Northeast Nodaway went through a rocky stretch starting with a 12-3 home loss to Maysville, a team that has been around .500 this year. Subsequently, they lost to South Holt 7-2 and then fell 15-10 to sub .500 Stewartsville/Osborn. Things threatened to go from bad to worse after Elias Alarcon, one of their best hitters, quit the team and Gaige Bodle, whose hustle earned him a spot in the outfield as a freshman, sustained a season ending injury.
Down to 12 players, the Bluejays could very well have folded. They had to travel to St. Joseph Christian to play the Lions, a team that had beaten the Bluejays in districts last year and had taken Platte Valley and Memphis Bliley to extra innings. But the Lions were in even worse shape than the Bluejays as three of their players had been expelled from school (disciplinary), and Northeast rallied in the face of adversity to win 6-3. The Bluejays then had to travel to Nodaway Valley, which had beaten South Holt. But a home run from Tyler New helped break the game wide open and the Bluejays came away with an 11-0 win.
The Bluejays had to win Thursday’s game against Platte Valley in order to have any hope to catch Platte Valley since they had two conference losses and Platte Valley had none. But Memphis Bliley, who was battling an injury of his own and who had pitched limited action, came back and started for Platte Valley in Thursday’s game.
Dylan McIntyre countered for NEN and at first, it looked like the Bluejays might get to Platte Valley early as they made Bliley walk a batter and forced him to use 22 pitches to get out of the first inning. Dylan McIntyre hit one hard, but right at left fielder Justin Miller.
Seeing his first extended action of the year, Bliley looked shaky the first inning, but then started mixing in his breaking stuff and changing speeds effectively, keeping the Bluejays off the basepaths. Platte Valley mounted the first real threat in the third when Trevor Weir beat out an infield single, Tucker Klamm forced him out at second, and Alex Mattson singled to put runners on first and second. But Landon Wilmes made a shoestring catch of Matt Jermain’s line drive to take a base hit away from him and the game remained scoreless.
Despite having to shake up their lineup, Northeast was able to have people step up. Boston Adwell moved from third to first and handled everything thrown at him. Brayden Stevens was placed at third and stepped right up at that spot. Carter Chapman, who was a bright spot in the field in the Maysville loss, was inserted in right and Sawyer Thurman, who showed a lot of range in the outfield in preseason, was inserted in left.
Neither side had any more serious trouble until the sixth, when Dylan McIntyre walked with one out. Brayden Stevens hit a Texas leaguer that frequently drops in for a hit, but Lane Acklin made a shoestring catch running in from center for the second out. Dylan stole second, but Grant McIntyre struck out to end the threat.
Bliley finally ran out of pitches in the seventh, which meant Northeast would have a chance to win in the eighth if they held. Dylan McIntyre still had plenty of pitches left. But Brandon McQueen’s hard grounder caromed off Landon Wilmes’ foot. Justin Miller struck out, but as McQueen was trying to steal, Grant McIntyre’s throw got away, putting him on third. Northeast nearly got out of the inning as Trevor Weir grounded back to Dylan McIntyre, who looked back McQueen and threw to first for the second out. But Tucker Klamm, the #9 hitter, smashed one hard off third baseman Brayden Stevens’ glove for a base hit for the lone run of the game.
Northeast still had a chance as Bliley was out of pitches and Wyatt Miller was called on to finish the game. Camdain Frisch, who had gotten some clutch hits all year, came through again as he reached on second baseman Matt Jermain’s bobble. Landon Wilmes’ pop fly dropped in left center for a base hit, putting runners at first and second. But Sawyer Thurman struck out and Dylan McIntyre hit it hard down the right field line, but Brandon McQueen was positioned perfectly to make the catch. Sometimes, coaches have a sixth sense about what is going to happen, and Platte Valley’s coaches had their first baseman, Trevor Weir, play on the edge of the grass. That meant he was perfectly positioned to snare Brayden Stevens’ line drive to end the game.
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