Smith and Alex Powers were both reliable second and third pitching options last summer, so now the Tigers will have to look elsewhere. Sniezek says Emma Latterell will log some innings and she’ll surprise some people. “Emma used to throw a lot in her younger days and she’s got a really nice curveball,” Sniezek said. “I’m excited to see what kind of year she can have.” New Gilbert assistant coach Denali Loecker has taken on the role of pitching coach and Sniezek has so far been im- pressed. Loecker had a storied high school career at Ogden where she hit 67 career home runs from 2016-20 — the sec- ond-most in state history, trail- ing only Kendyl Lindaman and the 71 she hit for Ankeny and Ankeny Centennial. Loecker led Ogden to the 2020 Class 2A state championship, and then went on to play collegiately at Iowa and Louisiana. “(Loecker) is our ninth-grade coach and then handled all of the pitching in the offseason, and she did a great job,” Snie- zek said. Sniezek has an idea of where her team will land in the 4A hier- archy, at least by reputation. Gilbert has a chance to be good and it will be respected across the state. But when it comes to the RRC landscape, the Tigers won’t necessarily be considered
as one of the league heavy- weights. “With the experience we do have, it’s hard to say we’re an underdog, but a team is only as good as its depth,” Sniezek said. “We want to make sure we’re a threat all the way through the lineup. Maybe we do that with small-ball, maybe we do that with speed, maybe it’s spreading the players out in the lineup. We’ll see.” The goal is to pick off some of these conference juggernauts in the regular season, thus giving the Iowa Girls High School Ath- letic Union a reason to put the Tigers in a regional that doesn’t house a North Polk, a Carlisle, or an ADM. Give Gilbert a chance to flex its postseason muscles against a non-RRC team, that’s really the ultimate goal. When it comes to the confer- ence, there just aren’t any of similar size better. A season ago, the RRC had the 4A state champion (Carlisle) and runner- up (ADM), and collected 30 per- cent (18 of 61) of all of the 4A all-state honors. Nine all-state players return, including first-teamers Ava Husak and Lucy Lucas of North Polk, as well as Lauren Hage- dorn of ADM. It’s easy to remember that Carlisle and ADM battled it out for the 2024 state crown that
eventually went to the Wildcats and Hall of Fame head coach Jim Flaws, who is now the owner of six state crowns in his distinguished tenure. But let’s not forget North Polk was a state semifinalist and — oh by the way — put together a per- fect 16-0 conference record en route to the RRC title in 2024. Playing these teams isn’t what bothers Sniezek. Truly, she wel- comes it. However, playing them night after night ... after night can harm the psyche. That’s why she’s excited about the prospect of playing some conference doubleheaders this season, which will then open up dates to allow the Tigers to test themselves outside of the league. “In this league, there’s just no recovery time,” she said. “You’re playing the best in the state every night. Your fans know that and your players know that. But by playing a dou- bleheader every Monday night, we’ll get another day off and that allows us to find some non- conference games. Plus it could also be a nice situation in that if you’re up against one of the top pitchers in the conference, how do those teams play that in the second game of the double- header?” Gilbert will play twinbills against ADM, Boone, Winterset, and North Polk this summer.
2024 RRC STANDINGS
Team
RRC Over
North Polk*
16-0 13-3 11-4
37-6 31-10 37-8 28-11 23-17 12-20 18-17 17-19 8-24
ADM**
Carlisle***
Bondurant-Farrar
9-7 7-9 6-9
Winterset
Ballard Gilbert Boone Carroll
4-12 4-12 0-14
*State Qualifier **State Finalist ***State Champion
2025 RETURNING LEADERS
Batting Average
Name, School
Ave. .500 .446 .431
Ava Husak, North Polk Brynn Acton, Winterset Lauren Hagedorn, ADM
Hits
Name, School
Hits
Brynn Acton, Winterset Ava Husak, North Polk Elyse Engebretsen, N. Polk
58 57 56
Home Runs
Name, School
HR
Ava Husak, North Polk Lauren Hagedorn, ADM Brynn Acton, Winterset
13 13
9
RBI
Name, School
RBI
Ava Husak, North Polk Brynn Acton, Winterset
49
36 Neela Applegate, Winterset 33
Pitching Wins
Name, School
Wins
Ava Husak, North Polk Lauren Hagedorn, ADM Clara Newton, Gilbert
29 19 18
Pitching Strikeouts
Name, School
Ks
Ava Husak, North Polk Lauren Hagedorn, ADM Brynn Acton, Winterset
363 253 102
10 GAME ON | SUMMER 2025
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