Pitching, defense leads Baxter baseball to playoff win over improved Tigerhawks

COLLINS — The Colfax-Mingo baseball team gave Baxter 15 free bases when they squared off in their regular-season matchup that was completed on July 2.

Three days later, the Tigerhawks played much cleaner defensively and threw strikes on the mound against the Bolts.

But Baxter’s 1-2 pitching punch was simply too much to overcome, and the Bolts downed Colfax-Mingo, 4-0, in the quarterfinal round of the Class 1A District 12 tournament.

“The pitchers attacked the zone, which is all you can ask,” Baxter head baseball coach Jeremy Moffit said. “Both pitchers threw well, and we made plays defensively when they did put it in play.”

It was Baxter’s first postseason win since defeating Lynnville-Sully, 9-5, in 2019.

Carter Nelsen fanned 10 batters in seven innings that day. Colton Moffit and Cael Wishman combined to strike out 15 Tigerhawks on Saturday.

Colfax-Mingo’s offense accounted for only one hit and one walk in its seven at-bats, but Camden Cunningham pitched his best game of the season and the Tigerhawks’ only error did not factor into any of the four runs Baxter scored.

“This was always our goal, to be peaking at this time of year,” Colfax-Mingo head baseball coach Joss Teed said. “We’ve been working hard to get better, and I think we showed that today. They stuck together, they were focused and they were sharp. We had a chance every inning and had a chance at the end.”

Hayden Burdess opened the bottom of the first inning with a walk. He stole second and then scored on Wishman’s one-out RBI single.

Colten Damman singled to lead off the second but was stranded on third base.

The Bolts (16-6) added to their lead with a run in the third. Burdess drew another lead-off walk. He stole second, took third on a wild pitch and scored on a passed ball.

“I feel like we were a little tight at the plate and pressing,” Coach Moffit said. “We were behind on a few pitches, but that’s to be expected playing in our first district game.”

Cody Spurgeon was hit by a pitch for a school-record 15th time this season after Burdess walked, but he was stranded at third base.

Baxter chased Cunningham with two runs in the sixth. Wishman and Liam Trent delivered back-to-back singles.

Wishman stole second and then scored from second on a wild pitch. Trent scored on Moffit’s RBI ground out to third base.

“They have a deep backstop, and Cael has some speed,” Colton Moffit said. “We mostly scored on walks and played some small ball today.”

Cunningham (1-7) hit his pitch count limit with one out in the sixth. He took the loss after allowing four runs — two earned — on four hits, two walks and one hit batter and he fanned five in 5 1/3 innings.

Wyatt Jay got the final two outs in the sixth but not before allowing an infield single to Jace Bottorff. He struck out two of the three batters he faced.

“It was probably his best game of the year,” Teed said about Cunningham. “They have good hitters, and I wish them well. I think they’ll make it a couple of rounds.”

Moffit (8-1) earned the win on the mound for Baxter. He struck out eight and allowed no runs, one hit and one walk in 4 1/3 innings. Both he and Wishman were kept under 65 pitches so they could be available for the team’s semifinal matchup against Collins-Maxwell.

Colton Moffit didn’t use his side-arm pitches until the second time through the Tigerhawks’ batting order.

“We combined to give up zero runs so you should win the game doing that,” Colton Moffit said. “I like to mix in the side-arm pitches the second time through the order. It throws them off a little bit. I’m going to use all eight pitches at some point. It just gives them one more thing to think about. It keeps them on their toes.”

Wishman fanned seven and did not allow a base runner in his 2 2/3 innings. He picked up his first save of the season and used only 35 pitches.

Wishman also had two of the team’s five hits, stole two bases, scored one run and had one RBI. He leads the Bolts with a .418 batting average and has a team-best 25 runs, 24 RBIs and 48 total bases.

The Bolts had only seven hits in the 13-3 win on July 2, but they walked eight times and were hit by three pitches. Those final two numbers dropped to two walks and one hit by pitch in the latest meeting.

“We need to be more aggressive at the plate,” Wishman said. “We started a little slow today. I think some of the guys were expecting balls outside the zone.”

Burdess finished with two walks, two runs and two steals from Baxter’s lead-off spot in the order. Trent totaled one hit, one run and two steals, and he leads Baxter with 16 steals.

Colton Moffit struck out two batters in each of Colfax-Mingo’s first three at-bats, but Jay broke up his no-hitter with a single in the fourth. Jace Lewis walked with two outs to put two runners on base, but Moffit got out of the jam with a strikeout.

Colton Moffit lowered his earned run average to .83, and he’s struck out 103 batters in 59 1/3 innings. The 103 strikeouts lead 1A and rank second in the state. His eight wins are tied for the most in Iowa, too.

Colfax-Mingo (2-17) played one of its better games of the season. Teed hopes the Tigerhawks carry the positive performance into the offseason.

“This team is mainly sophomores and freshmen,” Teed said. “They’ve now seen what needs to be done to win these games. It gives us some hope in the offseason. It should push guys to get better.”

The Bolts will play rival Collins-Maxwell at 5 p.m. on Tuesday in Liberty Center. The game will be part of a doubleheader hosted by Southeast Warren.

They split during the regular season with Baxter taking the second game, 4-3, on June 20.

“I would rather play a team we’ve seen, but it goes both ways,” Colton Moffit said. “They’ve seen my stuff and they know what I’m going to throw, too.”

Notes: The last Bolts team to win a postseason game featured junior Cole Damman and eighth-grader Cody Damman. This year’s playoff-winning Baxter team includes their younger brother Colten Damman, a freshman who had one hit and one steal in the victory. … The Bolts expect to see Collins-Maxwell ace pitcher Cooper Wierson on Tuesday. He has 101 strikeouts in 61 innings this summer. “We know him. I don’t think we’ve ever not faced him the past three years,” Coach Moffit said. “We know we’re going to have to attack because he’s not going to walk us. He’s got good accuracy.” ... As a freshman, Cunningham is limited to 90 pitches.

Colfax-Mingo 10, English Valleys 3

COLFAX — Colfax-Mingo laced three triples, walked six times and overcame three errors during its 10-0 win over English Valleys on June 30.

The Tigerhawks swept the season series against the Bears after scoring at least one run in each of the five innings on Senior Night.

Colfax-Mingo out-hit English Valleys 10-3 in the South Iowa Cedar League game. It was the Tigerhawks’ fourth straight win over the Bears.

Colfax-Mingo outscored English Valleys 24-1 this season and 16-1 last summer.

Jay produced three hits, one triple, two runs and two RBIs to lead the C-M offense.

Cunningham, Ayden Sloan and Alex Teed all had two hits. Sloan tripled, scored three runs, had one RBI, walked once and stole one base, Cunningham tripled, scored one run, totaled one RBI and stole one base and Alex Teed contributed four RBIs and three steals.

Jay leads Colfax-Mingo (2-17, 2-14 in the SICL) with 10 runs and 17 total bases and Teed’s seven RBIs leads the squad.

Lewis finished with one hit, two runs, one walk and three steals, Owen Ament was hit by two pitches and stole two bases on his Senior Night and Fisher Grove walked once, scored one run and stole three bases.

Jadyn Patten walked once and stole one base, Maverick Harter walked once and scored one run and Parker Metzger drew one walk.

The Tigerhawks swiped 14 bases and the three triples were their first three of the season.

Colfax-Mingo, which snapped a 10-game skid, led 2-0 after one, 6-0 after two and 7-0 after three. English Valleys fell to 0-17 and 0-16 in the SICL.

Keota 7, Colfax-Mingo 1

COLFAX — A fast start was too much for the Tigerhawks to overcome on July 1.

Colfax-Mingo and Keota finished a suspended game from June 23, and the Eagles used a five-run first inning to down their hosts, 7-1, during SICL play.

Harter led the offense with one hit and one RBI, Chase Trotter posted one hit and one run and Ryder Duchene totaled one hit and was hit by one pitch.

Cunningham doubled and Lewis and Grove had the other hits. Jay drew one walk and took the pitching loss.

Jay (1-4) allowed five unearned runs on three hits and one walk with six strikeouts in three innings.

Lewis tossed three innings and surrendered one unearned run on two hits with two strikeouts in three innings.

Cunningham gave up one earned run on one hit and fanned one in his one inning.

Keota (7-11, 6-10) led 6-0 after four and scored its final run in the seventh. Colfax-Mingo plated its run in the fifth.