March 29, 2024

PCM baseball holds off Colfax-Mingo on Senior Night

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PRAIRIE CITY – Colfax-Mingo’s baseball team attempted to spoil Prairie City-Monroe’s Senior Night Monday, but fell short 6-3.

PCM seniors were honored prior to the game, including Tyler Townsend who started on the mound in the conference matchup.

He struggled to find the strike zone early by walking two and tossing a wild pitch. The ball never left the infield for the Tigerhawks in the first inning, but runs managed to cross the plate, giving them a 2-0 advantage.

Freshman Jonathan Jacobs pitched well on the mound for Colfax-Mingo, but he found himself in trouble in the third inning. A one-out triple by senior Trey Lindsay put PCM in business and two batters later senior Jerod DeVries drove his teammate in to put the Mustangs on the board.

Things began unraveling for Colfax-Mingo when a line drive hit by PCM’s Clay Cooper went under the glove of right fielder Gabe Simpson and carried to the wall. Five runs scored in the third, giving PCM a comfortable 3-run lead.

Following the big inning, the Tigerhawks tried to answer with two -out magic of their own and loaded the bases. However, clutch pitching by Townsend got PCM out of the jam.

The Tigerhawks worked PCM’s pitching all night, but outs on the base paths and failure to come up with the big hit hurt them in Monday’s rivalry match in Prairie City.

PCM’s final run of the game came in the fourth when Cooper delivered an RBI single. Colfax-Mingo tacked on one more run in the seventh before the Mustangs closed out the senior night victory.

Jacobs took the loss for Colfax-Mingo, but Tigerhawk pitching was plagued by four errors in the game.

Townsend earned the win on the mound, and senior Chase Kuening closed the final three innings to earn the save.

Lindsay, Cooper and Noah Clark delivered two hits each. Cooper was perfect at the plate reaching base all four times and driving in two runs. Keuning also delivered two RBIs and Ethan Thomas and Clark each had one.

After being rained out Saturday, PCM entered Monday’s contest with a goal to get back on track and end a two-game skid.

“We were in a little bit of a slide so we were looking to build some confidence,” PCM coach Shawn Hudnut said. “We got some kids who are capable of doing some good things on the diamond and we just happened to put it all together at certain times this year, so this was important for us to get back and build some confidence.”

Despite falling behind early, the Mustangs stayed patient at the plate and exploded for 5 runs in the third inning.

“We had good swings at times, hit some good balls and had some clutch hits,” Hudnut said. “We still have some things to work on, but we definitely saw some good things tonight that we needed to see.”

As for Colfax-Mingo, which lost to PCM 11-0 three weeks ago, solid pitching kept it a competitive game from beginning to end.

“Any time we have Jonathan on the mound, we feel pretty confident he’s going to go out and pitch a good game for us, and he did exactly that,” Tigerhawk coach Seth Milledge said.

The Tigerhawks led early in the match, but closing games has been difficult this season for a Colfax-Mingo team that doesn’t have a senior on its roster. Despite miscues on the field, Milledge said he sees improvement and likes how the team is progressing.

“It is what it is. We’re going to make those young mistakes, but we just have to keep plucking away and do the simple things better all the time,” Milledge said.

The next game on the schedule for PCM is Tuesday at North Polk. Colfax-Mingo will also play Tuesday at Melcher-Dallas.

Contact Alex Olp at
 aolp@newtondailynews.com