SIGOURNEY  

Jacob Craven gathered his team in right field for one final post game huddle.

Minutes after the Lone Tree prep baseball season ended, its first-year head coach wanted to communicate a heartfelt message of sincere appreciation.

“I told them how proud I was to be in this spot with them,” Craven said after the Lions lost to Class 1A No. 8 Sigourney, 6-4, in a district semifinal game Tuesday night at Sigourney High School. “These kids, they deserve so much more constantly. They are amazing kids, amazing families, three great seniors. We had great leadership from top to bottom. … We had a great team that loves to be around each other.”

While Lone Tree’s win-loss record of 7-14 was far from sparkling, the finished product bore little resemblance to the group that won just one game last season. When Craven arrived from Ogden with assistant coach Mike Eden, he initially had 20 boys come out for the team. Soon, two quit and three were ineligible. The sudden reality of the challenge ahead would have been daunting to the most veteran of coaches, but this was the first head-coaching position for the 23-year-old Craven. 

“We had to tighten things up fast,” Craven said. “It was a team we could have easily left and lost control of.”

The remaining roster of three seniors, four juniors, two sophomores and six freshmen quickly proved to be mentally tough and up to the challenge presented by Craven and Eden’s work ethic.

“I think it was just so cool to see the improvement,” Lone Tree senior second baseman/pitcher Ethan Bockelman said. “Not even from last year to this year, but throughout this season, as well. The first couple of weeks compared to these last two weeks, we were playing our best baseball. It’s like a way different team than we were at the start of the year.”

The record reflects that improvement. After beginning the 2024 campaign with 11 losses in 15 games, Lone Tree played .500 ball (3-3) over the final two-and-a-half weeks of the season. A memorable July 6 playoff victory over rival Highland snapped an 11-game losing streak to the Huskies that dated back to 2019.

“From day one, when we started throwing in the winter last year, the coaches were there and they were in our ears and they wanted us to do better as a team,” Lone Tree sophomore shortstop Emmett Burke said. “They knew we could do better and they were there and we all worked a lot harder.”

Despite being held hitless by Sigourney pitchers Caden Clarahan and Chase Clarahan, Lone Tree managed to grab an early 1-0 lead in the third inning when freshman Owen Eden walked and eventually scored on a wild pitch. Sigourney took the lead with two runs in the fourth inning and extended it to 6-1 with Chase Clarahan’s grand slam home run in the fifth. Lone Tree scored three runs in its last at-bat via a pair of bases-loaded walks and a wild pitch.

Sigourney (19-4) will host BGM (18-7) Saturday for the district title.

“You can’t ask for more than what we just put out on the field,” Craven said. “Even though the hits won’t say it … those are two of the better pitchers that we’ve seen all season. … I told our guys before the game started ... I told them that we have to keep the game within four or five in the fifth inning. Fifth inning and down 6-1, I mean you can’t ask for more against the No. 8 team in the state.”

Lone Tree graduates three seniors in Bockelman (.339 batting average, 20 hits, 18 runs, 15 runs batted, team-high 25 stolen bases), designated hitter Harry Brenneman and outfielder Dominic Graap.

Burke – the SEISC North Player of the Year who led the Lions in batting average (.467), hits (28), doubles (7) and runs scored (19) – will headline next year’s group of returners alongside first baseman Brody Magruder, pitcher/third baseman Jack Patterson and Owen Eden.

“We’re young,” Burke said. “I’m hoping in the winter when we start throwing again that we’ll build off of this game right here. … They’re the eighth-ranked team in the state and we were within two runs of them. Nobody expected that. So, I hope that gets in people’s minds that we are that good of a team and that we just have to go out there and perform.”

One returner in question is Craven, who will complete his master’s degree coursework at the University of Iowa in Sport and Recreation Management this December.

“As of right now, I plan to (return),” Craven said. “It’s a tough time being so young, you never know where you’re going to be. The plan is at least one of us, for sure. (Assistant Coach) Mike (Eden) is a teacher over at Highland, so he said he will for sure be back. But as of right now, my plan is to be back. I’m hoping so. If I find something else, it’s going to be more sad for me leaving these kids.”