Kee baseball senior Tyson Cota plays for Small Schools East in IHSBCA Senior All-Star series
Kee baseball senior Tyson Cota played for the Small Schools East squad in the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association (IHSBCA) Senior All-Star Series played at Roosevelt Field in Mason City this past weekend, Friday-Sunday, July 29-31. The Small Schools East squad consisting of players from Class 1A and 2A players from the east side of the state won the series as it posted two victories in its three games played in the series, handing the Large Schools West squad its only loss of the series to tie with that team at a 2-1 series record and winning a head-to-head match-up between the two teams.
Cota’s Small Schools East squad opened the series with a 9-4 loss to the Large Schools East squad Friday evening, July 29. Playing right field and batting in the number-eight position in the line-up, Cota reached base in two of his three plate appearances on free passes, striking out in his other at-bat. He drew a lead-off walk and scored on a three-run homerun in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Cota delivered the Small Schools East squad its first win of the series with a game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth inning for a 1-0 triumph over the Small Schools West team Saturday, July 30. Having not reached base in his previous three at-bats in the contest as the Small Schools East ninth batter in the line-up, Cota stroked a one-out single with two East teammates on base for the walk-off win, drilling a pitch back up the middle by senior and University of Iowa recruit Reese Moore of four-time Class 2A State Champion Van Meter, who took the pitching mound in relief in the extra-inning affair and was ultimately voted MVP for the Small Schools West squad in the All-Star Series. Moore was listed as a catcher on the Small Schools West roster and mainly played catcher and third base this season for that perennial power Bulldog squad that is riding a 56-game winning streak.
The Small Schools East squad wrapped up the All-Star series with a 10-3 win over the Large Schools West squad Sunday, July 31, dealing those larger school representatives their only loss of the series. Batting eighth and playing right field, Cota beat out on an infield single and scored in the fifth inning and also walked and scored in the second inning, flying out in the third and grounding out in the sixth frame to bring his high school baseball career to a close with two hits in eight All-Star Series at-bats, drawing three free passes and scoring three runs while driving in one run as well.
