Central finishes strong to complete baseball sweep
DAVENPORT, FLA. — Piling on nine runs of the final two innings of the second game, the Central College baseball team completed the 11-5, 12-9 sweep over Knox College (Ill.) Monday afternoon.
Trailing 8-3 entering the top of the sixth, Central (5-1) struck for five runs in the sixth and added three more in the seventh to complete the rally.
“Our team had a lot of energy all day,” coach Casey Klunder said. “They didn’t give up there and really battled well.”
In the seventh and final inning, three consecutive Prairie Fire errors in the infield preceded a two RBI single by pinch-hitter Tanner Bigelow (sophomore, Mesa, Ariz., Highland HS). A sacrifice bunt by third baseman Jared Kampf (senior, Peoria, Ariz., Mountain Ridge HS) plated pinch runner Josh Mohr (freshman, Sigourney) before Bigelow scampered home on a wild pitch.
“With it being so windy today, it makes it hard to play to defense,” Klunder said. “The more balls you can put in play gives your offense an advantage. We made their defense work and it worked out for us.”
In the sixth inning, Kamp had a 2 RBI double and Colton DeRocher’s (sophomore, Sioux City, East HS) two-run blast was the team’s first home run of the season.
“Your offense needs to be multi-dimensional if its going to be effective,” Klunder said. “You have to be able to come up with big hits in multiple ways. That was a big home run to tie it in the sixth.”
Landon Thiele (junior, Moline, Ill.) stepped to the mound in relief of starter Drew Coffman (junior, Grinnell) and limited the Prairie Fire to two earned runs in four innings while striking out six. Kurby Vowels (junior, Waverly, Waverly-Shell Rock HS) struck out all three batters he faced in the seventh to record the save.
“Landon really righted the ship for us,” Klunder said. “He was really competitive in the strike zone and he’s confident on the mound. It’s fun to watch him work.”
In the first game DeRocher and second baseman Lucas Farren (senior, Yorkville, Ill.) each had two hits and three RBI.
Caleb Evans (junior, Davenport Central HS) got the win in the opener, yielding thee earned runs in four innings. Wes Hamor (freshman, Tama, East Marshall HS) secured the three-inning save while striking out six.
“I don’t know if I’ve seen a debut like that,” Klunder said. “He came in and threw strikes and threw his breaking fall for strikes. If he continues to do that he is going to be effective.”
The Dutch were able to get a large contingent of players on the field once again, starting a total of 13 position players between the two games.
After a day off Wednesday, Central returns to the field at Lake Myrtle Sports Park in Auburndale for a 1 p.m. (EST) game against Bowdoin College (Maine).
