Palmer leads Dutch baseball team to win

Central College

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — Central College sophomore pitcher Charlie Palmer (Chariton) struck out four batters over 6.1 innings in a 9-5 win over Knox College (Ill.) Thursday afternoon at the RussMatt Invitational.

Central (3-6) scored in the top of the first after senior outfielder Seth Griffiths (Ottumwa) doubled to shallow leftfield and shortstop Garrett Saunders (Bonaparte, Van Buren HS) drove him in with a sacrifice fly.

“We finally got it going offensively today,” said coach Matt Schirm. “It was good to see our bats come alive.”

The Dutch added three more runs in the third inning and another in the fourth. Knox (2-2) scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh but Central answered with four runs in the eighth. The Prairie Fire added two runs in the bottom of the ninth.

Griffiths finished the game 4-for-6 with two doubles, scored three runs and stole three bags, Saunders went 2-for-5 with a double and two RBIs and senior catcher Michael Reuter (Monticello) went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.

“Seth and (assistant) coach Deutscher worked with him in the cage during our off-day and he made an adjustment today,” said Schirm.

Central collected 15 hits, including four doubles.

Returning after missing three games because of injury, senior outfielder Jacob Hirst (Davenport, Assumption HS) had an outfield assist.

“The most important thing was getting him back on the field and getting through it healthy,” said Schirm. “He squared up a few balls and it looked like he didn’t miss a beat while he was out.”

Central continues invitational play Friday with a doubleheader against Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, beginning at 9 a.m. eastern time. Freshman pitcher Nicholas Long (Marshalltown, East Marshall HS) toes the rubber for the Dutch Friday.

“We just need Nick to give us the same performance he gave us in Arkansas, we just didn’t support him,” said Schirm.

Long pitched six innings and struck out eight in his last start.