March 29, 2024

PCM baseball struggles in loss to Pleasantville

PRAIRIE CITY — It took Pleasantville five innings to defeat the Prairie City-Monroe baseball team on Senior Night. The Trojans beat the Mustangs 12-1 in a potential playoff matchup on July 2.

A triple play in the bottom of the first inning took some steam out of the Mustang offense early. The squad had trouble finding their groove the rest of the night.

“The first inning there, we banged the ball around and unfortunately it ended with a hard hit into a triple play,” PCM head coach Jeff Lindsay said. “That’s baseball sometimes though.”

PCM also had trouble hitting their stride on the mound, using three different pitchers in five innings.

“Tonight we weren’t quite as sharp as a whole on the mound,” Lindsay said. “But you’ve also got to give Pleasantville credit. They hit the ball, and they proved they’re a good hitting team.”

Sophomore Trevor Bistline started on the hill and he walked Trojan senior Gauge Van Haalen in the first inning. Junior Quintin Berglund brought Van Haalen home on a single to centerfield to make the score 1-0.

Junior Reed Worth hit a leadoff double over the left fielder’s head to start the inning. Junior Preston Van Wyk followed up with a single to right field and senior Noah Henkenius brought in Worth on an RBI single past the shortstop.

With Van Wyk on third base, Henkenius went to steal second and junior Wes Cummings hit a line drive to Berglund at third base. He caught it, stepped on his bag and threw it back to first for a triple play.

“You want to be aggressive and you’ve got guys on the move,” Lindsay said.

“You can’t fault a kid for hitting a line drive right at somebody.”

That was the only score of the game for the Mustangs. The Trojans answered back with two more runs in the second.

Van Haalen had his second RBI of the night, and junior Grant Fouch hit a sacrifice fly to center field.

Junior Brayton Van Dyke doubled down the third base line to start the bottom of the second. Junior Olin Meinders hit a blooper over the shortstop’s head for a single.

Fouch, Pleasantville’s starting pitcher, then struck out the next three Mustang batters to end the inning.

The Trojans did the most damage in the third inning, scoring seven runs.

The Mustangs started the inning with two straight outs, but then the Trojan batters turned it on.

This made the score 10-1 heading into the bottom of the third.

Van Wyk and Henkenius found their way onto the bases with one out in the bottom of the frame. Cummings hit a pop fly and Van Wyk was called out when he attempted to steal third base to end the inning.

“We’ve had that inning before, where we get guys on, and we don’t execute,” Lindsay said. “In this game, if you don’t execute, it’ll get you pretty good.”

Neither team could bring in a run in the fourth inning.

The Trojans added two more runs in the fifth inning and the Mustangs couldn’t get any runs in the fifth, ending the game after five.