Central takes two baseball wins in Florida
Central Dutch Athletics
AUBURNDALE, FLORIDA — A sixth-inning rally by the Central College baseball team propelled it towards a 9-3 victory over Knox College (Ill.) for the team’s second victory of the day on Sunday.
The Dutch (8-1) beat D’Youville College (N.Y.) 12-1 earlier in the day.
Trailing 3-1 entering the bottom of the sixth inning against Knox, first baseman Ryan Bouwman (senior, Bloomington, Ill., Normal HS) emptied the bases to put the Dutch in front 4-3. Third baseman Ben Wallace (freshman, Knoxville) and catcher Trevor Kimm (junior, Urbandale) also tallied RBIs to extend the lead to 7-3.
“We’ve been front runners most of the trip, so it was nice to see the guys have to fight back,” coach Matt Schirm said. “Ryan had a huge hit. He’s struggled during the conference season but he’s really picked it up at the start of this season.”
Nick Long (junior, Marshalltown, East Marshall HS) picked up the win, ceding three runs on seven hits. He walked none and struck out nine.
“Despite the three runs in the second, it might have been the best game I’ve seen him pitch,” Schirm said. “Those were runs a little bit of bad luck, I think he pitched better than the score indicates. He pitched with really good place is something we’ve talked a lot about.”
Left-handed starter Adam Carey (senior, Pella) earned the win in the opener after allowing just one earned run after five innings on the mound. Zach Greder (senior, Sloan, Westwood HS) pitched the final two frames without allowing a run.
“He would tell you that he didn’t pitch his best game,” “He had too many free bases still. He hasn’t pitched most the last few years, so that’s kind of to be expected. He came up with big pitches when we need him to and we had a big lead to help him up.”
Against the Spartans, left fielder Pat Diemer (sophomore, Waukee) knocked in two runs with a pair of doubles. He scored three runs from the No. 6 spot in the lineup.
Third baseman Kaiden Fiebelkorn (junior, Brooklyn, BGM HS) was 3-for-4 at the plate while catcher Blake Wooten (junior, Peoria, Ariz., Centennial HS) and right fielder Tanner Wood (senior, Pella) each drove in two runs.
Monday’s doubleheader against Crown College (Minn.) in Osceola will be the final games of the team’s Florida trip. The twinbill against the Storm (1-3) will start at 3 p.m. (EST)
“If you had told me before the trip that we had a chance to go down 10-1, I would have been thrilled,” Schirm said. “Hopefully we can take care of business if we play well.’
