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CORNING – Southwest Valley’s season came to an end Saturday in the Class 1A District 13 playoff opener, losing to Bedford in a 21-0 final.
Facing star Bedford athlete Brennan Sefrit, the Timberwolves tallied one hit, a two-out single from Tyler Pearson in the first inning. From there, the T-Wolves drew two walks and struck out twice in the three and a half innings played.
Bedford, acting as the home team due to a higher seeding, exploded in the first for seven runs. A sinking line drive got past a diving left fielder to score two, and a Bradley Johnson floater over shortstop scored two more.
Trailing 4-0, Bedford got another run to score on an infield single, and Sefrit, the leadoff batter, doubled to score two more.
A 7-0 difference after the first inning created a lead big enough for Bedford to put it on cruise control while Southwest Valley’s pitching staff struggled to both throw strikes, and keep Bedford from hitting the ball anywhere it wanted.
“We rolled out with our best guys today,” said SWV head coach Josh Lucken. “ ... This was the first night where it felt like none of our pitchers got it done, and we hadn’t had that all season. ... Tonight was just the one night where we couldn’t get it done and we’re pretty upset about that.”
Hitting for SWV was limited, getting one hit. Base runners got on by walks, but weren’t able to be driven home.
“We got a couple of guys on in the second inning and it was just a matter of we couldn’t get that timely hit there,” said Lucken. “... We were getting guys on, and we were a hit or two away from putting ourselves back in a position to make it competitive again.”
Four runs in the second and a 10-run third inning, which lasted over half an hour, was more insurance on top of the win for Bedford as Sefrit was relieved for Jordan Perkins in the top of the fourth.
Southwest Valley got a baserunner on, but a rundown between first and second closed the books on SWV’s season.
Sefrit, an Upper Iowa commit for both basketball and baseball, threw hard from the left side of the mound. Knowing it was a win-or-go-home type of game, SWV prepped for Bedford’s ace.
“We were expecting to get Sefrit tonight,” said Lucken. “With BP, we were throwing a lot harder (to prep). We got him and did what we needed to do, we put the ball in play and told the guys we could not strikeout against him. ... We just did what we needed to and we just ended up hitting it at guys instead of finding holes.”
After one season in the program, Lucken feels next summer the Timberwolves will be in good shape to contend with the top half of the Pride of Iowa Conference.
“We bring back quite a few players,” said Lucken. “We were very young and inexperienced at the varsity level. With the experience coming back, we think we’re going to be in a position to compete in the top half of the conference and go after teams.”
Southwest Valley finishes the 2020 season 1-15 with a 1-9 record in conference play.
Bedford 21, Southwest Valley 0
R H E
SW 000 0XX X — 0 0 5
BD 74(10) XXX X — 21 14 1
BD: Brennen Sefrit 3IP 3K 2BB, Jordan Perkins 1IP 1K 1BB and Dylan Swaney. SW: Brendan Pearson, Tyler Pearson, Owen Wilkinson and Mathew Johnston (pitching stats not available). W — Sefrit. L – B. Pearson. HR — Jordan Wardlow. 3B — BD: Sukas Walston, Quentin King. 2B — BD: Sefrit, Perkins. RBI — BD: Bradley Johnson (4), King (3), Sefrit (3), Perkins (3), Tristen Cummings (2), Shay Purdy (2), Swaney, Noah Jonhson.