Northeast Nodaway’s baseball team, after a rocky start, evened their record at 3-3 with an 18-6 win over North Nodaway Monday. The Bluejays had a big adjustment period at the start of the year, when new coach Cody Green stepped into some big shoes, replacing long-time coach Vance Proffitt. But Green said the team had gotten a lot more confident as the season progressed, translating into wins. The Bluejays also beat DeKalb 10-1 Friday. Northeast will find out right away how much they have progressed, as they travel Friday to play new powerhouse Maysville.
For North Nodaway, they are still searching for their first win. Following their 5-0 loss to Gilman City, in which they made some strides, they dug themselves into a hole and lost 12-3 to Albany. They fought Nodaway Valley to a 4-4 tie, only to implode late and fall 14-4 to the Thunder. Although it was frustrating for him to watch, Coach Cody Jenkins said he was seeing improvement as the season progressed. “We’re getting there,” he said.
The Bluejays were down two players, without Drew Dack and Sawyer Thurman. But they had several other players step up in a big way at both the plate and in the field in Monday’s game. North Nodaway saw some sparkling play in the outfield, with all three outfielders making some big catches to keep them in the game. But the key difference between the two teams was the called third strikes. While Northeast attacked the ball early and often, North Nodaway stood at the plate too much, getting eight called third strikes to derail their attack. The new umpire, Tryce Floyd, showed no compunction about ringing up batters right and left who stood at the plate. Brayden Stevens took advantage all day, getting ahead with his power pitches and dropping in a breaking ball every once in a while to keep Mustang batters off balance. He froze six North Nodaway batters looking.
Northeast ran on North Nodaway all day long, stealing 12 bases for the afternoon, including five in the first inning. They were not afraid to steal even third when they thought they could make it. Brayden Stevens walked and stole second and third before Tyler New singled him home and then stole second and third himself. Camdain Frisch hit what looked like a routine single, but then it took a crazy bounce on right fielder Daryn Berg for a double as New scored to make it 2-0.
Reece Gray started off pitching for the Bluejays and walked Trevin Wyllie on four pitches. Walks lead to runs and sure enough, Wyllie stole second and third. Northeast nearly got out of the inning as Aiden James struck out and Gray got one on the outside corner to strike out Ethan Fry. But Aydan Blackford singled him home to make it 2-1. Blaine Clements hit a pop fly into no man’s land in right center; pop flies have been an adventure all year for the Bluejays, and sure enough, it dropped into right center for a base hit. Daryn Berg was plunked to load the bases, but then Preston Hansen’s shot drilled Berg for the third out as the Bluejays caught a break.
Mustang pitcher Brice Trimble struggled with his control and plunked Jace Cameron. Landon Wilmes, who had been in a hitting slump earlier, singled just over Aiden James at second and Lance Runde walked. Brayden Stevens flied out to score Cameron. Reece Gray walked and Tyler New singled to center. The ball got away from Trevin Wyllie in center and two more runs scored to make it 5-1 and New took second and Gray third. With two strikes on him, Grant McIntyre caught hold of a chase pitch that was way low and outside and drove it to center field. The ball sliced away from Trimble, but Daryn Berg made a brilliant catch to limit the damage to one run to make it 6-1 when Gray tagged up and scored.
Brice Trimble hit a grounder to Brayden Stevens at short; he threw it into the dirt, but Landon Wilmes dug it out for the first out, which might have prevented a big second inning. Ridge Clements walked and Trevin Wyllie reached on an error as Stevens let one get by him, putting Clements on third. Aiden James dug one out and caught hold of it and Tyler New made a shoestring catch on the dead run as Clements tagged up and scored to make it 6-2.
With one out in the third, Northeast threatened as Jace Cameron reached when third baseman Blaine Clements’ throw was in the dirt. Landon Wilmes hit a pop fly to left center that dropped in for a base hit as Cameron managed to scramble to second just ahead of the force play. But Lance Runde was called out on strikes and Brayden Stevens hit it right at Clements, who stepped on third for the final out.
North Nodaway rallied to tie in the third as Blaine Clements nearly took out Reece Gray with a shot up the middle for a base hit with one out. Daryn Berg got plunked again, and Preston Hansen’s pop fly landed in shallow center for a base hit as once again, pop flies have proven to be an adventure for Northeast this year. Brice Trimble hit a shot to right center. Camdain Frisch stumbled going after it, and Trimble was in for a stand-up double as two runs scored to make it 6-4.
At that point, with North Nodaway teeing off on Reece Gray, Brayden Stevens came on to relieve him. At first, nothing worked as after Ridge Clements struck out, Trevin Wyllie singled to score two more to knot it up at 6-6 and Aiden James walked. But Ethan Fry grounded out to Reece Gray, who replaced Stevens at shortstop and the game remained tied.
The momentum seemed to be with the Mustangs at that point, but Reece Gray hit what looked like a routine grounder to third, only for it to take a crazy sideways bounce into left field for a base hit. An errant pickoff put him on third base and Tyler New caught hold of a high pitch and singled him home to break the tie and make it 7-6. Tyler New stole second and then Grant McIntyre walked. New stole third and then Camdain Frisch hit a grounder into no man’s land as Tyler New scored to make it 8-6. McIntyre, off on the pitch in the first and third situation, made it to third. Carter Chapman hit a slow roller between first and second and beat it out as McIntyre scored and Frisch took second. Jace Cameron singled to left to make it 10-6.
At that point, Blaine Clements replaced Trimble on the mound and Landon Wilmes flied out to Ridge Clements in left as Chapman scored to make it 11-6. But Clements struck out Lance Runde with some high heat and Brayden Stevens as well to get out of the innings.
For the next inning and a half, both Clements and Stevens restored order and kept the other teams off the board. But Clements walked three straight batters to start the sixth, and Lance Runde flied out to score Camdain Frisch to put the Bluejays up 12-6.
The bottom dropped out for the Mustangs in the Bluejay seventh after Reece Gray beat it out after second baseman Ethan Fry fielded a grounder between first and second, but first baseman Preston Hansen didn’t get to the bag in time. Tyler New and Grant McIntyre were plunked to load the bases. North Nodaway nearly got out of the inning as Camdain Frisch struck out and Carter Chapman grounded into a force at home. But then a throw in the third let in two Bluejay runs as Jace Cameron reached first and McIntyre third. Landon Wilmes walked. Lance Runde’s pop fly dropped just in front of Berg for a base hit to score two more and Brayden Stevens’ single to right center made it 18-6 as two more scored.
For the third time in the game, Daryn Berg showed he was a magnet for the ball as he got hit to start the Mustang seventh. Northeast had a player once in Maverick Price who was a magnet for the ball and had an uncanny ability to get hit by pitches. Once, it was a matter of matchups; when Dallis Coffelt pitched for the Bluejay softball team and Rachael Gardner batted for Worth County, Dallis would invariably hit Gardner every single time.
Preston Hansen beat out a grounder into the hole at short and Brice Trimble hit a pop fly between first and second, a play which has always been an adventure for the Bluejays. Sure enough, everyone lost track of it except for Camdain Frisch, who came in on a dead sprint from right field to snag it at the edge of the grass. Ridge Clements struck out and Trevin Wyllie grounded out to end the game.
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