Bishop Heelan finishes the season with a 35-11 record.DES MOINES, Iowa (KTIV) -
Big first and second innings for Decorah spelled disaster for No. 4 Bishop Heelan as the Vikings defeated the Crusaders 7-2 Friday night at Principal Park in Des Moines.
Decorah advances to the 3A championship Saturday against No. 1 ranked Dallas Center-Grimes.
Sophomore Trenton Solsma and senior Paul Jacobson paced the Crusader offense with two hits a piece, but Bishop Heelan struggled to come through with timely hits throughout the game.
"We hit the ball hard from the start and nothing fell. I mean, everything was right at them," Jacobson said. "It seemed like every hit they had found a hole. But, credit to them, they made all the plays. They weren't going to hand it to us. We just didn't have it today."
Solsma, who started the game for Bishop Heelan, lasted just 1.2 innings and gave up six runs (only three were earned).
Kale Provost came on in relief and finished the game off going 4.1 innings and struck out three.
Vikings ace Kyle Kane entered the game with an 11-1 record and got all the run support he'd need as Decorah score three runs in the first and second innings to open up a 6-0 lead.
Heelan made it a 6-1 game on Jacobson's RBI single in the third, but that'd be as close of the Crusaders would get.
Decorah answered with a run of it's own in the home half of the inning, before Heelan plated another in the sixth.
"It's a great team. The kids played hard all summer long, beat a lot of good teams," Head Coach Andy Osborne said. "Played great baseball all summer. Just unfortunate. Didn't get all of our goals accomplished. We're moving forward and we'll see what happens down the road."
Bishop Heelan finishes the season with a 35-11 record.
