Baxter baseball rallies past Colfax-Mingo in postseason preview

BAXTER — The Colfax-Mingo baseball team took a one-run lead against Baxter in the fourth inning when heavy rains and lightning moved into the area on June 12.

The umpires were forced into a delay and the game was eventually suspended until Wednesday.

The Bolts bounced back in their final two at-bats though and rallied to down the Tigerhawks, 13-3, in six innings during a non-conference contest.

It was a postseason preview as the two teams will face off against each other again on Saturday at 5 p.m. in Collins.

The victory for the Bolts was only their second win over the Tigerhawks since 2016. Colfax-Mingo leads the series 12-7 since 2009.

Baxter scored two runs in the first inning back on June 12, but C-M trimmed the margin to 2-1 in the second and then took a 3-2 lead in the top of the fourth.

The Bolts plated three runs in the fifth to take the lead for good and then added eight in the sixth to close out the win early.

Baxter out-hit the Tigerhawks 7-4, and Colfax-Mingo was plagued by four errors.

Liam Trent led the Bolts with one hit, three runs, one RBI, two walks and two steals and he was hit by a pitch. He leads Baxter with 14 steals.

Jace Bottorff finished with two hits, one double, one run and three RBIs and he was hit by one pitch, Aiden Johnson totaled one hit, two RBIs and one walk and Cody Spurgeon drew two walks, was hit by a pitch, scored two runs and tallied one RBI.

Spurgeon leads the Bolts with 17 walks and has been hit by a team-most 14 pitches.

Colton Moffit registered one hit, one run and two RBIs, Colten Damman contributed one hit, one run and one walk and Derek Rominger had one hit, one run and one RBI.

Cael Wishman finished with one walk, one run and one RBI, Hayden Burdess walked once, scored one run and stole one base and James Esqueda and Miles McCord each scored one run.

Wishman leads Baxter with 24 runs, 23 RBIs and 46 total bases. He also has a team-best .406 batting average.

Nolan Hill started the game on the mound back on June 12. He allowed one earned run on no hits, two walks and two hit batters and fanned two in 1 1/3 innings.

Trent pitched two innings and surrendered two earned runs on two hits, one walk and two hit batters and struck out two.

Damman (1-0) earned his first pitching win of the season. He tossed the final 2 2/3 innings and gave up no earned runs and two hits and fanned five. It was his team-most 11th appearance this season.

Parker Metzger led Colfax-Mingo (2-16) with one hit, two RBIs and he was hit by two pitches.

Jace Lewis totaled one hit, two walks and one run, Camden Cunningham was hit by two pitches and scored one run, Wyatt Jay walked once and scored one run and Wyatt Carpenter delivered a double and an RBI.

Chase Trotter got the other hit and Kyle Wood was hit by a pitch and scored one run.

Jay started on the mound back on June 12 and tossed the first three innings. He allowed two earned runs on four hits and three walks and struck out three.

Ayden Sloan took the loss after allowing three earned runs on one walk and three hit batters.

Ryder Duchene surrendered seven runs — six earned — on three hits and three walks. Alex Teed gave up an unearned run and walked one in 1/3 of an inning.

Baxter’s road non-conference game against AGWSR scheduled for Thursday was canceled.

Baxter 10, Colo-NESCO 2

Moffit regained his strikeout lead in Class 1A following a 14-strikeout performance against Colo-NESCO on Monday.

The host Bolts plated four runs in the third to take the lead and Moffit did the rest from the mound during a 10-2 home victory in Iowa Star Conference play.

Baxter tacked on two runs in the fifth and four in the sixth to win. Colo-NESCO scored a pair of unearned runs in the sixth and seventh. Both teams were plagued by three errors.

Colo-NESCO was out-hit 9-4, and the Bolts claimed their seventh straight win over the Royals. Baxter and Colo-NESCO are 10-10 against each other since 2009.

Wishman led the Baxter offense with two hits, two runs, three RBIs, one walk and one steal and Trent posted two hits, one double, one run, two RBIs and two steals. Trent leads Baxter (15-6, 10-6 in the conference) with five doubles.

Burdess finished with one hit, two runs, two walks and one steal, Esqueda totaled one hit, two runs, one walk and one steal and Damman had one hit, one walk and one steal.

Moffit chipped in one hit and two RBIs, Bottorff got the other hit, Spurgeon was hit by a pitch, scored one run and had one RBI and Johnson was hit by a pitch and scored one run. Cole Frasher scored one run.

Moffit (7-1) used 111 pitches to get through seven innings. He allowed two unearned runs on four hits and one walk and fanned 14 in the win.

Moffit lowered his earned run average to .89 and has a 1A-best 95 strikeouts in 55 innings.

Landon Gjerde led Colo-NESCO (6-13, 4-12) with two hits, Hunter Purvis finished with one hit and one run and Ethan Harnage totaled one hit and one RBI.

Baxter 7, BGM 6

The Bears scored first and out-hit Baxter, but BGM committed four errors and couldn’t overcome the final punch from the Bolts during a 7-6 non-conference loss on Tuesday.

Baxter scored five runs in the second to take a 5-1 lead. BGM rallied with three in the fourth and one in the sixth to tie it, but the Bolts plated the winning runs in the bottom of the sixth.

The Bears out-hit Baxter 10-8, and the Bolts committed three errors. All eight Baxter hits were singles.

It was Baxter’s first win over BGM since they started playing in 2019.

Wishman led the hosts with two hits, two runs and one RBI, Johnson collected two hits and Spurgeon posted one hit, one run and one walk and he was hit by two pitches. Wishman leads Baxter with 26 hits.

Burdess totaled one hit, one run and one RBI, Trent had one hit, one RBI and one steal and Moffit contributed one hit and one RBI.

Damman drew two walks, Esqueda walked once and scored one run and Rominger and McCord each scored one run.

Hill started on the mound, pitched into the seventh and earned the win. He improved to 4-0 after allowing six runs — three earned — on 10 hits, one walk and two hit batters in 6 1/3 innings. He fanned five and used 101 pitches.

Damman got the final two outs, fanned one and earned his second save of the summer.

Brock York led BGM (14-9) with three hits and two runs and Ashten Kalinay contributed two hits and five RBIs.