March 29, 2024

Colfax-Mingo baseball ends season with loss to PCM

COLFAX — The Class 2A District 12 quarterfinal baseball game between Colfax-Mingo and visiting Prairie City-Monroe on July 7 had a little bit of everything.

Big-run innings. Shut-down pitching. And tons of drama.

“It was crazy,” PCM head coach Jeff Lindsay said. “It was a complete roller-coaster of not only physical-being, but emotionally. It was unfortunate that anybody had to lose that game.”

The Mustangs did come out of the game as the victor, beating the Tigerhawks 9-7 in eight innings.

With two outs and the bases loaded in the top of the eighth inning, junior Olin Meinders stepped up to bat. The score was tied at 7-all, and Colfax-Mingo junior pitcher Zarek Hill had just struck out the two batters before him.

Hill put two strikes on him early, but Meinders kept fouling off pitches until he delivered. Eventually, the junior outfielder brought two runners in on a single to center field.

Meinders’ two RBI single turned out to be the game-winning hit for the Mustangs. But just an inning earlier, Tigerhawk freshman Zach Steenhoek found himself in an identical situation.

Steenhoek, the last batter in the rotation, was down 0-2 in the box with two outs and a tying runner on third. The Tigerhawks were down 7-6.

He hit a line drive just out of reach of the third baseman’s glove, scoring one run and forcing extra innings.

“I was very nervous, super nervous,” Steenhoek said. “But it a was great moment in my baseball career so far. The biggest hit I’ve ever done.”

Steenhoek’s hit kept the Tigerhawks alive for one more inning. Before that, neither team could put runs on the board after the first couple innings.

Colfax-Mingo started sophomore Trystin Ross on the hill, and the Mustangs took advantage of him early. Junior Reed Worth was walked and junior Preston Van Wyk advanced him to third base on a double over the right fielder’s head.

Senior Noah Henkenius brought in Worth on a fielder’s choice to second base. An error at shortstop scored Van Wyk before the inning came to a close.

The Tigerhawks answered back with a run of their own, scoring when Ross brought in sophomore Brady Berkey on another fielder’s choice to second base. The score after one inning was 2-1.

Both teams had big innings in the second. Sophomore Derek Brown, Worth and Van Wyk all hit singles to load the bases with one out. Henkenius brought in Brown on a line drive single to center field.

An error at second base on a hit by junior Wes Cummings scored Worth. After a bad throw from the catcher to the pitcher, Van Wyk attempted to take home but was tagged before he crossed home plate.

Van Dyke was walked and Meinders was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, allowing sophomore pinch runner Carson Clark to score. Freshman Caleb Duinink hit a pop fly to end the inning.

The home team plated five of their seven runs in the bottom of the second and got on top of Henkenius, the Mustangs’ starting pitcher.

Senior Alex Lewis was walked and he scored when Henkenius overthrew the first baseman on Steenhoek’s ground ball back to the mound. Berkey hit a single to center field and Steenhoek scored when sophomore Trinity Schroeder singled past third base.

Hill brought in Berkey on a single to left field. Senior Misha Seebeck then hit a two-RBI double to left-center field. The Tigerhawks led 6-5 after two innings.

Ross was relieved by Lewis on the mound, and he went to work in the third inning. The senior struck out the side.

Brown also came in for Henkenius in the bottom of the third. The Tigerhawks managed to get two runners on base after a strikeout by Brown. They didn’t capitalize as the Mustangs got out of the jam.

With one out recorded, Cummings hit a single to center field in the fourth inning. Van Dyke then smashed a two-run home run over the left field fence.

Hill came in to pitch for Lewis after the home run, and he finished out the inning without any more damage. The score remained 7-6 after four innings.

Neither team scored until the bottom of the seventh, when Steenhoek kept the game going for the Tigerhawks.

Brown went four innings before being replaced by Van Dyke in the seventh inning. The sophomore had five strikeouts and gave up no runs.

On the other side, Hill pitched well too, striking out six and giving up two runs in 4 2/3 innings.

“He pitched very well,” Colfax-Mingo head coach Brian Warrick said. “He obviously kept us in the game.”

For Warrick, the game boiled down to errors. He made a point that his team struggled coming back from them, but was proud of their effort. The fourth-seeded Tigerhawks finished their season as South Iowa Cedar League champions with a 16-5 overall record.

“This has been a great season,” Warrick said. “We won the conference and won out of conference stuff, too.”

The fifth-seeded Mustangs (11-13) advanced to play top-seeded Pleasantville in the District 12 semifinals on July 10.

Colfax-Mingo 9, Colo-NESCO 2

COLFAX — Warrick’s strategy heading into the game against Colo-NESCO on July 5 was simple. Rotate all his pitchers and keep them fresh for the squad’s playoff game on July 7.

Then senior Jarod Nichols had a no-hitter going through four innings.

Nichols ended up being replaced in the fifth inning after striking out eight batters. He helped his team beat the Royals 9-2.

“Initially, my plan was to not pitch anybody more than 40 pitches,” Warrick said. “But then Jarod, it was the fifth inning and he had a no-hitter, so I just left him in. He pitched well.”

The Tigerhawks were in control all game, scoring runs consistently in the first couple innings and holding on to the lead the rest of the way.

“Overall, we hit the ball pretty well,” Warrick said. “It’s nice to end the regular season on a victory and now hopefully we can roll it in to Saturday.”

In the first inning, the Royals (11-10) had bases loaded with one out. Fortunately for the Tigerhawks, Nichols struck out the final two batters to get out of the inning.

Berkey and Schroeder each hit singles to start off the bottom of the first. Seebeck and Ross both hit sacrifice flies to center field, scoring Berkey and Schroeder.

Nichols started the bottom of the second inning with a double to left field. Sophomore Hunter Green pinch ran for him and scored on a wild pitch.

Hill and Seebeck both had RBIs to make the score 5-0 after two innings.

Again, Colo-NESCO had an opportunity to score after a Tigerhawk error and a walk put two runners on base. Again, Colfax-Mingo managed to get out of the inning unscathed.

Senior Reegan Van Dyke was walked in the bottom of the third inning. Van Dyke scored when Lewis’ ground ball was mishandled by the shortstop. The Tigerhawks only managed to get one run out of the inning, making the score 6-0.

Nichols struck out the side in the top of the fourth.

Schroeder opened the bottom of the frame with a single to left field. Hill followed with a single of his own. Ross hit a double over the right fielder’s head, scoring Schroeder. Van Dyke brought in Hill on a sacrifice fly to center field before the inning came to a close.

The Royals finally put runs on the board in the fifth. Nichols walked his first two batters before being replaced by Hill. Colo-NESCO senior Matthew Hill scored senior Garrett Packer after an error at shortstop.

Junior Kelly Gray was on third base and took home when the catcher overthrew second base on an attempt to throw out a stealing runner. After five innings, the score was 8-2.

In the top of the sixth, Hill walked a batter and Packer got on base after an error. On the mound, Hill was replaced by Ross.

“The negative tonight was, we had more errors,” Warrick said. “However many errors we had, that’s the most we’ve had in a game all season.”

Ross was able to get out of the jam, and the Tigerhawks added one more in the bottom of the sixth. Ross struck out the final three batters to finish the game.