North Harrison won its first game of the year as they are seeking to regain the form that made them one of the top teams in the area three years ago. They got three hits from Keygun Johnson, a sensational catch from Andrew Craig at first base, and enough hitting to pull away to beat North Nodaway 17-7 Friday.
The game was the first between the two teams since 2017. North Harrison won its first ever game as a franchise against the Mustangs 7-5 in 2016, a game in which Andrew’s brother, Logan, played. North Nodaway trounced the Shamrocks 11-1 in Hopkins the next year, but ever since then, the two teams had a game on their schedule, but it would always rain that day, and COVID-19 wiped out the 2020 season.
For North Nodaway, their youth and inexperience showed in Friday’s game. They have five seniors on their roster, but everyone else on the squad is either a freshman or a sophomore, giving Coach Cody Jenkins a lot of holes he has to fill this year.
The game was marred by a lot of walks on both sides, which lead to errors and runs even at higher levels. Karsyn Ury made a nice catch of Brice Trimble’s line drive to start the game, but then Trevin Wyllie was plunked and took second on a wild pitch. Blaine Clements walked and then Shamrock catcher Dustin Hamilton threw it away trying to get Wyllie at third on a passed ball situation, and Wyllie came home for North Nodaway’s first run to make it 1-0.
Dustin Hamilton walked and took second to start the Shamrock first. Jerry Gilpatrick reached when third baseman Blaine Clements airmailed the throw, putting Gilpatrick on second and scoring Hamilton. Andrew Craig hit a seeing eye single that died behind second, but eluded everyone, and then an errant throw scored Gilpatrick. Keygun Johnson hit a shot into the left field gap to score Craig and put the Shamrocks on 3-1.
The teams were scoreless until the third inning. But then Brice Trimble was plunked to start the third and stole second. Trevin Wyllie struck out, but Trimble took third on a wild pitch. Aydan Blackford singled to cut the Mustang deficit to 3-2. He stole second and later came home on a wild pitch to tie it at 3-3.
But then Andrew Craig walked, Keygun Johnson hit a pop fly to left field that dropped in for a base hit just before Ridge Clements could get to it, and Tate Richardson and Karsyn Ury were plunked to force in a run to break the 3-3 tie. Keygun Johnson was out trying for home on a diving tag from Mustang catcher Aydan Blackford as Richardson and Ury took second and third. But then Mustang pitcher Blaine Clements started fighting the strike zone, walking in three runs to make it 7-3. Ethan Fry replaced Clements, but a walk forced in North Harrison’s fifth run and two Mustang errors let in two more to make it 10-3.
Ethan Fry made a great pickoff play to catch Jerry Gilpatrick in a rundown between third and home, but then more errors let in two more Shamrock runs before Fry finally got the Mustangs out of the inning trailing 12-3. North Harrison took advantage of eight walks and four Mustang errors in the inning to fuel their run.
Keygun Johnson came on to pitch against the Mustangs in the fourth, but fought the strike zone, hitting two batters and walking four as North Nodaway cut it to 12-6. But then the Shamrocks started figuring out Fry’s breaking ball and Landon Johnson singled to start the Shamrock fourth. Kayson Sims walked and Dustin Hamilton singled and took second on an error as Landon scored to make it 13-6. Jerry Gilpatrick and Andrew Craig grounded out to score Sims. Keygun Johnson shot another ball in the gap for his second double as Hamilton scored to make it 15-6.
Dustin Hamilton came on to pitch for the Shamrocks and got in trouble in the Mustang fifth as he started fighting the strike zone after hits from Daryn Berg and Ethan Fry started it. He walked Ridge Clements and Brice Trimble to force in a run to make it 15-7. But then Trevin Wyllie hit what looked like a Texas Leaguer down the right field line for more runs, only for Shamrock first baseman Andrew Craig to sell out and make a diving catch for the second out. That gave Hamilton the confidence he needed to get out of the inning as he struck out Blackford to limit the damage to one run.
Karsyn Ury and Kyler Kimbrough walked to start the Shamrock fifth. North Nodaway nearly got of the inning as Landon Johnson grounded out to advance the runners and Kayson Sims struck out. But then Dustin Hamilton singled them home to end the game after five.
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