Miscues doom PCM against No. 9 Norse

STORY CITY — Prairie City-Monroe’s baseball team had Class 2A No. 9 Roland-Story right where it wanted it during a 2A District 13 semifinal Tuesday.

The Mustangs built a 2-0 lead in the first two innings and had their ace lefty Austin Brown on the mound.

Unfortunately for PCM, miscues in the field and a pair of walks by Brown were too much to overcome during a 7-2 loss to the Norsemen.

“I thought the kids came out and played really well early, but we just couldn’t sustain it,” PCM coach Shaun Hudnut said. “Those middle three or four innings got us down. The kids continued to fight though.”

Roland-Story, which reached the state tournament last year, set a new school record with its 29th win of the season, and the Norse (29-10 will play Collins-Maxwell/Baxter in the district championship on their homefield at 7 p.m. Saturday in Story City.

It looked early though like the Norse’s season could be over.

PCM senior Clay Cooper’s RBI single scored freshman Brayton Van Dyke to give the Mustangs an early 1-0 lead. Van Dyke led off the game with a walk and took second on a wild pitch.

Junior Ryan Hill made it 2-0 in the second inning when he took a Zach Shadlow 0-2 pitch deep over the fence in right field.

Shadlow gave up a single to the next batter — PCM freshman Preston Van Wyk. Van Wyk stole second but was stranded on the bases.

PCM put runners on the corners in the third, but Shadlow got out of the jam with a fielder’s choice ground ball to the shortstop.

Shadlow (5-2) ended up going the distance on the mound. He allowed at least one base runner in every inning, but PCM did not get past second base after the third inning. The Mustangs stranded 10 runners on base.

The Mustangs out-hit Roland-Story 5-4, but PCM committed five errors and walked four Norsemen batters.

“The effort was there, but when you play a team like Roland-Story you can’t make mistakes,” Hudnut said. “Unfortunately we did that, and it was too much to overcome.”

Brown (6-3) tossed the first four innings after pitching six innings for PCM (12-18) in the win over West Marshall on Saturday. He had an early lead, but he walked two and gave up two hits in the third inning.

That allowed Roland-Story to tie the game, and then the Norsemen scored three runs off Brown without recording a hit in the fourth. Brown walked one, but the Mustangs committed three errors in the frame.

“What we asked Austin to do tonight was tough,” Hudnut said. “We asked him to come back on two days rest after throwing six innings Saturday. He battled and gave us everything he could, but we didn’t execute a few plays in the field.”

Roland-Story capped off the win with two more runs against sophomore Noah Henkenius in the fifth.

All four PCM seniors batted in the seventh inning. Brown asked Hudnut to have teammate Gunnar Davis hit for him, but Hudnut had a different idea.

“All four of our seniors have outstanding character. I told him we would get Gunnar in, but we would do it a different way,” Hudnut said. “It was good to get all four guys an at-bat in that last inning. Those guys have been exceptional leaders for us on and off the field, and I couldn’t ask for four better kids.”

It was the last game for Hudnut as he resigned as Mustang baseball coach a few weeks before the postseason started. He led PCM to its first-ever state tournament berth.

“It’s surreal. When you put 15 years of your life into something, it’s tough,” Hudnut said. “I can’t ask for better kids and parents in the community to coach in. It’s been a great ride. We had a couple district championships and PCM’s first-ever state tournament berth. It’s been a lot of fun.”

Cooper, Brown, Hill, Van Wyk and senior Tyler Foster all had hits in the game. Van Dyke and Hill each scored a run, while Cooper and Hill had the RBIs. Van Dyke walked twice, while Henkenius walked and was hit by a pitch.