two pitchers, and I kept going back and forth on who I should pitch.

“This year, there was no thought process. Jenny was going to be the girl.”

Drahozal didn’t let the opportunity pass.

“I really had no idea what to expect,” she said. “I just took one pitch at a time.”

Xavier will face No. 13 Ottumwa in a state quarterfinal at 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Rogers Sports Complex in Fort Dodge. The Bulldogs (30-8) defeated No. 5 Southeast Polk, 8-3.

West pitcher Mackenzie Haight was locked in a shutout duel with Drahozal through five innings before Winter broke it up.

Abby Bedard opened the top of the sixth with a single. Haight got ahead 0-and-2 to Winter, but Winter won the battle, yanking the ball over the left-field fence.

“I was expecting something off the plate, but I’ve always been taught that when the ball’s there, hit it,” said Winter, who was 3-for-3.

“This is a big deal. A lot of us have been teammates since third or fourth grade. There’s nothing better than seeing them there at the plate, waiting for me.”

Xavier made it to state four straight years (2004-07) as a 3A school, then stayed home the next two years.

Now the Saints are back in Fort Dodge.

“This is the year,” Winter said. “All or nothing. We’ve still got three big steps to go.”

Dubuque Wahlert baseball coach Jerry Roling.

CEDAR RAPIDS — There were no celebratory parties or anything for wins 905 and 906. Just another long bus ride home after a job well done by his team.

“Sometimes I’ll think about ‘Well, there aren’t too many above me,’” Dubuque Wahlert baseball coach Jerry Roling said last night after his Golden Eagles swept Cedar Rapids Xavier, 5-1 and 8-1, at Xavier. “But, overall, I’m just thankful and feel blessed that I’ve had the opportunity to coach so many years and remain healthy. You’ve just got to feel thankful with each year that you get through.”

This is the 39th season Roling has gotten through. He spent five years at Holy Cross Leo and 29 at Cascade before going to Wahlert five years ago.

Roling, 61, took early retirement from teaching and coaching at Cascade, but the Wahlert job was intriguing and he figured he had a few more baseball seasons left in him. A sweep of Linn-Mar two weeks ago gave the coach 900 victories.

He has a 906-437 career mark, the victory total fifth all-time in Iowa and 18th nationally.

“It’s not really the number of wins that means a lot to me, it’s the memories I’ve gained over the years,” Roling said. “The relationships and the friendships, those are the things I feel good about. Certainly I’ve been around good people. When you surround yourself with good people, good things happen. I’ve had great assistants, great players, great parents.

“And the three communities I’ve coached in are great baseball communities. That certainly helps, too.”

Roling credited assistant coach Kory Tuescher for helping him feel rejuvenated, saying he has turned over some of his duties to Tuescher, also an assistant at Loras College. The Golden Eagles are 22-8.

“He’s a good guy,” said Xavier Coach Dave Schemmel, a Monticello native who played against Roling’s Holy Cross teams. “He knows the game.”

Wahlert outhit Xavier (19-14) 23-9, including nine hits against Mariners draft pick Jon Keller.

Linn-Mar's Tyler Kruse (6, left) and Ben Larison (15) wait for the ball as Xavier's Kevin Hosch (32) slides into second base in the first game of their doubleheader on Monday, June 21, 2010, at Xavier in Cedar Rapids. (Liz Martin/SourceMedia Group News)

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Members of the Xavier soccer team hold up their state championship trophy as they celebrate following their 2-1 victory over Union in the Class 1A Final of the 2010 Girls State Soccer Tournament Saturday, June 12, 2010 in Muscatine. (Brian Ray/ SourceMedia Group News)

MUSCATINE — They danced. They sang. They danced and sang some more.

The Cedar Rapids Xavier Saints won. Again.

“Six in a row!” junior defender Kelsie Sargent shouted to her teammates, moments after Xavier won its fifth consecutive Class 1A state girls’ soccer championship Saturday afternoon, 2-1, over La Porte City Union. “Gotta go for six in a row!”

Let them celebrate “one for the thumb” a little while before they start working on their second hand. It was Xavier’s sixth soccer title, a state record.

Getting back to celebrations, Xavier (22-0) had a nice one during a two-hour rain and lightning delay following the first half. One of the players hooked her iPod up to portable little speakers and everyone … well, danced and sang.

The song “When The Saints Come Marching In” was one of the tunes the girls went the most wild for.

“We just danced a lot and got crazy,” said senior midfielder Ali Ungs. “I think that just prepared us more because we wanted (the win) so much more. We just wanted it to be over and have the championship.”

“It was really fun,” said sophomore forward Annie Dale, whose late first-half goal was the difference. “We tried to make it the best. This was our last game coming out as a team, so we tried to make it the best (experience) possible.”

It actually was Union (22-1) that got the game’s first goal, as forward Noel Mahood ignored an ankle injury that sidelined her for her team’s semifinal win Friday over Dallas Center-Grime and headed in a ball off a direct kick with 12:10 left in the first half.

Xavier responded just 1:14 later, with Lauren Konchar tapping in a ball at the far goal post after teammate Kayla Armstrong lofted a shot/pass from the other side of the net over Union keeper Whitney Blunt. With just under five minutes left, Blunt collided with a Xavier player while coming offline to play a ball, with the ricochet ending up directly on Dale’s foot.

Then it was two hours of rain, signing and dancing, 40 more minutes of soccer and another championship. Goal-scoring machine Darian Powell hit the crossbar on a direct kick from just outside the box with 1:06 left in the second half to represent Union’s best chance at a tie.

“That was so close,” Mahood said. “That pretty much was our last chance … The second half, we definitely gave them a run for their money. The first half, I don’t think we did. They dominated.”

“I thought one of the key changes (in the game) was when they scored, and we had that quick turnaround (goal),” Xavier Coach Doug Graham said. “We had the confidence to come right back.”

A six-peat would seem to be realistic for Xavier, considering only there are only three senior starters (Ungs, forward Kat Mettenburg and midfielder Colleen Bouchard. Union also only had three senior starters and sophomore Powell returns after 131 goals her first two years on varsity.

“This is incredible,” Ungs said. “Every time, it just gets better and better. This year, with it being our last year of soccer at Xavier, I’m so, so happy to get this one. The pressure was crazy and everything, but I think we really came through and became closer as a team. That made us want this even more.”

Here is a short postgame interview with Dale, who was named the captain of the 1A all-tournament team:

Class 2A is for the biggest schools enrollement wise. You’ve got your West Des Moines Valleys, your Bettendorfs, your Cedar Rapids Kennedys.

Then there’s Class 1A. Or what you could call Class Xavier.

Five of the eight 1A titles have been won by Cedar Rapids Xavier, including the last four. The Saints take a 19-0 record into Thursday’s state tournament in Muscatine and are the overwhelming favorite to add “one for the thumb.”

“It’s a lot of pressure,” said sophomore forward Annie Dale. “But it’s what we do. It’s a great feeling (to win).”

Xavier has won 25 matches in a row, its last loss coming May 21 of last year to Cedar Falls. This team has scored 93 goals and given up 6.

It has proven itself against the predominantly 2A Mississippi Valley Conference. Once the postseason rolls around, the competition lessens and you get regional tournament wins like 10-0 against DeWitt Central and 5-0 against Marion.

It almost doesn’t seem fair.

“You almost wish you’d have a few more challenges before (the state tournament),” said Xavier Coach Doug Graham.

He was asked if the competitor in him wished the IGHSAU would either go back to a one-class tournament or bump Xavier up a class.

“Yeah, I think so. That crosses everybody’s mind,” he said. “We do get to play some of the 2A schools here in town. But yeah, you kind of wonder. The sportsman side of you.”

“Part of me does wish that because you’d get more competition,” agreed Xavier senior forward Kat Mettenburg. ”You’re not beating people 10-0 in the regionals that way. Regionals should be tough, it should prepare you for the state finals. That way you’d know that you’re the best in the state, not just the best in your class. If you can beat everyone in the state, it’d be more of an accomplishment, I guess. But at the state tournament, this does give more opportunities (to schools) if it’s two classes.”

How would this Xavier team do in a one-class tourney? You’d have to believe very well.

“I think we’d do OK,” Graham said. ”What’s nice about this particular team is that they really do work hard for each other. It’s not all the cliche stuff, but it is true. There are no real superstars, they work hard for each other. It’s all pulling together. From a coach’s standpoint, that doesn’t happen often.”

Glenwood is first up for Xavier at the state tournament. Not Ankeny or Urbandale.

“We just do what they tell us to do,” Mettenburg said.

You can’t stop Isaac Frisch. You can only hope to contain him.

Dubuque Wahlert hasn’t even been able to do that in this Class 2A state soccer tournament championship game at Cownie Park in Des Moines. A freshman, Frisch scored two first-half goals to give Cedar Rapids Xavier a 2-0 lead on its Mississippi Valley Conference rival.

Frisch had one goal in the regular season but scored with 11:01 left in the opening 40 minutes, then added another one with 3:45 left.  Charlie Bales has been Xavier’s best player far and away this season with 41 points coming into this tournament.

Xavier (16-3) won the regular-season encounter between the teams, 4-3. Wahlert is 16-2.

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With rosters due Monday for Thursday’s Class 1A and 2A district meets, boys’ tennis coaches are challenged to find their best possible lineup.

It turns out that determining lineups for district competition is more complex than filling out a sheet with names. Coaches implore strategy to try to advance as many athletes to the state meet as well as improving the team’s chances to reach team substate.

Coaches and players have to decide whether to compete in singles or doubles play, assessing what is best for both the individual and team.

“It depends on where your individuals finish and how many matches they win and how many points they compile for your team,” Cedar Rapids Washington Coach David Meyer said. “There’s a lot of strategy that goes on.”

The process makes it extremely hard to gauge the meet. It can be a guessing game as to how the field will look. Coaches can get an idea of which direct a player or coach will go, but surprises can occur. Most coaches don’t want to tip their hand, according to Meyer.

“You take six players, but we don’t know where everybody is going to be. That doesn’t come out until the morning of the match,” he said. ”That’s all under lock and key until Thursday morning when we play.”

Meyer, who has coached the Warriors for about five years, recalled a year when the doubles bracket at district was loaded with the teams’ top players. Doubles matches are worth more points to the team score and can be key with the top scoring team advancing to substate and the second- and third-place team moving on to prelim substate.

“It’s a huge strategy thing because you get more points for doubles than singles,” Meyer said. “It’s more advantageous to win doubles matches sometime.”

Washington will vie for state and team substate berths at Veterans Memorial Tennis Complex for district hosted by Cedar Rapids Jefferson. The field also includes Cedar Rapids Kennedy, Cedar Rapids Prairie, Cedar Rapids Washington, Cedar Rapids Xavier and Marshalltown.

“I feel we have a decent chance to finish in the top three, but you have to play well,” Meyer said of the team race. “You still have to step on the court and play your best tennis because we have a really strong district.”

Iowa City High hosts Iowa City West, Burlington, Davenport West, Muscatine and Ottumwa. Linn-Mar heads to Dubuque Senior for a district with the Waterloo/Cedar Falls schools and Dubuque Hempstead.

In class 1A, Marion, Maquoketa and Western Dubuque compete in a district at Davenport Assumption. Decorah, Independence, Oelwein and Union Community are at Waterloo Columbus. South Tama travels to Pella Christian.

The top two district finishers in both doubles and singles move on to the state tournament May 28-29. The 2A state meet is at Veterans Memorial Tennis Complex in Cedar Rapids. Byrne’s Park Tennis Complex in Waterloo will hold the 1A state meet.