Iowa High School Baseball, Softball Notebook: Career HR Record, Coaching Milestone, More

The Iowa high school softball career home run record has been reset thanks to University of Iowa commit Julia Roth.

But can she hold on to it throughout the season?

Roth set the record with her 72nd and 73rd career home runs on Wednesday night for Dubuque Wahlert Catholic vs. Cedar Rapids Xavier. The Golden Eagles posted 10-6 and 9-3 victories as Roth went deep once in each game.

There’s a new state career homerun record!!!! Congratulations to Julia Roth as she hit her 72nd and 73rd career homerun. @THsportsfeed @IGHSAU pic.twitter.com/3hXGcSqrE6
— Wahlert Softball (@dbqwahlertsb) July 2, 2026

On the season, Roth has blasted 16 home runs, hitting over .500 with 54 RBI.

Dubuque Wahlert Catholic has four regular season games left on the schedule before the start of Class 3A postseason play. They would play three more games to make a return to the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union State Softball Tournament, where they could play a handful more games.

However, Roth will need to hold off Ankeny Centennial star and Minnesota commit Jordyn Kennedy, as she is also chasing down the record. Kennedy has 17 home runs and 56 RBI on the season.

Kennedy has 66 career home runs, as the Jaguars play West Des Moines Valley for a doubleheader on Thursday, July 2, head to the Coach Schlafke Classic this weekend to take on Norwalk and Winterset, and finish the regular season vs. Urbandale for two games.

Like Roth and Dubuque Wahlert Catholic, they too have the Class 5A regional postseason tournament coming up and a possible state tournament trip.

The previous Iowa high school softball home run record belonged to Kendyl Lindaman, who also played at Ankeny and Ankeny Centennial. She hit 71 in her career.

Coaching Milestone For Moravia’s Bill Huisman

A special moment resulted in a monumental victory for an Iowa high school baseball coaching legend.

Bill Huisman earned his 1,000th career victory when Moravia earned a walk-off, 4-3 victory over Lynnville-Sully.

“I thought I was going to be finished after last summer at Centerville,” Huisman told KMA Sports. “Phil Helmick and Moravia reached out to me to see if I could come back up there and coach some baseball with Phil. I was very happy to do that because, in myself, I just didn’t feel like I was done as a coach.

“I love being around the kids, the game, the coaches and the people.”

Huisman and Helmick are co-head coaches for Moravia, who are 23-4 on the season and riding the momentum of 17 consecutive wins with the Iowa High School Athletic Association postseason right around the corner.

In four-plus decades coaching, Huisman has spent time at Moravia and Centerville.

The Mohawks gave Huisman his 1,001 win with a 14-4 victory over Lamoni. They host Moulton-Udell in the Class 1A, Substate 7 opener on Friday night.

West Branch’s Nolan Staker Goes For The Trifecta

Hitting three home runs in a high school game is significant.

But Nolan Staker of West Branch did it in a much different way.

Staker recorded three inside-the-park home runs in a victory over Lisbon, including two in the first inning. He had six RBI as West Branch won, 20-2.

On the year, Staker has four homers and is hitting .372 with 27 RBI and 23 runs scored. He has stolen 15 bases and owns a pair of pitching wins.

Add us as a preferred source on Google