Lynx destroy Yellow Jackets and hold Dead Presidents Cup

In the two games at Iowa Western’s Doc Ross Field, Clark went 6-for-9 with a double, a home run, five RBIs, five runs and 10 total bases. Smith went 4-for-6 with two triples, five RBIs, three runs and eight total bases.

“Cooper and Graysen are two phenomenal second-year baseball players,” Lynx head coach Tyler Brietzke said. “They’re often the cornerstone of our offense along with Aidan Martin and Zach Lincoln. But those two guys are just our workhorses. They go to work in the cages and execute the tasks we give them.”

“They’re really good hitters and really smart baseball players. When you put all that together, you have two really phenomenal young baseball players in the league.”

The Lynx failed to share the Cup in last year’s May meetings after winning nine straight from May 25, 2021 to May 23, 2023. AL leads the series in the Bound Era (2009 to present) 42-13.

“It’s cool,” said Brietzke. “We love playing TJ. I think this Dead Presidents game is great for the city of Council Bluffs and we hope to attract as many fans as possible every year and make it a big event.”

Clark hit a home run and had four RBIs in the first game, securing at least a share of the trophy awarded to the winner of the teams’ annual meeting.

“I saw the curveball before in the at-bat and knew it was probably coming again,” Clark said. “I saw it inside and just went with it.”

“It’s good (to beat TJ). Last year we kept it but only because we shared and won it by a whisker, but this year it was a little more deserved, we hit the ball a lot better.”

The Yellow Jackets loaded the bases with no outs in the first inning, but Jackson Dilts limited the damage to just one run.

The Lynx got four innings of pitching from Dilts, who allowed two runs (one earned).

Zach Lincoln had two RBI, while Aidan Martin, Cooper Smith and Dilts each had one RBI.

CB Jefferson (0-9) 100 1xx x – 2 3 2

CB Lincoln (7-3) 627 xxx x – 17 11 0

Three Yellow Jackets errors in the first inning – 10 in the game for TJ, 14 for both teams total – led to four runs by the Lynx, helping AL take an early lead.

As in the first game, the Jackets loaded the bases early. This time a walk brought in a run and Garrett Denman followed with a two-run single to bring TJ within one run.

But an RBI single by Smith — who had a sacrifice fly in the four-run first inning — extended the AL lead, and after an error brought in another run, Jordan Hargrave hit a two-run triple to left to extend the lead to five runs. An RBI single by Dilts rounded out the inning’s scoring.

TJ missed a chance to get back in the game in the third inning. With the bases loaded and one out, a pop out and a fly out kept the Jackets scoreless in the inning.

The Jackets did the same in the fourth inning, loading the bases with one out. This time, TJ caught up and managed a five-run inning.

After a flyout, Peyton Steinspring scored with an RBI single, and a second run was scored on an overthrow back to the pitcher. Then a pop-up from Daulton Garrison landed in the infield and scored a run, and Andrew Peacock made the game a one-run game with a two-run single to left.

“The good news is that in those pressure situations, if you look at our results, we have a lot of games in pressure situations and we have a lot of one-point wins,” Brietzke said. “Those were wins that we didn’t have last year. And this year, I think we’ve put that chapter behind us and done a really good job. I think when those pressure situations came up tonight, it kind of felt like we’ve been here before and let’s just keep doing what we’ve been doing, which is getting on base and moving runners.”

A valuable safety run for the Lynx was scored by an RBI single from Smith, but with the bases loaded with two outs, the Lynx only managed one run.

Clark singled for another RBI and scored on the Jackets’ 10th error of the game. Smith hit a triple to deep left center for his fifth RBI of the day.

CB Jefferson (0-10) 030 500 0 – 8 12 10

CB Lincoln (8-3) 450 013 x – 13 13 4

AL next hosts Bishop Heelan for a doubleheader on Thursday at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. (moved up due to weather forecast), while TJ hosts Sioux City North at noon and 2 p.m.

“Tomorrow will be a good benchmark for us,” said Brietzke. “We have a quick turnaround here. About nine hours, so we’ll see how it goes. But yes, we have a good feeling about it.”

Harlan 3, Lewis Central 2

Underwood 4, Kuemper Catholic 1