PCM baseball downs Pella, loses twice in HOIC play

PELLA — Sophomore Trevor Bistline was strong on the mound, and the PCM baseball team blanked a red-hot Pella squad, 11-0, on June 26 during non-conference action.

Bistline allowed five hits and struck out six in the complete-game win. He is now 2-0 on the season and has allowed just two earned runs in 19 innings.

“He threw strikes, mixed his pitches well and hit his spots,” PCM coach Jeff Lindsay said.

Bistline shut down a Pella team which came into the game having scored at least seven runs in six of its last seven games. The Dutch (12-9) scored at least 12 runs in four of those contests. Bistline needed just 80 pitches to complete the game. He only walked one batter.

PCM (9-12) plated four runs in the first inning and continued to pile on from there. The Mustangs led 5-0 after two innings, 7-0 after three and completed the win with a three-run seventh inning.

The offense accounted for 15 hits, three walks and two hit batters.

“We worked the counts well, and we didn’t go out of zone much at all,” Lindsay said. “We made stuff happen with good pitches. It was good to see us hit the ball the way we did. We were focused and disciplined.”

Eight Mustangs had at least one hit at the plate, and all nine batters in the lineup reached base at least once. Pella committed six errors in the loss.

Senior Noah Henkenius and freshman Caleb Duinink each had three hits to lead the offense. Henkenius added two RBIs, one run and a stolen base, while Duinink doubled, had an RBI and scored a run.

Juniors Preston Van Wyk, Brayton Van Dyke and Caleb Meinders all had two hits. Van Wyk added one walk and three runs, Van Dyke doubled, had two RBIs and scored two runs and Meinders added an RBI and a stolen base.

Junior Reed Worth had one hit, one run and one walk, junior Wes Cummings collected one hit, one RBI and one run and was hit by a pitch and sophomore Derek Brown recorded one hit and one walk.

Senior Colton Warrick was hit by a pitch and his courtesy runner, junior Kaeden Van Soelen, scored two runs.

North Polk 3, PCM 2

ALLEMAN — Henkenius turned in another quality start and PCM out-hit North Polk, but the Mustangs still came up short of a Heart of Iowa Conference upset on June 29.

The Class 3A No. 7 Comets grabbed an early lead and then held for a 3-2 win over the Mustangs. The victory kept North Polk at the top of the HOIC standings.

Henkenius allowed three earned runs on five hits with four strikeouts, one walk and one hit batter in six innings. He fell to 2-3 on the season.

“Noah pitched well again,” Lindsay said. “He was efficient and kept us in the game.”

PCM played much better the second time around the Comets. The Mustangs lost 13-1 at home earlier this month.

On Friday, North Polk (17-6 overall, 10-1 in the HOIC) got on the board with two runs in the third and then it went up 3-0 in the fifth.

PCM rallied two a pair of runs in the sixth but couldn’t complete the comeback.

“They thumped us the first time around,” Lindsay said. “This one was much better. It was nip and tuck the whole way.”

Lindsay is never satisfied with losing, but a one-run loss to the seventh-ranked team in the state is a good sign as the Mustangs get closer to the postseason.

“This hopefully shows we are hitting our stride,” Lindsay said. “We are not satisfied with a loss, but it was good, clean baseball.”

PCM (9-11, 2-10) had seven hits in the game. Van Wyk and Meinders had two hits apiece. Van Wyk also had an RBI and a stolen base.

In the sixth, sophomore Dane Owens singled and then went to third on a double by Worth. Van Wyk’s RBI single scored Owens, and then Worth came in to score on a North Polk error.

Henkenius had the other hit.

Greene County 6, PCM 4

JEFFERSON — The Mustangs couldn’t hold a 3-0 lead on the road against Greene County as the Rams rallied with a four-run fourth to grab the lead and then held off the Mustangs, 6-4, on June 29.

PCM led 2-0 after one inning and then led 3-0 after its at-bat in the third. Greene County (14-8, 7-5) countered with a run in the third and four runs in the fourth. Both teams scored a run in the fifth.

The Mustangs collected seven hits in the game. Van Wyk had two of those hits and he scored two runs, walked once and stole one base. Henkenius had one hit and scored one run and Van Dyke had one hit, one RBI, one walk and one steal.

Cummings had one hit, a team-high two RBIs, one run and a stolen base. Meinders had one hit and one RBI and Owens had the other hit.

Owens started on the mound and took the loss. He allowed five runs — four earned — on four hits with three walks in 3 1/3 innings.

Freshman Andrew Mitchell tossed 1 2/3 innings, allowing one run on one hit. Van Wyk pitched the final inning and allowed no runs on no hits with two strikeouts.