Four of Five for the Indians, Including a Gift Win against the Eagles
by Justin Burtis
Oskaloosa — The Indians had four wins on the week and were very close to having a clean slate as they solidified their hold on second in the conference.
To start the week, Osky played the Indianola squad and used a big fifth inning to lift themselves to victory. Neither team had much success in the first three innings as Tyce Johnson of Indianola and Jarrett Czerwinski of Oskaloosa went through the lineups. The teams would trade runs in the fourth as the visitors got the first tally on the board. Oskaloosa would respond as
The fifth saw Czerwinski blank Indianola to highlight his totals for the day. Going 5.2, giving up two runs on four hits, waling two and striking out five. The bottom of the frame saw the home team take the lead for good. Once again, the top of the lineup produced as Tyler Miller drove in one run and the senior slugger Noah Van Veldhuizen belted a home run to score Miller and himself. Colton Butler led the team with two hits but did not drive in any runs. The team as a whole produced five hits and committed one error.
Indianola would make things interesting in the sixth by making it a 4-2 game but that was as close as they would get. Wyatt Krier went one and a third without giving up a hit and striking out two to help seal the victory.
That led the Indians into a clash with the Rockets of EBF but the crimson-clad boys started things off in the first with a pair of runs. Krier singled and then stole second, then scampered to third on a wild pitch and scored on a long sac-fly by Miller. Van Veldhuizen reached on a throwing error and advanced to third on a single by Butler. Charlie North was put out on a ground ball that scored Noah to make it 2-0.
Each team scored one in the third. A walk and some errors got EBF on the board as they only got two hits on the day, both singles from leadoff man Kalen Walker. Osky scored on a double play that allowed Van Veldhuizen to cross home, as Butler got thrown out going to third as the second out of that DP. Three each for the home side in the fifth and sixth put the game well out of reach. Krier, Van Veldhuizen, Butler, and North each had two hits while Wes Wilcox and North each had two RBIs. Miller and Colin Snitker each had one.
Miller picked up the win to push his record to 4-0. He went five, striking out and walking five, and giving up two runs on two hits. Wes Wilcox closed out the game with two innings of work.
Pella Christian was up next on the schedule as the Eagles played host for a double header. Oskaloosa made the trip a success by winning both games.
The Eagles got one run scored against starting pitcher Van Veldhuizen but that was all the senior would allow. He gave up four hits overall and struck out six batters while walking one. The offense more than made up for it. The bats scored two in the top of the second and six in the top of the third. Then finished off the scoring in the top of the fifth to run the score up to 13.
Every batter in the line up got at least one hit while Landon Hunolt led the line up with two, both singles. In a similar light, everyone also drove in one run while Marcus Fresquez paced the team with two. The interesting note is that the team did not have an extra base hit while they also took seven walks.
Pella Christian put one run up in the home half of the fifth but that would be the final run that they scored. After four strong innings, Kale Bollinger replaced Noah on the mound. He gave up one run and walked two but also recorded the final three outs. With a quick five inning game logged, the second half of the double header remained.
The final game for the season against the Eagles was quite the affair as Pella Christian got in a grove against Kale Bollinger but would end up taking the loss due to an illegal pitching substation.
The Indians scored first to start the game and ended up putting two on the board. Bollinger only got through two outs as he gave up three runs on three hits along with walking three. Krier came in to finish the first but Osky found itself down 3-2. Krier had a clean second inning and Wes Wilcox would come in in the third.
A similar situation developed that resembled the first. While the offense produced three runs, the defense and Wilcox gave up five. All five runs were charged to Wilcox, while he walked two and struck out three.
Oskaloosa would not score again but Pella Christian subbed in a pitcher that was not allowed to go, and so despite trailing 9-5 on the board, the Indians picked up an unlikely victory. Krier had a single and a double while North led the team with three RBIs.
Against Grinnell on Friday, the comeback came up just short as the Indians were on the wrong side of an 8-7 game.
With nobody scoring in the first, the Tigers came up big in the second. Czerwinski got touched for five runs but with the team committing three errors for the game, he would not be charged all of them. He ended up giving up eight in all but two went against the starter over his four innings of work. He would strikeout three and walk one, also hitting two batters.
The comeback began in the top of the third as Osky scored two runs to make it 5-2. Grinnell responded with two in the fourth and then got what would be a crucial run against Fresquez, who was on in relief, in the bottom of the fifth.
The offensive effort began again in earnest in the sixth with the Indians scoring two. Both Miller and Van Veldhuizen belted home runs as both seniors drove in six of the runs that the Indians would score on the night. The Noah blast came in the top of the seventh to make it a one run game but that is all that could be mustered as Will Doty came in to shut the door on the Indians. Seven runs on eight hits was complicated by three errors on the day as Czerwinski took the loss.
Standings – DCG is 12-1 in conference while Oskaloosa is 9-4, three games back. Norwalk is one game behind Osky with Indianola and Pella both 7-6 in the Little Hawkeye.
Stat Leaders – Van Veldhuizen has 20 hits on the year, two more than Krier. Noah now leads the RBI race 19-13 over Butler and paces the team with three jacks over the wall. Krier has the most singles (16) and Miller has the most doubles (3). Miller is 11-11 stealing bases while Krier is 12-13. Pitching wise, Fresquez is a perfect 4-0 on the season while the other starters are all 2-1. Hildenbrand has one win as well. Krier has a team best 1.20 ERA while Czerwinski has a 1.42 mark while having thrown the most innings. Noah has 27 Ks while both Czerwinski and Miller have 24.
The week ahead – A light week for the Indians lies ahead as they will play three games. First up is Carlisle on Tuesday before a home game against Washington on Thursday. Friday will see Albia come to town as both home games will start at 7:30.
