Iowa Mennonite School and Lone Tree play in a district playoff game tonight at Highland.

IMS beat New London 5-3 in the first round, while Lone Tree played a close one against Highland winning 2-1.

IMS comes into the game 12-14 on the season, and hitting .312. Their best hitter is Cameron Gingerich, who after 82 at bats is hitting .500 with 25 RBI’s, and is 14-14 in stolen bases. Gingerich is also the top arm for IMS with a 3-5 record with 54 2/3 innings pitched, he has a 2.05 ERA and 65 strikeouts.

Lone Tree is 17-9, and hitting .294 as a team, and they are 8-2 in their last 10, with their two loses only being by one run. They are led at the plate by Jordan Quigley and his .462 average, 29 RBI’s and three homeruns, and five other players hitting over .300. On the mound Andy Dodson has a 5-4 record despite some fantastic numbers. In 62 1/3 innings he has a 1.24 ERA, 114 strikeouts and opponents hit just .115 off of him.

IMS head coach Danny Hershberger said seeing Lone Tree twice helps with knowing what they are bringing into the game.

“It just helps having played they twice already, we kind of know what they like to do, we’re familiar with their players, and that is always an advantage or a helpful tool to have In the playoffs, I don’t know how much it really helps either side having played, but it always good being familiar with your opponent,” Hershberger said.

During the regular season these two teams split their two games, with IMS winning the first one way back in May 3-2, and Lone Tree winning the second one 5-4 on June 16.

This game starts at 7 at Highland, and you can hear it right here on AM and FM KCII and KCIIradio.com under radio plus with pregame at 6:30 and first pitch at 7, the one to count on for today’s local sports coverage is AM and FM KCII and KCIIradio.com.