Dutch do enough for baseball triumph
Central Dutch Athletics
AUBURNDALE, FLORIDA — Despite only connecting on five hits, the Central College baseball team was able to take down Juniata College (Pa.) for a 4-3 victory Saturday morning.
Central (6-1) took the win behind seven strong innings from starting pitcher Zach Edwards (junior, Des Moines, Lincoln HS). He struck out nine batters and scattered nine hits.
“He was really good today,” coach Matt Schirm said. “The only run he gave up was unearned. It’s what we’ve come to expect from Zach. He doesn’t give up much hard contact, making it pretty easy for our defense. He had several key strikeouts and was in complete control the whole time.”
Shortstop Garrett Saunders (senior, Bonaparte, Van Buren HS) had two of the team’s five hits and two of the four runs. His solo home run in the eighth inning proved to be the difference in the game.
“He hit it well,” Schirm said. “It was really high. His double (in the sixth inning) was also close to being a home run.”
Second baseman Chris Riddle (senior, Omaha, Neb., Mount Michael HS) started the scoring by driving in right fielder Tanner Wood (senior, Pella) from third on a double in the second. A Coy Moore (senior, center fielder, Hamilton, Twin Cedars HS) sacrifice fly drove in first baseman Ryan Bouwman (senior, Bloomington, Normal HS) in the fifth. Wood drove in Saunders with a single in the sixth.
“It would have been nice to scratch out some more runs,” Schirm said. “We did a little better offensively than the scoreboard shows because we had several hard-hit outs.
“We faced a harder-throwing pitcher than we have yet. We need to face those guys because it’s what we will face in conference.”
Ryan Riddle (sophomore, Omaha, Neb., Mount Michael HS) notched his fourth save of the year with a scoreless ninth. Nathan Schwanke (sophomore, Omaha, Neb., Concordia HS) was tagged for two runs in the eighth on three hits.
With two days remaining in Florida, Central will face D’Youville College (N.Y.) and Knox College (Ill.) in a doubleheader starting at 10:30 a.m. (EST) in Auburndale.
