COLLINS — Senior Seth Balke had just one hit in Collins-Maxwell/Baxter’s baseball game against Greene County on Friday night.
But that one hit may have been the biggest hit of Balke’s prep carer.
With CMB trailing 2-1 with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, Balke hit a bases loaded, 3-2 count pitch to left field to give the Raiders a walk-off 3-2 win at home.
Spencer Gauch and Brad Ritter came around to score the game-tying and game-winning runs for the Raiders.
The three runs was enough for Brady Stover, who was dominant on the mound for CMB. The junior lefty allowed just four hits and two earned runs and struck out 15 in recording the complete-game win. Stover, who also walked four, went 2-for-4 a the plate, too.
Ritter was 2-for-3 and scored twice on offense. Gauch had one hit, walked once and scored a run in the win. Balke was 1-for-4 with the two big RBIs.
Greene County needed five innings to beat Colfax-Mingo 12-0 and six innings to take down Prairie City-Monroe 10-0 earlier in the week, but Stover silenced the Rams’ red-hot bats.
Greene County drops to 2-1 overall and 2-1 in Heart of Iowa Conference play following the loss.
CMB, which is 1-1 overall and 1-1 in HOIC play, plays at PCM on Wednesday. The JV kicks things off at 5:30 p.m. and the varsity contest is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m.
Roland-Story 9, PCM 5
STORY CITY — The Norse plated three runs in the opening frame and PCM never recovered Friday.
The Mustangs (1-2 overall and 1-2 in Heart of Iowa Conference play) managed to cut the deficit to 3-2 with two runs in the third, but Roland-Story, a state tournament team a season ago, scored three more runs in the fourth and finished off the win with a single run in the fifth and two more in the sixth.
Chase Keuning led the PCM offense with two hits, two RBIs and a run scored, while Austin Brown also had two hits and an RBI.
Clay Cooper, Sheldon Speers and Jerod DeVries all had a hit apiece. Cooper and Speers each scored a run, while DeVries drove in two. PCM scored one run in the fifth and two more in the sixth.
Gunnar Davis started and took the loss on the mound. He allowed three hits, four runs — two earned — and struck out four while walking four over 3 2/3 innings.
Keuning and Trey Lindsay both pitched in relief. Keuning gave up three runs — two earned — on two hits in 1 2/3 innings, while Lindsay tossed the final 1 1/3 innings and allowed two earned runs on three hits.
PCM travels to Colfax-Mingo on Monday for a 7:30 p.m. varsity start. The Mustangs stay on the road Tuesday for a trip to Albia. That non-conference contest begins at 7:30 p.m.
South Hamilton 8,
Colfax-Mingo 5
JEWELL — The Tigerhawks lost a back-and-forth contest to South Hamilton on Friday night.
Eighth-grader Zarek Hill pitched into the fifth inning before taking the loss on the mound and he had an RBI double and infield single at the plate.
Reegan Van Dyke was on base three times with an RBI double and two walks, while Alex Lewis had an RBI double, Jarrod Nichols and Adam Teed each collected doubles and Jacob Buehrer recorded a single.
Teed and Lewis also pitched in relief.
“We’re getting closer,” Colfax-Mingo coach Seth Milledge said. “We’re getting better each time out and making strides as a team.”
Caleb Olson earned the win on the mound for the Hawks and went 2-for-4 with two RBIs at the dish.
Colfax-Mingo (0-2 overall, 0-2 in Heart of Iowa Conference play) hosts PCM at 7:30 p.m. Monday. The Tigerhawks travel to Roland-Story on Wednesday.