Two Top Iowa High School Baseball Head Coaches Step Down After Season

Two Iowa high school baseball head coaches with state championships on their resumes have stepped down following the summer season.

Duncan Patterson, who led Council Bluffs St. Albert High School to an Iowa High School Athletic Association State Baseball Championship in Class 1A in 2021, has resigned, according to a press release from the school.

Patterson had put together a career record of 208-151 after becoming the head coach in 2017 following a one-year stint as an assistant coach for the Falcons.

“We want to thank Coach Patterson for his dedication and commitment to St. Albert Baseball over the years,” Council Bluffs St. Albert Activities Director Nate Noon said. “We appreciate everything he has done for our student-athletes and our school, and we wish him and his family all the best in the future.”

The school will look to find a replacement immediately. The Falcons went 8-29 this past season, falling to Logan-Magnolia in a Class 1A, District 2 semifinal after posting a 7-2 victory in the first round vs. Boyer Valley.

Council Bluffs St. Albert is expected to return starters Brek Gentile, Avery Beck, Carl Yrkoski, Wade Beck, Kaizen Nadgwick, Patrick McGill, Cole Noon, Kason Shadden, Connor Holly, Lance Betts and Bennett Johnsen next summer.

Nadgwick led the team with a .469 average, as Yrkoski, McGill and Johnsen all hit over .300. Beck stole a team-high 23 bases, and both Gentile and Yrkoski each struck out 38 batters on the mound. Holly led the pitching staff with three wins, striking out 35 batters.

The Falcons qualified for the state baseball tournament in 2021 and 2020, going a combined 56-10 in those two seasons. They finished above .500 seven consecutive seasons starting in 2017.

Western Dubuque’s Casey Bryant Leaving Program After 28 Years

For the first time in nearly three decades, the Western Dubuque High School baseball program will have a new leader starting in summer 2027.

According to a report by The Cedar Rapids Gazette, Casey Bryant has announced his plans to resign as head baseball coach. Bryant plans to remain working with the school as a counselor in addition to coaching junior varsity boys golf.

“I’ve had a baseball season every year since I was 5, every summer,” Bryant said. “My wife and I want to be able to just pick up and go next summer, whenever we want. We won’t have to plan our vacation for the last week of July when it’s 95 degrees out.

“It’s time to do some of those things now.”

Under Bryant, the Bobcats, went 24-15 this past season, reaching the Iowa High School Athletic Association State Baseball Class 3A quarterfinals.

Western Dubuque won back-to-back state baseball championships in 2022 and 2023, reaching the title game in 2006. Bryant put together a career record of 671-370 with the school.

The Bobcats graduate University of Iowa baseball commit Brett Harris and Ben Wernimont, but will have Adler Gibbs, Logan Plumley, Hayden Kluesner, Drake Foxen, Will Steffen, Sam McDermott, Brady Rissman, Jackson Edwards, Carson Klein and Miloe Schoreder back.

Rissman hit .448 with 58 RBI and 30 runs scored, recording 15 doubles for Western Dubuque. Gibbs, Kluesner, Foxen, Steffen and Klein all hit over .300, as Schoreder led the pitching staff with 43 strikeouts and Rissman with a 6-1 record on the mound.

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