TRAER — North Tama senior left-hander Josh Dostal pitched a three-hit shutout and the Redhawks advanced to the Class 1A District 7 finals with a 2-0 triumph over Easton Valley on Tuesday night at J.L. Lister Field.

Dostal (7-2) scattered three singles and three walks over the complete-game performance, preventing the River Hawks (13-9) from ever advancing beyond second base. North Tama’s defense made no errors behind him to help make the offense’s two runs stand up.

The Redhawks nearly scored in their first at-bat, but a good defensive play thwarted the challenge. Kayler Morris led off with a single and took second when the throw to first was dropped. Two outs later, he was cut down trying to score on Kayvin Morris’s single to center field on a perfect throw by Callan Messerich.

Easton Valley’s defense couldn’t keep North Tama off the board, however, and the Redhawks scored solo runs in the second and third innings. Gavin Rausch reached on a one-out error in the second, stole second, took third on Bryce Dostal’s bunt single, and scored on a balk. Tyrus Luker reached on an infield single with two outs, but Easton Valley escaped the jam.

In the third, Kolt Knaack led off with an infield single and advanced to second on the errant throw to first. After Dostal walked, Kayvin Morris bunted both into scoring position, and Clayton Williams delivered an RBI single to left field.

Easton Valley pitcher Justin Weispfenning found a way out of the situation with no further damage, but Dostal made sure two runs was enough.

Weispfenning (4-2) struck out four, walked one and hit a batter in the loss, giving up just six singles.

North Tama advances to face No. 5 North Linn (24-3) in the District 7 final on Saturday at 7 p.m. in Troy Mills. The two teams met in the regular-season finale a week ago with the host Lynx prevailing 8-4.

North Tama rips Irish in first round

TRAER — The North Tama baseball team broke free from Prince of Peace with 11 runs in the fourth inning en route to a 12-1, five-inning triumph over the Irish in Monday’s Class 1A District 7 first-round game at J.L. Lister Field.

Prince of Peace (2-27) pushed the game’s first run across home plate in the top of the second inning, scoring on three-straight singles by Tate Ruden, Bryden Francois and Kyler Leslie. Leslie was picked off trying to steal second to end the threat, and it was all Redhawks from there.

North Tama (13-9) got the tying run on an RBI single for Kayler Morris in the third, driving in Tyrus Luker who reached on an error.

In the fourth, the Redhawks racked up six of their eight hits while the Irish issued three free bases and four errors. Chaz Hall and Morris hit RBI singles, Clayton Williams hit a two-run double, Luker scored another on a sacrifice fly, and Morris doubled home a run in his second at-bat of the inning.

North Tama sent 15 batters to the plate in its 11-run fourth to fully support freshman pitcher Maddox Rausch, who allowed only those three consecutive singles in a complete-game performance. He walked one and struck out two in the win.

Morris was 3-for-4 with a double, a run and three RBIs, while Williams went 2-for-3 with a double, a triple, and two RBIs to lead the Redhawk bats.

North Tama will host Easton Valley (13-8) at 7 p.m. Tuesday night in the district semifinals.