CONTENTS Volume 13 Issue 5
4 Pee Wee Profiles Qwest Team of the Month: Johnston Aces Manger Dan Kinney tells Iowa Sports Connection about the Aces’ impressive four-year record (74-34) and the unique nature of this 10U baseball team.
8 Prep Connection Martensdale St. Marys Breaks National Record The Martensdale-St. Marys baseball team stayed focused on one goal throughout the season: win a second straight state championship. They’ve been perfect so far during the 2011 season and, along the way, they set a new national high school win streak record.
18 Pit Pass Michael Annett Gains Momentum in Nationwide Series Des Moines, Iowa native Michael Annett has been on a roll recently in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. He has finished in the top 10 five times since June but now he’s hungry for top fives and wins.
26 Minor But Major Iowa Natives Part of Pittsburgh Pirates’ Special Season Norwalk High School alum Joel Hanrahan and Dallas Center-Grimes alum Tony Watson have contributed their pitching skills to the Pirates, and have been a major part of their success this season.
STAFF MIKE RICKORD • President/Publisher mrickord@iowasportsconnection.com
JOHN STREETS • Business Consultant jstreets@iowasportsconnection.com
TONY ATZENI • Radio Account Manager JOE STASI • Sr. Sales Executive tatzeni@iowasportsconnection.com
jstasi@iowasportsconnection.com
LANE SMITH • Sales Representative
DELBERT CHRISTENSEN • Marketing
lsmith@iowasportsconnection.com
Cedar Rapids/Sioux City
TIM WEIDEMAN • Editor
MIKE RICKORD JR • Marketing
isceditor@iowasportsconnection.com
ADAM OESTREICH • Graphic Artist
EDUARDO ZAMARRIPA • Staff Writer
art@iowasportsconnection.com
LAUREN SMITH • Graphic Artist/Writer art@iowasportsconnection.com
Contributing Writers: US Youth Soccer, Rob Best, Iowa Speedway, Hawkeye Dirt Tour, Amy Tagliareni, Colin McDonough, Delta Dental of Iowa, Barron R.B. Bremner, D.O. Cover: The Martensdale-St. Marys baseball team celebrates after qualifying for the State Tournament and breaking the national high school all-time win streak record (84). (Photo by Sam Taylor/Impact Imagery)
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Prose From the Pub A Blessed Season Establishes National Record for Blue Devils of Martensdale-St. Marys! This issue of The Iowa Sports Connection magazine features the spectacular baseball team from Martensdale-St. Marys, which won its 84th consecutive game and, in the process, broke the national high school baseball win streak Mike Rickord ISC Publisher record. What an extremely difficult feat to accomplish! That’s 84 straight wins in a game where so many little things can go wrong. That’s 84 games where most things went the Blue Devils’ way. They were truly a blessed team and had a blessed season. In a game where pitching can lack just the tiniest amount of control and cost the team or bats can go slightly cold and prevent runs from crossing, this is amazing. And the best part is that a team from our great state of Iowa put themselves on the nation’s baseball radar, continuing to show that Iowa truly has some of the best high school sports in the country. Also, the dedication it must have taken from Martensdale-St. Marys’ coaches, players and parents is astonishing. Credit the coaches for putting together a team of strong individuals, mentally and physically, who can maintain their focus. Credit the players for being able to stay focused on the game, not the media on the state and national levels. And don’t forget the parents. Credit the parents for supporting these kids in their dreams. Something like this truly is a community effort. That’s why the entire community should be proud of what this team has done. Proof of the dedication from this community can be found on the softball diamond too, where the Lady Blue Devils are putting together one heck of a run themselves. It has been an amazing summer for the entire school, showing just how focused and dedicated everyone in that community is.
sports season gets underway, I’d like to thank you for picking up our magazine (or reading it online at Iowasportsconnection. com), tuning into our three great radio shows on our flagship station AM1700 The Champ or any of our numerous statewide affiliates. Our shows, the award-winning Friday Night Live, On the Tee and The Iowa Sports Connection Radio Show, have grown and we plan on coming back strong on the high school sports scene this fall with Friday Night Live and The Iowa Sports Connection Radio Show. The Iowa Sports Connection will continue to be your go-to source for high school sports. Now that we’ve expanded our radio show TV broadcasts to include KCRG 9.2 to go along with WHO Weather Plus 13.2 and our live streams online at Iowasportsconnection.com, even more of the state can enjoy top notch coverage of all our great shows.. We’re also planning to launch a new, redesigned website this August to coincide with the release of our Pigskin Preview. The new website will give The Iowa Sports Connection’s online presence a huge boost and will help expand our coverage to every Iowa high school sports fan’s computer. The new website and the Pigskin Preview, where we preview every Iowa high school and college (from NCAA Division I to JUCO), are two things you definitely do not want to miss. Again, thanks for picking up our magazine. Have a championship month! God Bless You and God Bless America!
As summer sports wind down and the 2011-2012 high school
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