Shorthanded Bluejays Decimated by Thunder on Senior Night

A shorthanded Northeast Nodaway team was decimated by Nodaway Valley Monday night 11-0 as the roof caved in in the final two innings. The game was called after six innings. Seniors Jack Boswell, Trenton Hartley, Grant McIntyre, and Tyler New were honored after the game.

The Bluejays had every right to expect a competitive game after close losses to powerhouses Maysville and South Holt. But with Drew Dack no longer on the team and Brayden Stevens out with strep throat, the Bluejays were without two of their three pitchers and had to put together some makeshift lineups against the Thunder, which have been touted as a team that can challenge the Knights for the conference title. They had several players out of position, which finally cost them in the end.

Grant McIntyre started off as the pitcher, and should have picked off Tye Hoyt, but the umpire called him safe and he later came around to score in the first inning. Aided by a successful pickoff of Preston Jenkins, he was able to get out of the inning. He found his stride before being lifted in the fourth inning after throwing 60 pitches.

The wind was howling in from right and the dust was whipping up in everyone’s eyes, making every pitch, hit ball, and throw an adventure. But Bluejay right fielder Camdain Frisch made a running catch of Michael Cook’s pop fly, reading the wind perfectly, to keep the Thunder off the board in the fourth inning and keep the deficit at 2-0.

But the Bluejays didn’t help themselves at the plate, where they were standing and hoping to walk instead of trying to get a hit. They had six called third strikes, as Thunder pitchers Tye Hoyt and Lane Larabee combined on a no-hitter. 

Landon Wilmes pitched the next leg and Northeast used him up. He started off well, throwing strikes around the plate. But a pair of errors in the fifth meant the wheels were starting to come off, and Nodaway Valley scored three runs in the inning to make it 5-0. It would have been worse, but Camdain Frisch, who was a bright spot in right field that day, took an apparent base hit away from Michael Cook as his pop fly dropped right in front of Frisch. But he gunned down Kayden Conn at the plate on a force play, as he had held up to make sure the ball wasn’t caught.

All hell broke loose in the sixth inning as Wilmes tired and fought the strike zone. Five walks and two hits later, he was lifted. Camdain Frisch walked in two batters, but then got out of the inning.