Knock Out
Red Oak’s baseball team snapped a five-game losing and advanced to the district semifinals with an 8-2 win over Clarinda Academy Saturday night.
Taking advantage of some shoddy Clarinda defense, which committed 10 errors in the game, Red Oak’s Bill Honeyman and Nick Crouse both scored in the first inning on fielding errors. Two more errors and a balk allowed Beau Boeye to score in the top of the second, giving the Tigers a 3-0 lead.
Clarinda committed three more errors in the fourth, leading to three more Red Oak runs as the Tigers extended their lead to 6-0.
Red Oak starting pitcher Nick Crouse surrendered his first, and only runs in the bottom of the fifth when Clarinda rallied with two outs. After walking Jamie Sindelar, Crouse allowed singles to Gage Lawson and Brandon Bordenist, scoring a run. A throwing error led to the second Clarinda run.
But Red Oak sealed the win with single tallies in the sixth and seventh innings, aided by three more Clarinda errors.
At the plate, Boeye led the attack from his leadoff position with three hits, two RBIs, and a run scored. Honeyman scored three runs and Crouse crossed the plate twice as well.
Crouse pitched all seven innings, giving up two runs on four hits, walking three and striking out 10.
With the win, the Tigers advance to the semifinals, scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday in Clarinda.
The Red Oak Tiger baseball team entered district play on a losing streak, dropping three games to Clarinda and Kuemper on July 6 and 7th.
Monday, the Tigers dropped a doubleheader to Kuemper, despite a rally in their final at-bat in the nightcap.
After winning the opener 18-4, Kuemper scored five in the bottom of the fourth to take a 7-1 lead in the second game.
With the score still 7-1 in the top of the seventh, Taylor Mellott and Colby Wise walked, and Zach Wood reached on an error, loading the bases. Boeye singled home a run, and Honeyman drove home a pair with another single, as the Tigers trimmed the lead to 7-4, with two runners on and the tying run at the plate.
After Dylan Berry flew out to left field for the second out of the inning, Crouse delivered an RBI-double to right, cutting the Knights’ lead to 7-5. But Cody Walford followed with a ground ball out to the pitcher to end the game.
Crouse finished with two hits to lead the Tiger offense, and pitched all seven innings, surrendering only three earned runs on 11 hits, striking out six while issuing no walks.
In the first game, Kuemper scored four in the first and nine in the sixth to win 18-4.
Dakota White had a good game at the plate in a losing cause, going three-for-three, scoring a run. Honeyman singled twice in three at-bats, scoring one and driving home one as well, and Wood added a pair of hits.
Jackson Miller took the loss, giving up 14 runs, 13 of them earned, in five innings of work. He struggled with his control, walking nine.
Tuesday, Red Oak lost at home to Clarinda 9-2.
Clarinda scored an unearned run in the first and added three more in the third to pull away 4-0.
Crouse led off the bottom of the fourth with a walk, and Walford followed with a single. Berry then singled home Crouse for the first run of the game, and Walford later scored on an RBI-groundout off Johnson’s bat, cutting the Clarinda lead to 4-2.
But Clarinda salted the win away with a run in the fifth and four more in the sixth.