PITCHING CARRIES WARRIORS TO SPLIT WITH KIRKWOOD
Centerville, IA – A pair of solid outings on the mound for the Indian Hills Baseball team led to an afternoon split with Kirkwood Community College at Pat Daugherty Field on Wednesday afternoon. The Warriors fell 4-3 in game one before taking the nightcap 3-2.
Wednesday’s afternoon matchup proved to be the home opener for the Warriors as well as the ICCAC cross-division league opener for both sides. Indian Hills moves to 8-6, 1-1 on the year while the Eagles move to 14-7, 1-1 in 2023.
Freshman Jason Schaaf (Las Vegas, NV/Palo Verde) continued his strong start to his collegiate career with just one earned run in five innings of work in the opener. Schaaf allowed just three base hits while striking out a trio of Eagle batters.
In the nightcap, freshman Adam Golby (Coronation, Alberta/South Central) kept Kirkwood off-balance through the duration of his six innings of work on the mound. Golby struck out a career-high 10 batters while allowing just five base hits and one earned run. The bullpen efforts of Carlos Calenzuela (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Global Life Vision), Andres Beltan (Delray Beach, FL/Atlantic), and Sam Hart (Highlands Ranch, CO/ThunderRidge) allowed just one run over the final three frames to preserve the win.
Sophomores Daniel Figeroa (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico/Leadership Christian Academy) and Merrick Mathews (Centerville, IA/Centerville) collected three hits apiece on the afternoon to raise their respective batting averages atop the Indian Hills leaderboard. Mathews is now hitting a team-high .419 followed by Figueroa’s .417 clip on the year.
Figueroa’s third inning steal in game one tied an Indian Hills program record (since 1994) with his 52nd career stolen base. Figueroa ranks second in the Iowa Community College Athletic Confernece (ICCAC) this year with nine stolen bases.
The Warriors struck first in the opening game as Figueroa scored on a passed ball in the opening frame for a 1-0 lead. Mathews delivered an RBI single in the third to double the lead before Raul Torres (Caguas, PR/Leadership Christian Academy) scored on a fielder’s choice in the same inning for a 3-0 advantage.
The Eagles slowly chipped away at the deficit with a pair of runs in the fourth and another in the fifth for the equalizer. Kirkwood provided the game-deciding base hit in the top of the seventh, a solo home run to take the opener.
Indian Hills found its way onto the scoreboard first in the nightcap as Luis Martinez (Vega Baja, PR/El Shaddai Christian Academy) singled to right before Diamonds Cooper (Kansas City, MO/North Kansas City) tallied his second double of the day to put a pair of runners in scoring position. Benavides provided a line drive up the middle to bring in both runners for the early 2-0 lead.
Kirkwood responded with a run in the top half of the third, but Golby’s performance kept the Eagles in check. Golby allowed just one baserunner over the next three frames and struck out the side in the sixth. A bases loaded walk in the sixth for the Warriors led to a 3-1 lead.
After a run from the Eagles in the seventh, Beltran worked out of a jam in the eighth to set up Hart for the close. The sophomore retired the Eagles in order for his fourth save in as many opportunities this year.
The Warriors are set to return to action this weekend vs. Iowa Central Community College with a location to be determined, weather pending.
