GRANGER — The eyes of those who keep a close watch on all levels of prep baseball in Iowa will be fixed on Van Meter Thursday when the eighth-ranked Bulldogs (21-2) entertain No. 4 Woodward-Granger (24-0) in a WCAC varsity twinbill.
W-G plays at Madrid Monday and hosts Greene County Tuesday, with Van Meter at Des Moines Christian Monday, with the ranked teams expected to continue their victory spurts, setting up a showdown between teams with a combined 48-1 mark. As of Sunday, both teams were 15-0 in league play.
W-G is second in Class 2A in hits (249) and Van Meter third (245), with the Hawks having stolen 19 more bases than anyone else in the class at 131-of-137 while the Bulldogs are eighth at 89-of-102.
Van Meter holds a 291-252 edge in runs scored scored, but the Bulldogs have allowed 73, 48 of them earned, while W-G has yielded just 48 total, 24 of them earned, and has the best combined team ERA at 1.16.
Matt Rhodes (42) and Reese Jamison (37) give W-G the top-two RBI producers in 2A, with Rhodes producing eight doubles on 34 hits while batting .500 with Jamison hitting .479 and standing as one of three Hawks with four triples.
Lead-off man Brady Aunspach is fourth in 2A with 36 hits and bats .434, with Spencer Hanson 35-of-61 (.574) with 19 walks and 32 RBIs. Marcus McConahay is tied for third in runs scored with 38 and is second in steals with 31-of-32 theft attempts successful.
Bulldog standout Anthony Lowman leads 2A in hits (38) and runs (46). He bats .494 and has 10 doubles and 29 RBIs while Connor Guess has 29 hits (eight doubles) and a .439 average while Mitch Pomeroy bats .414.
Pomeroy in 4-0 on the mound with a 1.64 ERA for Van Meter, with Lowman 4-0 with a 1.59 ERA.
The pitching staff has been the unsung heroes for W-G, with Hanson setting the pace with a 7-0 mark. He has struck out 50, walked just eight and sports a 1.23 ERA. Lefty junior Cole Theisen is 4-0 with an 0.57 ERA and 28 strikeouts to only three walks, while freshman Brandon Worley has fanned 20, walked nine and created a 0.88 ERA as part of his 5-0 start.
The first game of the twinbill will begin at 5 p.m.
