Central pitchers control Olivet bats in baseball triumph
Central Dutch Athletics
AUBURNDALE, Fla. — So far this season the Central College baseball team’s offense had been the talk of the season but that story changed after Monday’s 6-2 victory over Olivet College (Mich.) in the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational.
Sophomore starter Tre Stanton (Des Moines, Roosevelt HS) tossed six innings of three hit ball, allowing a lone run while striking out five and earned the win.
“I’ve been really happy with the way Tre has been throwing so far this season and today was another example of why,” said coach Matt Schirm. “Last season he battled some command issues but this year he’s done a nice job keeping the ball in the zone more. Tre is just adding to the pitching depth that we have for the season.”
Freshmen Nathan Schwanke (Omaha, Neb., Concordia HS) and Ryan Riddle (Omaha, Neb., Mount Michael HS) combined to finish the game, throwing three innings, allowing one run and striking out three. Schwanke gave up three hits while Riddle tossed a three-up-three-down inning.
“Ryan threw really well today,” said Schirm. “He threw 6-or-7 pitches in the last inning and had some really nice velocity which was good to see. Nathan would probably tell you he didn’t have his best stuff today but he did a good job of not giving up a big inning (two or more runs in an inning). He got into some trouble in the seventh inning but pitched his way out of it and allowed just one run.”
Central’s offense was stymied in the first inning before exploding for four runs in the top of the second inning to take a 4-0 lead. Senior designated hitter Kyle Crampton (Omaha, Neb., Millard South HS) singled in a pair of runs to break the scoreless tie. Junior shortstop Garrett Saunders (Bonaparte, Van Buren HS) later walked in a run and junior outfielder Coy Moore (Hamilton, Twin Cedars HS) had an RBI ground out to third to end the scoring in the second.
Crampton added an insurance run with a double in the third inning, scoring junior outfielder Tanner Wood (Pella). Wood later tripled in a run in the seventh inning to push the score 6-1 before Olivet added a run in the eighth.
“For whatever reason our offense just didn’t hit as well as it has so far this trip but you have to expect that,” said Schirm. “I was happy our pitching and defense kept us in the game and then Crampton opened it up with his big hit in the second. Tanner’s triple was almost a home run, it hit about halfway up the wall and I think that gave us a little bit of breathing room in the later innings.”
The Dutch finish invitational play with a doubleheader against Mount St. Joseph (Ohio) Friday with the first game beginning at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time.
“I think we’ve played well so far on this trip and I’ll start to prepare for Mount St. Joseph tonight,” said Schirm. “This trip has been about us learning about each other on the team and learning how to play together and develop. I think we’ve done that and I look forward to continuing that Friday before we head back to Pella.”
