PCM baseball wins another Rose Festival Tournament title

STATE CENTER — The PCM baseball team ended a tough week and a half stretch with another championship in the Rose Festival Tournament on June 16.

The Mustangs’ bats caught fire and the pitching was good enough during a 2-0 weekend. PCM advanced the championship game of the tournament following a 14-4, six-inning win over Grundy Center and then claimed the team title with a 9-6 victory over host West Marshall.

It was the second straight season the Mustangs (6-8) claimed the Rose Festival Tournament title and the second consecutive year it defeated the Trojans to do it.

West Marshall (11-8) defeated Baxter 15-1 in its first-round game. Baxter (2-12) finished fourth and went 0-2 on the weekend after an 8-2 loss to Grundy Center in the third-place game. It was the first win of the season for the Spartans (1-13).

PCM trailed West Marshall 1-0 after one inning of the title game, but the Mustangs rallied with a three-run third to take the lead. The Trojans got within one with a single run in the fourth, but PCM maintained its lead the rest of the way.

The Mustangs led 6-5 after five, 7-6 after six and then plated two runs in the top of the seventh to win by three.

Four players were responsible for eight of the team’s 10 hits. Juniors Olin Meinders, Preston Van Wyk and Wes Cummings and freshman Caleb Duinink all had two hits apiece.

Duinink added two RBIs. Senior Noah Henkenius doubled, scored twice, drove in two runs and stole two bases, and Van Wyk walked once, stole a base and scored a run.

Junior Kaeden Van Soelen scored two runs as a courtesy runner.

Sophomore Dane Owens (3-1) started on the mound and got the win after allowing four runs — three earned — on six hits with three strikeouts and one walk in four innings. Sophomore Kolten Johnson allowed one earned run on one hit with three strikeouts in two innings.

Sophomore Derek Brown recovered from a short start on Friday to get the save Saturday. He pitched the final inning and allowed no runs on no hits with one strikeout.

The Mustangs got an efficient start from sophomore Trevor Bistline against Grundy Center. Bistline (1-0) tossed all six innings and allowed four runs — one earned — on seven hits with six strikeouts. His complete-game win took only 72 pitches.

Offensively, PCM collected 13 hits, walked seven times and stole 16 bases against the Spartans.

Van Wyk, Cummings, senior Colton Warrick and junior Reed Worth all had two hits. Meinders, Warrick, Worth and junior Brayton Van Dyke all scored two runs.

Henkenius only had one hit but drove in three runs and walked once. Meinders had two RBIs, four steals and two walks and Cummings collected two RBIs. Warrick finished with four steals, Worth swiped three bases and Van Wyk stole twice.

The wins for PCM snapped a four-game losing streak. The Mustangs also dropped six of their last seven games coming into the weekend.

PCM hosted Gilbert on June 18 and traveled to Nevada on June 20. The Mustangs play Clarke at 7:30 p.m. on June 21 in Prairie City.