Steers fall to No. 9 Iowa Park; preps for playoffs

Chris Dickens allowed one hit over five innings with five strikeouts Tuesday night as Iowa Park defeated Graham 9-0 at Hawk Stadium. The win caps of a perfect district season by the Hawks who are ranked No. 9 in Class 4A by the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association. The Steers, who saw their three game winning streak snapped, had trouble getting the final out of the inning on several occasions. In fact, seven of the nine runs scored by Iowa Park came with two outs in an inning. Adam Groves led off the game with a sharp single up the middle before being erased on a double play. Dickens retired the next 13 hitters before Seth Shook walked in the top of the fifth. Graham starting pitcher Owen Loesch retired the first two batters of the game before the next six batters all reached with two outs to jump out to a 3-0 lead after the first inning. A Steers' error with two outs helped lead to the big inning.