Dreyer pitches Dutch to baseball win against Crown
AUBURNDALE, FLORIDA — In his first collegiate start, Chance Dreyer (freshman, Davenport, Assumption HS) pitched a complete game victory with seven strikeouts to down Crown College (Minn.) 7-2 Tuesday afternoon.
Central (5-3) lost to the Polars (5-3) 10-9 on a bases loaded walk in the seventh inning of game two.
Dreyer scattered five hits and allowed just one walk over seven innings against Crown while giving up two runs.
“It was not an easy task in his first start to take a team that won 30 games last year,” coach Casey Klunder said. “Chance was great to start to finish. He really commanded all of his pitches for strikes and he worked ahead most of the day.”
Trailing 2-1 going into the bottom of the fifth, first baseman Garrett Finley (senior, DeWitt, Central DeWitt HS) tied it with an RBI double. Dreyer drove in the go-ahead run on a fielder’s choice putout. In the sixth, Finley took a walk with the bases loaded to drive in the first run and then shortstop Kasey Carter (freshman, Prole, Indianola HS) cleared the bases with a double to push Central’s lead to 7-2.
“That was a really clutch hit for Kasey,” Klunder said. “He played really well today.”
Central found itself in a hole again in the second game, trailing 7-0 to start the fifth. Central took advantage of some defensive miscues to put up nine runs and take the lead. Colton DeRocher (junior, Sioux City, East HS) also belted his third home run of the season while Declan O’Hare (senior, Los Angeles, Calif., John Marshall HS), Finley, Dreyer and Colton Jones (junior, Knoxville) also had hits in the inning.
Five Central pitchers combined for 11 walks and two hit by pitches in the loss. Starting pitcher Max Steinlage (freshman, Cedar Falls) struck out two but walked five and was lifted after facing 10 batters. Zach DeMarlie (freshman, Milan, Ill., Rock Island HS) started the ninth inning with the score 9-9 and walked the first two batters. Parker Jones (junior, Verona, Wis., Verona Area HS) entered to strike out the next two Polars but he walked two more hitters to give Crown the win.
“Against an offense like Crown, if you gave them free passes it’s going to make for a long afternoon,” Klunder said. “Our guys really fought back and it was impressive to get ourselves back in the game.”
Landon Thiele (senior, Moline, Ill.) was the strongest of the four Dutch relievers, giving Central 3.2 innings while not allowing any earned runs and striking out four.
“He’s always ready when his number is called,” Klunder said. “It was good to see him step up when we needed it.”
Central has the day off Wednesday in Florida before taking on Beloit College (Wis.) and Knox College (Wis.) on Thursday at 9:15 a.m. and 1 p.m. (EST), respectively.
