Indian Baseball Near Perfect Last Week
Oskaloosa Indians Baseball had nearly a perfect week. (photo by Tasha Janssen)
by Wade Steinlage
The Oskaloosa Indian baseball team shut out a pair of league opponents and knocked off another non-conference foe in a successful week.
Oskaloosa (14-6, 9-3 LHC) opened the week with a 7-0 win over Dallas Center-Grimes Monday. OHS then doubled up Knoxville 4-2 Tuesday. The week concluded with a doubleheader split against Norwalk Friday, losing 4-1 and winning 4-0.
OHS 7, Dallas Center-Grimes 0
Starter Tyler Miller worked two scoreless frames and Colton Butler wrapped up the shutout with two more scoreless innings; Butler struck out three in his appearance.
The Indians got on the board with two second-inning runs. Miller helped out his own cause with a single to plate Nick Harrington. Wyatt Krier then doubled home Noah Van Veldhuizen.
The game then took a strange turn in the fifth when DC-G used an illegal pitcher and was forced to forfeit the contest. The Mustang pitcher had not rested the required number of days between appearances. The forfeit changed the final score to 7-0.
Krier, Miller, and Harrington each notched two hits (OHS finished with six), while Dallas Center-Grimes was limited to just one base knock by the duo of Miller and Butler.
OHS 4, Knoxville 2
Noah Van Veldhuizen provided the pop in the victory, clearing the fence with a two-run homer in the second inning.
The Panthers scored once in the bottom half of the inning, but the advantage again grew to two in the third when Keaton DeKock’s sacrifice fly brought home Krier.
The advantage was trimmed to one once more in the fourth inning, but the Indians added one final insurance run in the sixth. Noah Van Veldhuizen, who also started the game on the mound, capped a big day by doubling home Alex Dejong.
Oskaloosa outhit KHS 8-3 with Noah Van Veldhuizen (three RBIs) and Dejong both managing two base knocks.
Noah Van Veldhuizen helped his cause with five strikeouts against five walks in four innings. Krier relieved him and worked three frames, striking out one and walking two.
Norwalk 4 OHS 1
In a rescheduled doubleheader, Norwalk concluded the first game with the win, despite OHS owning a 6-4 edge in hits.
The Warriors went ahead 1-0 in the first, but the Indians tied it with their lone run in the second. Unfortunately, Norwalk took the lead back in the third with one run and insured the victory with two fourth-inning runs.
Harrington was perfect at the dish, going 3-for-3, including driving home Dejong on a single. Dejong also tallied a double.
Harrington also worked on the mound, but struggled with control in permitting six walks against one strikeout.
OHS 4, Norwalk 0
The Indians again held a 6-4 advantage in hits in the nightcap, but were able to come away with the win.
OHS took the lead in the second via a double steal as Cole Kraber snatched home for a 1-0 advantage. The game was put out to reach with three more runs in the sixth, headlined by run-scoring singles by brothers Noah and Blake Van Veldhuizen.
DeKock and Harrington both finished with two hits. Rian Yates managed three strikeouts versus two walks in four innings as the starter. Colton Butler (2 K, 2 BB) earned the save with three more scoreless frames.
“Our guys have been doing a great job of embracing their role on the team and having a team-first approach. Our pitching staff has done a great job and our offense has found ways to manufacture runs. We need to continue to get better every day to make sure we are playing our best baseball in July. I’m excited to see the growth in this team in the next couple of weeks and prepare for another great run in July,” said Oskaloosa High School Head Coach Clint Gingerich.
