Valley takes down Waukee in Iowa baseball state quarterfinals

Jul 22, 2026 - 22:20

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Playing in the Central Iowa Metro League means you’re likely to lose more than a handful of games. But on the flip side, it makes you a better team, like a constant test for a late July run in the state tournament.

Waukee, at 28-10, finished second in the CIML and Valley finished fifth at 23-15. The two teams met on Wednesday, July 22, with a spot in the Iowa high school baseball tournament semifinal on the line and both teams put on a pitching clinic.

Even though both teams showed up on the hill, it was the Tigers who earned a 2-1 victory on Wednesday.

Valley’s Ryan Stedman, an Iowa commit, pitched in a June 29 regular season matchup against Waukee and went the distance, allowing just three hits and two earned runs.

But on Wednesday in a high-stakes dual, Stedman, wearing a cotton candy blue and pink headband he’s worn since 2025, delivered a two-hit complete game shutout with nine strikeouts.

“I feel I pitched better in that (previous) game, but had to come out and compete today,” Stedman said. “Today or either area code games last year were the biggest spots I’ve pitched in so far in my career.”

The last time Valley even made the IHSAA state tournament was in 2018 when now head coach Garrett Hawkins was an assistant coach.

“It’s been tough,” Hawkins said. “I told our kids when we started up in January, ‘We’re gonna have a really tough season ahead just with our schedule. So there really haven’t been any surprises for us.”

Valley played all the No. 1 seeds in the Substate tournament, except Iowa City Liberty. Hawkins felt that brutal slate made his team stronger.

For Waukee, who haven’t advanced past the 4A quarterfinals since 2017, it's been a drought for the Warriors of getting out of the first round, but this team felt different.

Like Stedman, Brayden Moore went the distance for Waukee, allowing seven hits with just two earned runs.

Despite Moore's solid outing, the Warriors failed to capitalize when they had opportunities. They were 0-for-8 with runners on base and weren’t able to get the one hit they needed. There was a spot in the bottom of the sixth when Matt Meeker and Gavin De Jesus drew walks with no outs, but nothing came of it.

“We competed, and when you go against a guy that throws strikes as Ryan did today and we’re able to battle through, and when we had some traffic late, we just couldn’t get the hit we needed,” Waukee head coach Dave Dirkx said. “We had a chance today, but I tell my boys that one final game doesn’t define you.”

It’s been all new to the Valley Tigers getting to the state semifinal, but it's a tough team poised to battle with anyone. They'll take on 2-seed Indianola on Thursday with a trip to the state title game on the line.

“There are no surprises, and I think we’ve been pretty honest with our kids that it's going to be tough, but we’ve played all these teams, and we have to embrace it,” Hawkins said.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Valley takes down Waukee in Iowa baseball state quarterfinals