Wood carries Central to baseball sweep over Simpson
Central Dutch Athletics
PELLA — Central College sophomore right fielder Tanner Wood (Pella) kept his bat scorching hot Saturday, finishing the day 6-for-9 with a home run and a double during the Dutch’s 4-3, 13-3 (8 innings) victories over Simpson College.
“It was great to see Tanner continue to hit the ball well today,” said coach Matt Schirm. “Tanner’s been working really hard to get back on track offensively and it was great to see him produce for us.”
Sophomore righty Nick Long (Marshalltown) earned the win in game one, throwing seven innings, scattering seven hits, allowing three runs, walking three and striking out five Storm hitters.
“The first inning for Nick today was on me, it was my fault that he got off to a rocky start because I didn’t sequence pitches well enough,” said Schirm. “Nick did a great job bouncing back after his first inning and put up zeros for us the rest of the way. We need Nick to go long in to the game and he was able to give us that.”
Sophomore Zach Edwards (Des Moines, Lincoln HS) earned the save in game one, throwing two innings, allowing a pair of hits while striking out two. Edwards started on the mound in game two and threw four innings, allowing three unearned runs and striking out three.
“Zach was a bulldog for us today,” said Schirm. “It’s tough to go out there and close and game and then come back out and start game two of a doubleheader, it’s not just tough physically but it’s tough mentally and emotionally.”
Sophomore Rece Martin (Des Moines, Saydel HS) relieved Edwards, throwing four no-hit innings, walking four and striking four batters. Martin earned his second win of the season.
“We knew coming into the weekend that we were going to need other pitchers to step up because we’ve had so many games in a row and also have two more on Tuesday at Nebraska Wesleyan,” said Schirm. “Rece did a good job of getting the first two outs in his innings and kept the ball in the zone all night.”
Sophomore backstop Trevor Kimm (Urbandale) reached base 5-of-6 plate appearances in game two, scoring four runs and driving in a pair. Senior third baseman Ryan Garrett (Aledo, Ill., Mercer County HS) went 3-for-4 with a double in game two while driving in a run.
Central (14-15, 5-8 Iowa Conference play) collected 27 hits on the day while holding Simpson (4-26, 2-15 Iowa Conference play) to just 14.
The Dutch continue league play Tuesday with a doubleheader at Nebraska Wesleyan University with first pitch at 1 p.m. Central won the first game of the three-game series 8-7 Tuesday in Pella.
