5 Iowa Gazette area high school baseball games to watch this week, including a battle for No. 8

4A No. 8 Cedar Rapids Prairie travels to 3A No. 8 Dubuque Wahlert on Wednesday

Some high school baseball teams in Iowa are playing their first games of the season this week after waiting for athletes to finish the track and field season. Teams compete against each other in the Mississippi Valley Conference. Center Point-Urbana is off to a strong start and travels to West Delaware on Thursday. Iowa City hosts rivalry games. Anamosa is also home to Regina. Here are five notable games in the Gazette this week.

Wednesday: Cedar Rapids Prairie near Dubuque Wahlert

This game is for the birds. Both teams are ranked eighth in their respective classes – the Hawks in Class 4A and the Golden Eagles in Class 3A. This is also a doubleheader that will have implications for the MVC Mississippi Division race. Prairie holds a 16-10 lead in the series, which dates back to 2010, and has won the last six meetings. Wahlert's last win in the series came in 2020.

Prairie is 2-2 and tied for No. 4 seed Linn-Mar. 3 Iowa City High. The Hawks pitching staff is solid and has a 3.09 earned run average. The Hawks' position players are young. Maddux Mueller is batting .625 with five hits in the opening week and Shraden Lechtenberg has five RBIs for Prairie.

Wahlert defeated Cedar Rapids Washington, split with rival Dubuque Hempstead and most recently won 11-2 against North Scott. The Golden Eagles score 7.2 runs per game. Alex Kirman has eight hits for a .533 batting average, while Foti Rigopoulos leads Wahlert with six RBIs.

Speaking of MVC Mississippi battles: The Saints and the 4A No. 9 Tigers are two more contenders in a very competitive division that includes the Iowa City Liberty. The Saints opened the season 3-2 and Cedar Falls is 2-2 after Week 1.

Xavier defeated Waterloo West, tied with Iowa City West and then gave 3A No. 6 Marion a run for its money in an 11-10 loss. The Tigers lost to City High, split with Linn-Mar and defeated Waterloo East 14-2.

The crucial matchup will be the Saints offense against the Tigers pitching. Xavier has scored 10.8 runs per game and Cedar Falls has allowed 3.8 runs per contest. Andrew Hamlett had nine hits, including three doubles with seven runs and seven RBIs, and Preston Lang had seven hits and eight RBIs for the Saints, who received votes in the preseason 3A poll. Meanwhile, Cedar Falls' opponents are hitting just .231 and the Tigers have a team earned run average of 2.15.

Thursday: Centre Point-Urbana in West Delaware

The Stormin' Pointers opened the season with two wins, 7-6 over Waverly-Shell Rock and a 21-6 victory over Washington. West Delaware lost to third-seeded and reigning 2A state champion Dyersville Beckman 11-8. The Hawks have won the last three meetings and completed last year's doubleheader. Eight of their last eleven meetings have been decided by three runs or less.

Thomas Taylor is batting .714 with five hits, leading the CPU, which has held opposing batters to a .154 batting average. Jack Cantwell led the Hawks with two hits, three RBIs and a run scored in the opener.

Friday: Iowa City West at Iowa City High

The rivalry between West and City High has been fun in all sports, including baseball. On paper, City High has a big advantage. The Little Hawks are 4-1 and in third place in 4A. The Trojans have a modest 1-3 record. Throw records out the press box window. Two of West's losses were within one inning and the Trojans' lone win came against Xavier, so they're capable.

City High's pitching and defense slowed down the opponent. Three Little Hawk pitchers combined for a no-hitter in the win over Prairie. They allowed just nine total runs in five games and held teams to two or fewer in the four wins. Owen Hicks didn't allow an earned run in 7 1/3 innings and had eight strikeouts for City High. Jake Mitchell is batting .353 with a team-high six hits for the Little Hawks.

West's Declan Bunn has a .500 batting average with five hits in Week 1. Gerik Fish added four hits and three RBIs for the Trojans. The two teams split last season, with City High winning both games in 2022. They also separated in 2020 and 2021.

Friday: Iowa City Regina at Anamosa

Anamosa was one win away from reaching the 2A state tournament last season, falling to eventual state champion Beckman in a substate final. The Blue Raiders return a lot of experience and finally open their season this week. Anamosa received votes in the 2A preseason poll and has high expectations heading into the season.

Iowa City Regina is always competitive. The Regals split their first two games, defeating Clear Creek Amana and falling 10-7 to 3A No. 7 Davenport Assumption. Regina's Jack Clark had four hits and four runs scored and batted at a .571 clip. Clark also earned the win against the Clippers. Will Litton has three hits and two RBIs for the Regals, who have won two of the last three against Anamosa.

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