West Nodaway remained winless after Monday. After showing some promise at North Harrison and then giving Platte Valley all they could handle, they finally returned to their home field after having to play elsewhere due to the renovation of their diamond. But after a promising start for the Rockets, they fell behind to North Nodaway. They clawed back against the Mustangs, only to fall two runs short 11-9.
The new field at Burlington Junction faces the same direction as the old, but is bigger and they moved it towards the east road to avoid some overhanging wires. The dimensions are 300 down each line and around 320 to dead center, which kept the ball in the yard, but led to a lot of balls being hit in the gaps and going for extra bases despite the wind howling in from the north.
West Nodaway sent Parker Ogle up to pitch, and he quickly got the first two outs, only for the ball to start flying off the bats for both teams the rest of the game. Karson Oberhauser caught hold of a breaking ball and drove it into the gap in left field fair past third. Left fielder Gabe Goff got there, only for it to carom off his glove and over the fence for a ground rule double thanks to the short foul ground in the outfield. Arron Coleman tripled into the right center field gap, digging a pitch out of the dirt. He came home on a wild pitch; it is a long ways from the plate to the backstop at West Nodaway, which will lead to a lot of runs off wild pitches and passed balls.
Ryan Riley got in trouble for North Nodaway and couldn’t get out of the first, fighting the strike zone. Parker Ogle shot a single off Arron Coleman’s glove at first and then Hunter Dawson and Gabe Goff walked to load the bases. Dylan Carden dug one out of the dirt and singled to center to score two. Jacob Flint walked. Mason Chitwood struck out on a big breaking ball, but Jonathan Rohr walked to force in a run to put West Nodaway up 3-2. Logan Keho came in to pitch, and at first, nothing changed as James Graham walked to force in another run. But then a change struck out Bryan Hyatt and Tyler Bix, who picked off two NEN runners in Ravenwood, picked Jacob Flint off third to bail out his team and end the first.
It didn’t seem to matter at first, as all hell threatened to break loose for the Mustangs. Parker Ogle dug one of Keho’s pitches out of the dirt and into center for a base hit and stole second and third. Hunter Dawson walked and Keho’s pickoff throw to third got away from Arron Coleman and Ogle scored to make it 5-2. A hit and run single vacated the shortstop position and Gabe Goff singled to left, putting runners on first and second. Karson Oberhauser made a running catch in center field of Dylan Carden’s drive that would have been extra bases for the first out, but Jacob Flint singled to center to score one. Mason Chitwood flied out to Drexel Richardson in right and West Nodaway’s hit and run backfired as second baseman Andrew Blackford, who was covering, was positioned perfectly behind the bag at second to catch Jonathan Rohr’s pop fly, which otherwise would have dropped in for a base hit.
North Nodaway, down 6-2 at that point, batted around in the third to get back in the game. Jordan Jenkins singled fair past third and Tyler Bix walked. Karson Oberhauser forced Jenkins at third, but Arron Coleman singled fair past first to score Bix for the first run and put Oberhauser on third. Coleman stole second. Dalton Smyser grounded out to pitcher Parker Ogle, but second baseman Zayla Carlson misplayed Ryan Riley’s chopper, which bounded into right field as two runs scored. Logan Keho walked and Andrew Blackford hit a drive to deep right center field. Center fielder Dylan Carden chased it on the dead run, but couldn’t get it and it rolled away along the fence towards the right field corner. When the dust had settled, Blackford was at third with a triple and the Mustangs were on top 7-6.
The Mustangs got some insurance runs in the fourth with one out as Tyler Bix walked, Karson Oberhauser was hit by a pitch, and a passed ball moved them to second and third. A wild pitch got away from catcher Jacob Flint, and the long backstop cost West Nodaway, as Bix came in to score and Oberhauser took third. Arron Coleman walked and stole second, and Dalton Smyser reached on an error when first baseman Mason Chitwood dropped a throw, scoring both runners to make it 10-6.
The Rockets could not score in the fifth as Mason Chitwood led off with a walk. But then Keho settled down and struck out Jonathan Rohr and James Graham, and then Tyler Bix picked Chitwood off first, for his second pickoff of the game. He nearly picked off a third runner in the first inning, but Gabe Goff was able to escape a rundown and scramble back to third.
Another insurance run came home in the sixth when Karson Oberhauser singled to left with one out. He got a short leadoff from first, but stole second safely and Flint’s throw got away as Oberhauser took third. Arron Coleman doubled over left fielder Gabe Goff’s head to score Oberhauser to make it 11-6.
West Nodaway rallied in the bottom of the sixth when Parker Ogle and Hunter Dawson were hit by a pitch with one out. Gabe Goff, who has shot up the weight charts for Musket football, put a charge in one; the wind kept it in the yard, but it still dropped in and rolled to the right center field wall for a triple to score both runs. Karson Oberhauser misjudged Dylan Carden’s fly ball in center and it dropped behind him for a base hit to make it 11-9 and bring up the tying run with one out. But then Jacob Flint hit hard, but right at Arron Coleman at third, who got the second out at first. Mason Chitwood hit a towering pop fly behind the plate; at most other parks, it would have dropped behind the backstop foul. But despite the wind pushing it that way, the long backstop helped North Nodaway as catcher Tyler Bix had just enough room to catch it for the third out.
West Nodaway had one last chance in the seventh, but Jonathan Rohr grounded out hard to Arron Coleman at third. Logan Keho blew one by James Graham for a third strike, but got down in the count against Bryan Hyatt 3-1. Had he gotten on, the tying run was coming to the plate, and anything could have happened with Parker Ogle, Hunter Dawson, and Gabe Goff all coming up. But Keho threw a big breaking ball and located it perfectly for strike two, and then threw a perfect pitch at the knees for a called third strike to end the game.
No comments:
Post a Comment