The last time Indianola played in an Iowa high school baseball state semifinal was July 31, 1969.
The population of the town was nearly 8,000; there was just one class of high school baseball in Iowa – Elvis Presley returned to perform in Las Vegas after eight years away, to the day – and the National Balloon Classic event had not yet made its way to Indianola.
The conversation throughout the Indianola baseball team from the start of the 2026 season was not just to make the Class 4A state championship game, but to win the first state crown in program history.
“Very realistic, I mean, when we set our goals in the beginning of the year, we’re winning the state championship, and we worked for it,” said Indianola junior George Blake. “That was on our mind every practice, every day, every day just on our mind.”
And after an 8-1 state semifinal win over Valley (24-16) on July 23, with the final out recorded just before 11 p.m, Indianola punched its ticket to the state title game for the first time.
Valley came into the game after a gusty 2-1 win over Waukee in the quarterfinals, delivered by star hurler Ryan Stedman. But the Tigers, who average nearly 10 hits a game, only had two through four innings against Indianola and only mustered three for the whole game.
As for Indianola, all season long it’s thrived by grabbing a few early runs to support the team’s stellar pitching. And it worked again against Valley. Indianola, which holds the lowest team ERA in Class 4A, nearly got its 13th shutout of the season, but allowed one run late in the semifinal win.
Bryant Ritchie, who dominated on the hill by allowing just three hits and one run to go along with his seven strikeouts, walked into the seventh inning with 24 pitches left before reaching the 110-pitch limit. He was able to finish off the final frame and earn the complete game.
“Before the game and throughout the game, they kept telling me, ‘You’re going the whole game, be you, be you,’” Ritchie said. “Our pitching coaches are insane.”
It was all Indianola to begin the game, plating three runs on four hits, which all started with a Blake leadoff triple. Then Zach Benge would single, bringing in Blake, and so did Daxton Heimbaugh to drive in the third.
Blake would double in his second at-bat and, in the bottom of the sixth, was intentionally walked, reaching base in three of his four trips to the plate.
Two more runs came across in the third. Ritchie helped himself out on the mound after singling, driving in run No. 5.
Indianola and Ritchie held Valley hitless for the first two innings on Thursday night. Drew Snook, Valley’s No. 9 hitter, was the Tigers’ first hit and base runner of the game, but was left stranded.
Ritchtie proceeded to get out of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the fourth inning. He gave up just one hit but ran into issues with walks and a hit batter.
Valley made some noise in the top of the fifth after Snook reached base for the second time. Stedman, the team leader in RBIs and hits, doubled to bring home Snook, but that was the only run that came across.
“We’re a loose group and a fun group, and we aren’t going to change who we are because we are in the state tournament,” said Valley head coach Garrett Hawkins. “My takeaway is we are a great group led by 16 seniors and wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
Three more runs came across in the bottom of the sixth for even more insurance for Ritchie as Benge added his second RBI of the game and Asher Brueck added another with a sacrifice flyout.
Indianola, a 2-seed, will meet 5-seed Pleasant Valley on Friday night in the state title game. First pitch is slated for 7:30 p.m. CT
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Indianola tops Valley, punches ticket to Iowa baseball state title game
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