Central offense explodes in baseball win over Wartburg
PELLA – A 10-run fourth inning helped the Central College baseball team to its highest single-game total in American Rivers Conference action and a 15-10 win over Wartburg College Monday afternoon.
The Dutch (14-22, 8-13 conference) had scored just one run in the first two games against the Knights (20-14, 10-10 American Rivers Conference) but broke out in game three.
Central scored 14 runs with two outs, including 10 in a massive fourth inning. All nine Central starters had at least one hit, including five with multiple hits. The Dutch also took advantage of eight walks, four hit batsmen and four errors. Ten of Central’s 15 runs were unearned.
“We talk a lot about scoring with two runs and we found ways to do that,” coach Adam Carey said. “We kept extending the inning and got the next guy into the box. We did a good job taking our walks and then when they gave us a ball to hit, we went after it hard.”
Hitting in the first two spots of the lineup, second baseman Logan McCoy (senior, Galva, Alta-Aurelia HS) and center fielder Colton DeRocher (senior, Sioux City, East HS) had two hits and three RBI for the Dutch.
“They did a really good job setting the table for us,” Carey said.
Catcher Dom DeLaPaz (junior, Davenport, West HS) had just one hit, but it was a two-run blast in the fourth. Third baseman Brayden Sawyer (sophomore, Grundy Center) led the team with three hits.
Starting pitcher Chance Dreyer (sophomore, Davenport, Assumption HS) struck out 11 while issuing one walk. He scattered 10 hits as the Knights scored five earned runs on him.
“He has a lot of swing and miss pitches in his arsenal,” Carey said. “He did a good job of battling when they did get some hits. He found a way to minimize them.”
Three Central pitchers combined to close out the final three innings. Bryce Haessig (sophomore, Huxley, Ballard HS) tossed the final two, giving up a pair of earned runs on four hits and no walks.
The two teams also played the final three frames of Saturday’s suspended game that Wartburg held on to win 4-0, giving the Knights two wins in the three-game series.
Central has three games left on the regular season schedule, starting with a 3:30 p.m. doubleheader at Loras College on Friday.
