PCM baseball downs South Hamilton for second win

PRAIRIE CITY — The Mustangs sealed a victory over the South Hamilton Hawks on Wednesday during Heart of Iowa Athletic Conference play.

After three innings, they were tied at 2-all. Then in the final five, they knocked in three runs to get the win.

Kaleb DeVries had two singles and an RBI to lead the scoring for the Mustangs. Trenner Van Dyke and Jaden Houser each had two hits and Coby DeRaad, Alex Wendt and Jenssen Hood each had a hit to close out the Mustang offense.

“We were able to put together a quality win with the athletes we have,” PCM head baseball coach Brent Fridley said. “It was a fun game to get.”

Shay Burns (1-0) started the game and pitched 4 2/3 innings.

He got the win and gave up no runs, two hits and one walk but also registered seven strikeouts.

DeVries closed out the game, pitching the final 2 1/3 innings. He gave up two earned runs on five hits and three walks but also had four strikeouts.

PCM (2-5, 2-3 in the conference) made two errors and South Hamilton (1-4, 1-4) committed on error. The Mustangs out-hit the Hawks 9-7.

Nevada 9, PCM 1

DES MOINES — PCM played the Nevada Cubs in Principal Park on Monday. It was part of an all-day tripleheader.

Poor hitting plagued the Mustangs in their 9-1 loss. They mustered three hits to the Cubs’ 10.

The Cubs were ahead 1-0 going into the top of the fourth, but they added six runs in the next two innings to take a 7-0 lead.

Fridley knew that would be the difference.

“The big scoring innings they had really sealed the game early,” Fridley said. “From then, we couldn’t find any traffic going on the bases. We couldn’t even get the small-ball style of play going.”

Nevada (7-3, 3-2) tacked on two more in the sixth and seventh to make the game 9-1 in the end.

PCM scored on an RBI single by DeVries. Burns and Van Dyke each drew a walk, Konnor Bell had a single and double and Izaac Bagby was hit by a pitch to close out the Mustangs’ offense. PCM struck out 12 times.

Van Dyke pitched the first four innings and took the loss. His ERA so far this season is 3.36. He gave up seven hits and one walk and hit three batters. He also struck out three.

Carson Hansen came in for the final three and gave up two hits for the final two runs. His ERA in three games pitched is 3.75.

“Overall, it was a good experience for our guys to play in a professional ballpark like that,” Fridley said.

Roland Story 3, PCM 0

PRAIRIE CITY — The Mustangs closed out the week against Roland Story Norsemen on Friday.

Van Dyke pitched the first five innings and gave up three runs. Hansen finished the game, tossing 2 1/3 scoreless innings. Van Dyke took the loss.

The two gave up a total of four hits, three walks and five strikeouts. The Mustangs committed one error.

“Trenner has pitched really, really well for us this year,” Fridley said. “Even when he isn’t at his best, he still battles through. Beyond him, Carson Hanson can do well in high leverage situations, plus many others are capable pitchers as well.”

Offensively, the Mustangs mustered two hits and three walks. The two hits, came from Trigg Steenhoek and Bell, who doubled and singled, respectively.

Wendt, DeVries and Hood all drew walks. Wendt also was hit by a pitch.

“Roland-Story is one of the better teams we will play,” Fridley said. “They play the game the right way. We knew we would have to play cleanly, and for the most part, we did. We were right there, battling until the end.”

The Norse (10-4, 3-2) out-hit PCM 4-2 and both teams committed one error.

The Mustangs saved their hits for the bottom of the seventh when they loaded the bases with two outs for Houser.

Everyone watching leaned forward for the decisive play. He struck out, but Fridley was proud of the way his team played.

“We got the tying run on base to give ourselves a chance, and I’m proud of us for that,” Fridley said. “The difference in this game compared to our others is that we didn’t give up a big inning.

“The thing about baseball is there’s always an opportunity around the corner. If we sustain good hitting and play solid defense like we are capable of, we can put together some wins.”