Central splits baseball doubleheader with Coe

PELLA – A five-run third inning spurred the Central College baseball team on to a 10-4 win in game two of Saturday’s doubleheader against Coe College.

The Dutch (11-12, 6-3 American Rivers Conference) also lost the first game 9-2 against the Kohawks (16-7, 6-3 conference).

Trailing 2-0 entering the third, Brock Luna led off with a solo home run. Bryer Wiley (sophomore, second baseman Urbana, Center Point-Urbana HS) doubled and Jaden Kramer’s (senior, Cedar Falls) single moved Wiley to third. An RBI groundout from Max Steinlage tied the game with two outs.

Dom DeLaPaz (fifth year, Davenport, West HS) reached on an error, scoring Kramer in the process. Garrett Guenther (junior, Grayslake, Ill., Central HS) gave the Dutch a second home run in the inning and a 5-2 lead.

That was all the offense starting pitcher Jackson Torbit (sophomore, St. Louis, Mo., Webster Groves HS) needed. He struck out 12 and allowed two earned runs on five hits and two walks. Three hits and one run came in the first inning before Torbit settled in on the mound.

Turner Williams (junior, Newton) gave Central another strong relief outing, striking out two of the 10 batters he faced in 2.2 innings.

DeLaPaz hit his 10th home run of the season in the fifth inning for two more Dutch runs.

Mark Kenney (senior, Fennimore, Wis.) suffered the loss on the mound in the opener, yielding five earned runs on seven hits over 6.0 innings. He struck out a pair and hit three batters.

Steinlage led the Dutch offense in the loss with two hits and an RBI single. Nathan Scragg (senior, Port Perry, Ontario) scored both of Central’s runs.

The two teams will complete the three-game series on Monday at 3 p.m.