Chickasaws claim outright NEIC crown

New Hampton had just pounded Waukon 16-0 Tuesday night when the news arrived from Cresco.Crestwood had knocked off Waverly-Shell Rock 3-2, which meant if New Hampton could finish off the sweep of the Indians, they would be the outright Northeast Iowa Conference champions for the second year in a row.“We didn’t want to share,” New Hampton senior Alex Troyna said, “so we were pretty jacked up, pretty ready to go.”That was pretty obvious as the Chickasaws blew by last-place Waukon 14-0 and the crown was all theirs.“We’ve only had maybe three of four games where we haven’t had that competitive edge,” said New Hampton coach Cory McDonald, whose team finished 15-3 in the NEIC, “and that’s when we’ve played with fire. But [against Waukon], you could see it from the start that these boys weren’t going to be denied.”Before New Hampton’s game one starter, Carter Stochl, threw a pitch, the Chickasaws had a 9-0 lead.Ryan Gorman and Stochl led off the games with walks and Noah Hopp was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Trevor Ambrose drilled a two-run single and the rout was on.Josh Fenske would add a two-run single and Waukon helped the cause with four first inning errors.For the full story, please see the July 8 Tribune.