Central falls in pair of one-run baseball games

Central College

PELLA — There were opportunities in both games for the Central College baseball team, but the Dutch came up short losing 1-0 and 6-5 to wrap up a four-game series with Coe College Saturday.

The Kohawks (10-8, 6-4 Iowa Conference), who were swept by the Dutch (6-11, 4-4 IIAC) on Friday, returned the favor Saturday.

“It was definitely disappointing to drop two today,” coach Matt Schirm said. “Especially after two big wins yesterday. We felt really good coming into today that we had a good chance to win the series. It stings a little bit right now.”

Central had chances in the last inning of both games after getting runners into scoring position. Down by two runs in the second game, Central was able to get within one on a Zach Brown (junior, Cedar Rapids, Xaver HS) sacrifice fly but couldn’t tie it up. The Dutch were 2-of-17 at the plate with runners in scoring position.

“I think in a lot of our losses this year that’s been the case,” Schirm said. “The guys are up there battling and trying to get that big hit, it’s just not going our way right now.”

The first game lasted just one hour and 27 minutes thanks to dominant pitching performances by Central’s Blake Judkins (junior, Marshalltown) and Coe’s Thomas Schaedel. Judkins went the distance, striking out four and allowing just the one run in the sixth inning.

“I feel bad for Blake that we couldn’t get him that win because he definitely deserved it,” Schirm said. “He pitched very well. That’s what we’ve seen from him in all of his outings since I’ve been here.”

Central faces another quick turnaround with a doubleheader scheduled against Simpson in Indianola on Monday. A non-conference tilt with Grinnell is schedule for Wednesday with a four-game series in Storm Lake against Buena Vista over the weekend.

“We’ve got six big conference games this week,” Schirm said. “We’ve got to turn the page quickly and move on from today.”