Indians Baseball Season Ends In Heartbreak
Solon closed the door on the Indians post-season hopes on Monday night.
by Jamie Brockman
Oskaloosa’s baseball season came to an end Monday night as the Indians suffered a 3-2 loss to Solon in the Class 3A District Final. Osky stranded six runners through the first three innings but still held a 2-0 lead into the fourth inning. Solon tied the game with two runs in the fourth, then scored the game-winner in the sixth, ending the Indians quest for five straight District titles.
Oskaloosa started strong as Senior pitcher Rian Yates struck out the side to start the game. The Indians plated two runs in the bottom of the first on three hits and a Spartans error.
Wyatt Krier led off with an infield single then Tyler Miller drew a walk. Colton Butler singled, but a throwing error allowed Krier to score, moved Miller to third and Butler to second with no outs. Yates grounded out to third scoring Miller, and the Indians led early 2-0.
Osky had chances again in the second inning when Nik Dykstra reached on an error, and Krier walked. The inning ended when Miller grounded into a 6-4-3 double play. Yates continued his impressive performance into the third inning and retired nine of the first 10 Solon batters he faced.
Solon tied the game in the top of the fourth when Chris McSweeney drew a leadoff walk. Jackson Pipolo hit a one-out double, then Jax Flynn hit an RBI single scoring McSweeney. The real hurt though came when Yates struck out Ryan Geitskemper for what would’ve been the third out. Osky still lead 2-1, but a dropped strike three allowed Geitskemper to reach first and advance to second while the tying run crossed the plate before Yates struck out the next batter. From there, Solon’s pitching and defense slammed the door retiring 12 of the next 13 Oskaloosa batters only allowing a walk in the sixth inning.
The Spartans got the winning run across in the top of the sixth inning when with one out, Nolan Pattison reached on an error, then scored on a two-out double from Geitskemper.
Oskaloosa used three pitchers who allowed a combined three hits and no earned runs. Yates pitched four innings, allowing two runs, both unearned. He allowed just one hit while striking out six and walking one in his final time on the mound as an Indian. Colton Butler relieved Yates in the fifth and was equally impressive. Butler was charged with the loss, pitching two innings, allowing one unearned run on one hit with two strikeouts and no walks. Noah Van Veldhuizen pitched the final inning allowing no runs on one hit with three strikeouts.
Oskaloosa scored two runs on four hits, committed four errors and stranded seven runners. Solon scored three runs on three hits, committed three errors and stranded six runners.
At the plate, Noah Van Veldhuizen had two singles, while Colton Butler and Wyatt Krier each had one-base hit.
Oskaloosa ends their season at 22-11 and will lose three seniors from this years team. Yates and Cole Kraber will play baseball at the collegiate level. Yates at Kirkwood Community College, while Kraber at Central College. Nik Dykstra plans to attend Iowa State University.
