June 21, 2025
By Adam Burns
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — Flood City Midwest wasn’t exactly sure what to expect in its first appearance in Omaha Slumpbuster action. But they knew one thing.
“We’d come out to battle,” said Ryan Harris, a member of Flood City’s 14u squad.
The group from Jacksonville, Illinois battled and proved it was here to stay, knocking off the Nebraska Prospects (Wellwood) 12-8 in the quarterfinals of the D1 Platinum championship bracket on Saturday afternoon at the Council Bluffs Recreation Complex.
Flood City handled the Pittsburgh Outlaws earlier in the day during the first round of bracket play in another barnburner, 15-12.
With the pair of wins, Flood City improved to 5-0 during the third session of Slumpbuster play.
“Our boys have played really well,” said Flood City coach Brett Rohlk. “They’ve fought through adversity through the heat and the wind we had here today. We tried to rotate through our 13 players in and out. Mentally, they’ve played tough through it all.”
Harris played a large role in the quarterfinal win, tossing three innings of one-hit ball while striking out seven and walking five batters. But his biggest impact might have been with the bat, as he drove in five runs with a pair of triples.
“He does an excellent job for us,” Rohlk said of Harris. “He came out and battled and was ready to go. But he also did it with the bat with two triples. I’m proud of him.”
With the game knotted at 2-apiece through two innings, Flood City erupted for a 7-run top of the fourth to take a 9-2 lead.
“That’s a big lift for the team,” Rohlk said of Flood City’s big inning. “Anytime you can get put runs together like that it just creates momentum difference maker for us.”
The Prospects (4-1) countered with a five-run fourth to cut the deficit to 9-7.
But, once again, Flood City battled by way of a big-time fifth inning, led by none other than Harris, who sent a three-run triple past the outfielders and up against the right-field fence for an 11-7 lead. Thrice Kirkpatrick added a sac fly for the final tally.
Luke Straube went 3-for-3 with an RBI, while Ayden Wagner drove in two runs on a double.
The mindset tomorrow for the 13-seeded Flood City? Take things one game at a time, according to Rohlk.
“We’re going to have to regroup and battle tomorrow,” he said.
“Yeah, I think we can win it. We’ve come this far,” Harris added.
Flood City opens Championship on Sunday with the Prime Nationals in a semifinal contest at 11:15 a.m.
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