Luther drives Dutch out of league baseball tourney
Central College
CEDAR RAPIDS—Second baseman Adam Ariola (freshman, Bloomington, Ill., Normal HS) drove in three Central College runs but the Dutch struggled to keep pace with the Luther College offense, suffering a season-ending 14-4 defeat Friday in the Iowa Conference baseball tournament.
Central came out firing with a leadoff double from shortstop Mike Furlong (junior, Davenport, Assumption HS) and a single from left fielder Allen Mann (sophomore, Marshalltown). Designated hitter Caleb Rangel (senior, Rock Island, Ill., Alleman Catholic HS) drew a walk before Ariola belted a two-run double and scored on a single from center fielder Sam Stetzel (sophomore, Perry).
“We had a great start to the game,” coach Adam Stevens said. “We brought our energy from yesterday.”
After a rain delay, the Norse (24-18) posted three runs in the second inning but the Dutch regained the lead with a tally in the third when Ariola doubled again to drive in Rangel. But Luther continued its attack, pounding out 10 hits in the remaining innings to rack up three runs in the third and sixth and erupt for a game-ending four runs in the seventh.
“We kind of lost our momentum after the delay,” Stevens said. “Luther came back and put pressure on our defense. We’ve been pretty solid most of the year defensively but we weren’t today.”
The Dutch committed four errors to advance the Norse offense.
“We made way too many mistakes and against a good team like Luther you can’t do that.”
Luther ace Matt Reynolds tossed the complete game yielding seven hits and walking four but striking out one. Starting hurler Dirk Lindaman (sophomore, Ankeny) took the loss, allowing one earned run on seven hits and two walks in five innings. Lindaman (5-2) struck out three.
The Dutch bow out of the tournament with a 22-19 overall record.
“This isn’t the way we wanted to go out,” Stevens said. “We haven’t played as well as we’re capable the last two weeks.”
Central broke five team and six individual records throughout the season. The squad loses Rangel to graduation along with infielder David Lakin (Clinton), infielder Ryan Allison (Rock Island, Ill.), third baseman Anthony Miller (Davenport, Assumption HS), pitcher D.J. Glasgow (Burlington) and right fielder Jarred Lackey (Somerton, Ariz., Cibola HS).
“The seniors have had solid careers and we thank them for their work and effort,” Stevens said. “But I also like the intangibles of the group we have coming back and look forward to next year.”
