Three Linn County Teams To Play For State Baseball Titles ..

It's an exciting time for three high school teams in Linn County as the thought of a state title is on their minds.

Alburnett is sitting at 35-5 and No. 2 in the ranks as they head into Saturday's 1A title game against top-ranked Newman Catholic (37-3). Alburnett should still be feeling the adrenaline going into the title game after a thrilling finish on Thursday night. Alburnett played Remsen St. Mary’s and in the bottom of the seventh Alburnett's Shane Neighbor bunted into a perfectly-placed, walk-off squeeze play as teammate Austin Huber sprinted home for the game-winning run. Check out the exciting moment below.

The Gazette reports that Alburnett's win advanced them to their first finals appearance, facing Newman on Saturday at 11 a.m.

Number one-ranked North Linn (40-5) is sitting pretty as they await the 2A title game Saturday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. against No. 2 Van Meter (33-3). This is especially true considering they have a player like Jake Hilmer. Hilmer is a career record holder in two major hitting categories, according to USAToday. Hilmer is a star shortstop and pitcher that has "rewritten state record books" and made a name for himself as "one of the most accomplished high school baseball players EVER."

According to USAToday, Hilmer is the nation’s all-time leader in hits AND runs as a high schooler. Looking at state records, he holds them for hits, runs scored, stolen bases, and doubles. Long story short, this kid is a stud. We'll see how talent like this plays out for the North Linn team Saturday afternoon!

Saturday afternoon at 4:30 p.m., a third Linn County team will play for a state title. 3A top-ranked Cedar Rapids Xavier, 40-2, will play #3 Central Dewitt, 38-3. Unfortunately, Xavier had to knock off another area team to reach Saturday afternoon's final. They defeated Marion 4-1 on Friday.

Saturday is going to be a very special day for Linn County teams and their fans. Good luck... hopefully you'll bring back three championship trophies!