Prep baseball: Ottumwa prepares for postseason opener at home

OTTUMWA — You never know when an opportunity will arise.

Quinn Larsen, for example, took full advantage of an opportunity to produce a power surge like few Ottumwa hitters have experienced. Stepping up with the first game of an Iowa Alliance Conference south division doubleheader at Des Moines East on the line, Larsen connected on the first of five home runs in six trips to the plate including a game-winning home run against the Scarlets and a two-run home run in a 7-1 win over ninth-ranked (4A) Fort Dodge.

The power surge helped spur Ottumwa to six wins in seven games at a key point of the season. The run not only helped the Bulldogs reach 20 wins in a season for the sixth straight summer, but helped Ottumwa to secure at least one extra home game this season as the Bulldogs prepare to host Iowa City High in a Class 4A, Substate 8 first round contest on Friday.

“It’s a really good way to look at it. Our doubleheader with Iowa City Liberty didn’t have to be our last two home games of the season,” Larsen said. “If we played our best baseball, we knew we could earn this opportunity.”

While the results weren’t always in Ottumwa’s favor, the lessons learned from a competitive schedule that featured 12 games against teams that spent time in the Class 4A statewide rankings this season. Three straight conference wins over Des Moines Roosevelt and Des Moines North, in which the Bulldogs outscored the Roughriders and Polar Bears 43-11, helped Ottumwa secure its 15th winning season in 16 years despite opening with four straight losses to top-10 opponents West Des Moines Valley and Indianola.

“We really started hitting the ball. Our approaches at the plate were a lot better, probably the best they’ve been all season,” Ottumwa head baseball coach Joey Mitchell said. “We had good approaches at the plate and our pitchers threw strikes. We played solid defense. We played well in all three facets of the game.

“You can just see the confidence we have is so much better compared to early in the season.”

Ottumwa wrapped up the regular season last Wednesday dropping a pair of games at Ames, falling 9-0 in game one and 5-4 in game two. Tillman Schieffer’s three-hit shutout led the Little Cyclones to victory in the opener while a two-run double by Max Martin completed a fifth-inning comeback in game two rallying Ames from a four-run deficit.

We’ve lost some tough games, but we’ve had chances to win even on off nights,” Mitchell said. “I think that’s been good for our kids to see.”