Dutch drop baseball season finale
DECORAH — After a promising start to the day, the Central College baseball team’s season ended Saturday afternoon with a 13-7 loss at Luther College
The Dutch (15-24, 8-16 American Rivers Conference) finished in seventh place in the league standings, one game out of sixth place. Only the top-six teams make the postseason tournament.
“We doubled our conference wins from last year,” coach Casey Klunder said. “In an era when there are fifth and sixth-year seniors players all over the field, we’re doing it with a young team. For us to climb up two spots in the standings this year was a good start. We know we have a lot of work to do but I’m proud of the way we came to work to push this thing forward.
Central put up a crooked number in the top of the first, piling up four runs as Central hit through the lineup. Max Steinlage (freshman, center fielder, Cedar Falls) led off with a double. Four more hits from Declan O’Hare (senior, first baseman, Los Angeles, Calif., John Marshall HS), Chance Dreyer (freshman, shortstop, Davenport, Assumption HS), Chase Martin (sophomore, left fielder, Port St. Lucie, Fla., John Carroll HS) and Kasey Carter (freshman, third baseman, Prole, Indianola HS) scored runs.
“I’m happy with the way we came out,” Klunder said. “Especially after a tough day yesterday, we came out swinging.”
Seven scoreless innings for Central followed before putting up a ninth-inning rally with three more runs, driven in by a Steinlage single and a two RBI double from Carter.
“That’s the best Kasey has looked at the plate recently,” Klunder said. “He really attacked the game today and made some nice plays at third.”
Pitcher Sam Staley (senior, Cedar Rapids, Jefferson HS) took the loss in 3.1 inning as the starter, giving up four earned runs. The senior trio of Brendan Short (Normal, Ill.), Caleb Evans (Davenport, Central HS) and Hayden Smith (Colorado Springs, Colo., Doherty) closed out the game.
“It was awesome to watch all of them play today,” Klunder said. “All of our seniors did some good things on the field.”
The pitching quartet are among the eight seniors departing the program after graduation.
“These seniors will be remembered for what they did on the field but more importantly what they did off of it,” Klunder said. “It’s not easy to change coaches halfway through your career. I appreciate their willingness to try new things and let us coach them hard.”
