The United Red Storm are deeper in the postseason than the program has ever been since the consolidation began in 2004. The Red Storm will play in a class 1A sectional championship game on Saturday morning at 11am on the artificial turf at Camp Point Central Central High School. United will take on Jacksonville Routt Catholic. Routt Catholic will bring a record of (22-12) into Saturday’s match up.
The Rockets ended Abingdon-Avon’s season in the semifinals on Wednesday with a 6-2 victory. United rode the pitching arm of Aiden Martin in their 5-1 win over Brown County in their semifinal on Wednesday afternoon. Martin went all seven innings, giving up just four hits and one run, while striking out seven Hornet batters. Offensively, the Red Storm pounded out nine hits, with three of those off the bat of Chance Stewart. Stewart is hitting an eye-popping .551 on the season, along with a team leading 17 doubles. Ian Leffler is leading United in home runs with five, rbis with 54, stolen bases with 28 and runs scored with 55.
Routt Catholic has also been dominating on the mound this season, led by Brady Turner. Turner has an ERA of 1.30 and has totaled 102 strikeouts in 59.1 innings. Saturday’s game will be a classic pitcher’s duel, with Turner throwing for Routt Catholic and Ian Leffler manning the rubber for United. Leffler is (8-1) for the season and boasts an ERA of a mere 1.27. Both Turner and Leffler strike out nearly two batters per innings pitched so runs will be at a premium.
While United has won three regionals in program history, Routt Catholic has won 18 regionals, 7 sectionals since 1992 and took 3rd place in class 1A in 2024. All of that success is not lost on United head coach Ryan Molek but he knows his guys are pretty good, also.
We’ll have the game on the PCSN on Saturday. Parker Cassidy and Andy Jenks will have the call starting with their AM 1330/FM 95.7 WRAM pregame show starting at 10:45, with the first pitch at 11am. Besides the radio, you can also hear the game live online at radiomonmouth.com and click on the 1330 WRAM logo. And you can also listen to our free 1330 WRAM app for your smartphone or tablet. Take a pair of ear buds and listen right from the bleachers.
In class 2A sectional championship action, it’s (31-5) Brimfield/Elmwood vs. (28-7) Illini West in Chillicothe at 1:00 on Saturday afternoon.
For the full interview with Coach Molek, go to the SPORTS PODCAST section.
