Central baseball team falls in extra innings twice
DECORAH — Both games went into extra innings but the Central College baseball team lost both ends of a doubleheader at Luther College Friday afternoon.
Central dropped the opener to the Norse 3-2 in 10 innings and then lost 5-4 in eight innings in the second game.
“I’m so proud of our guys,” coach Casey Klunder said. “It was two really good American Rivers Conference games and it was unfortunate we came up on the short side.”
Declan O’Hare (senior, Los Angeles, Calif., John Marshall HS) finished with no decision as the game one starting pitcher in nine innings of work. He struck out four while scattering 10 hits and two walks. He stranded 11 Norse base runners, including escaping a bases loaded jam in the seventh. Landon Thiele (senior, Moline, Ill.) took the loss after the walk off by Luther in the bottom of the 10th.
“He’s been great down the stretch,” Klunder said. “He pitched well up here last year, too. Declan is at his best at the end of the season. He was all heart today.”
Game two’s starting pitcher Kurby Vowels (senior, Waverly-Shell Rock HS) struck out three over five innings while allowing four earned runs. He yielded seven hits and three walks. Thiele also was saddled with the loss in game two, throwing 2.2 innings of relief. He allowed just two hits and walked one.
“That’s the best Kurby has looked, too, and it was against a good offensive team,” Klunder said. “He really battled and left everything out there.”
O’Hare had a team-high two hits in the opener. His sixth-inning single enabled second baseman Colton Jones (junior, Knoxville) to go from first to third before Jones scored on a wild pitch just two pitches later. Right fielder Colton DeRocher (junior, Sioux City, East HS) had a fourth-inning home run as well.
In game two, designated hitter Garrett Finley (senior, DeWitt, Central DeWitt HS) led the offense with three hits and two RBI. Right fielder Chase Martin (sophomore, Port St. Lucie, Fla., John Carroll HS) had two hits and an RBI.
“We had some good at-bats against some Veteran arms for Luther,” Klunder said. “We just left too many guys on base. We had a couple of chances and we didn’t execute the way we need to.”
Central closes out the series with a single game at 1 p.m. Saturday.
