Stanton falls 14-12 at home to Essex

STANTON — The Stanton Vikings lost Friday night to the Essex/South Page Trojans in Corner Conference baseball action, 14-12.

The game featured no shortage of offensive firepower from both teams.

Stanton came close to making another seventh inning comeback, but fell just a couple runs shy. Still, they were able to score five in the seventh inning and runners were in scoring position.

The Stanton night almost ended much earlier when Essex took a 12-3 lead after the fifth inning. The highlight for Essex was scoring seven runs in the fifth. Another run in the sixth inning made it 13-3. Stanton was able to score four runs during the bottom of the sixth to keep the game going and avoided the 10-run rule.

Jeff Marshall, Collin Strickland, Myles Peterson and Andrew Cerven each recorded two hits for the Vikings. Marshall in particular was 2-for-4 with four runs scored and another two driven in. Peterson meanwhile scored three runs and also had two RBI.

Last Thursday, Stanton lost 15-10, on the road, against Nishnabotna. Stanton had a 5-3 lead after three innings, but Nishnabotna scored a combined 10 runs in the fourth and fifth to take over.

Tyler Walter led the way by going 2-for-3 at the plate with two runs scored and two more driven in. Greg Focht was 1-for-1 with two runs scored and had a season high five stolen bases.

Stanton picked up their second win of the season last Wednesday by knocking off Orient-Macksburg 9-5.

The Vikings led 3-0 after two innings, however Orient-Macksburg tied the game after the fourth inning. The difference would be the fifth and sixth inning when Stanton scored six runs. Orient-Macksburg scored two in the seventh, but it wasn't enough.

Last Tuesday, Stanton lost a close one to East Mills, 10-9. The difference was the third inning when East Mills scored six runs to take a 9-7 lead. In the half inning prior, Stanton had taken the lead thanks to a six-run inning of their own.

Cerven, as well as Confer, both had home runs in the game for Stanton. Cerven in particular was 2-for-3 with five runs batted in. Focht was the only other player to have two hits in the game. He was 2-for-4 with a triple and a run scored.