Baseball fans are eager for the 2023 season at the “new” Walt Anderson Field in Rippey.
Starting the season is the RIppey Ruckus this weekend, May 6-7, with teams coming in from the Twin Cities, Kansas City and Omaha to play the host Rippey Demons. These are men’s senior teams generally age 50+.
For the high school games start Monday, May 15, to kick off the season. Ankeny Centennial will host Webster City in a 4A vs 3A non-conference matchup. The interesting part here is that the Centennial coach, Mark Hey, was Mel Murken’s assistant coach in the 1990’s at Ankeny HIgh School.
Friday, May 19, brings South Hamilton Hawks vs Panorama Panthers. An interesting fact here is that in 1962, Rippey hosted the Iowa HS fall state tournament and South Hamilton defeated Waukee for their only state championship in baseball.
Saturday, May 20, brings the current four-time defending state champions, Van Meter Bulldogs hosting 3A Gilbert Tigers in non-conference action. This is also Armed Forces Day and expect to honor some veterans too.
Saturday, May 27, we are bringing back to Rippey a rematch of the 1953 state championship game that was held in Rippey – Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson vs Union HS of LaPorte City. Back in 1953 it was Dysart HS, however due to school consolidations, Dysart merged with Laporte City to become Union High School. Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson also won the other two summer championships held in Rippey in 1959 and 1960.
We will have on hand, David Witke, who was on that 1953 CBTJ team. On another note – CBTJ head coach Tom Giles, also played baseball for the Yellow Jackets and was the winning pitcher in the 1993 4A state championship game vs Ankeny Hawks coached by our own Mel Murken.
Friday June 2, and Wednesday, June 21, will feature Greene County Rams vs the Perry Blue Jays. Greene County, which merged with East Greene, hasn’t played in Rippey so this will be a homecoming for them. Last year, Perry was the home team vs the Nevada Cubs in the first high school game in Rippey since 2012 and organizers are happy to have them return to Walt Anderson Field.
Saturday, June 3, the Urbandale J-Hawks 14U travel ball team will host a 3-team invite in Rippey. Last year we had Ogden vs Roland-Story and had a great turnout. Hopefully we can have more opportunities to host these types of matchups.
Click here for the schedule.
