March 28, 2024

CMB stays on winning track

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COLLINS — The few hours Collins-Maxwell/Baxter junior Hunter McWhirter gets to spend at the baseball diamond with his Raider squad every night is a great way to distract him from what’s going on in his personal life.

Playing a high school baseball game while his father is in hospice care is not easy. In fact, it’s likely the hardest thing McWhirter has had to do at this point in his life.

McWhirter found a way to focus on the game Thursday night, and a strong finish on the mound helped the Raiders down South Hamilton, 7-3, during Heart of Iowa Conference play.

“It’s hard. There are some days where I just don’t want to get out of bed and some days I just don’t want to do anything. I know Dad is proud of me for showing up and doing this.

“It’s an escape for me and mom because she is a big baseball and softball player, but it’s tough.”

McWhirter’s father is battling kidney cancer. The entire CMB team has worn orange shoelaces for several games now in support of their teammate.

There are more important things for McWhirter to be concerned with, but all he wanted to do Thursday was make sure the Raiders did not suffer another tough loss against South Hamilton.

CMB (6-5 overall, 6-5 in the HOIC) lost its first game of the season against on June 3 against South Hamilton when the Hawks plated eight runs in the sixth inning and won 13-5.

McWhirter was on the mound for part of the eight-run inning that featured a downpour. Thursday, he made sure an early 6-0 lead would end in victory.

“I was nervous because of the last time we faced them, but we needed this win tonight,” McWhirter said. “We are not what our record says we are. I just wanted to make sure we got the win.”

The Raiders won their first four games of the season before battling through a five-game losing streak.

CMB won its second straight Thursday after blowing out Nevada a night earlier.

The program battles through a depleted roster for a week every season because of a church mission trip. CMB coach Max Seeman said its hard to regain momentum after that week, but the Raiders appear to be heading in the right direction.

“It’s definitely hard to get momentum back, especially when the games we are losing are by a lot of runs,” Seeman said. “We had a long talk after the North Polk game the other night about attitude and effort. There are only so many things you can control and those are two of the things we can control. We want to focus on that from pitch to pitch, which carries over from at-bat to at-bat, inning to inning and game to game.

“It’s been a tough week mentally for our entire team. Getting two wins in a row is big.”

The Raiders jumped on South Hamilton starter Zeke Balderas early. CMB plated four runs in the first inning. Balderas hit Raider senior Brady Stover with the first pitch of the game and then walked junior Brady Kemp and McWhirter.

A pair of errors and an RBI single by senior Spencer Gauch helped the Raiders lead 4-0 after one inning.

Gauch and senior Nate Bishop walked and singled, respectively, with one out in the third. Junior Tucker Maxwell drove in Gauch with an RBI single and then Bishop scored on an RBI groundout by Travis Lindemoen.

That 6-0 lead looked to be plenty of support for Stover, but the senior ace left the game after three innings with tightness in his arm.

Only one South Hamilton (4-8, 3-7) batter reached base against Stover, and that was because of a catcher’s interference. Stover fanned five batters in three innings and improved to 3-0 on the season. He now has 41 strikeouts in 19 innings.

McWhirter came on in the fourth inning and buckled down after allowing three runs in the fourth.

A big double play helped McWhirter get out of the jam, and then he pitched out of a jam in the sixth and left two Hawk runners in scoring position.

McWhirter allowed three runs — two earned — in the final four innings. He fanned four and allowed three hits.

“I think this is a great distraction or an escape for him,” Seeman said of McWhirter. “The fact that he can come out and play like he did tonight says a lot about what kind of kid he is. All of his teammates know what’s going on. They know how hard it is for him.”

Gauch reached base for a third time in the fifth when he was hit by a pitch. He moved up to second base after a Maxwell ground out and then scored on an RBI single by sophomore Travis Lindemoen. Lindemoen had two hits and two RBIs in the triumph.

Gauch was 1-for-1 with an RBI, a walk and a hit by pitch on the night. He scored three runs, too.

“All of us knew we had to step up and play better, especially the seniors,” Gauch said. “We know we can play better than we were during that losing streak. It feels good to get back on track.”

The Raiders won the game despite still missing a few starters.

Seniors Brad Ritter and Aric Broderick were both gone because of college orientation at the University of Northern Iowa.

CMB plays its fifth game in five days when it hosts HOIC rival Greene County at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

The Raiders play in the West Marshall tournament on Saturday.

CMB is scheduled to face the host Trojans at 11 a.m. Prairie City-Monroe meets Grundy Center at 1 p.m. The consolation game is at 3 p.m., and the championship is scheduled to start at 5 p.m.