By Becky Walz,
Wrapping up the Upper Iowa Conference earlier this week, the Turkey Valley baseball team (8-18, 7-10) went 2-1 splitting with North Fayette Valley and throwing a no-hitter versus Postville.
Final twinbill
In a gutsy battle Monday night, the Trojans pulled out a 6-5 win over North Fayette Valley (8-20, 6-12 UIC) in game one. The nightcap was suspended due to darkness and finished Tuesday morning in West Union with TV falling, 14-6.
“We didn’t play our best in game two, but hopefully we found a few things we can improve upon,” said Coach Dan Stepan.
In game one, TV jumped on the board in the first on a Carson Busta two-RBI single and added two more in the second. With another run plated in the third, the Trojans held a 5-0 lead into the bottom of the fourth before NFV players rounded the bases for two. Dylan Reicks reached base on an error in the sixth and stole second, setting him up to score on Calvin Bodensteiner’s single. That insurance run saved the Trojans as the TigerHawks rallied in the bottom of the sixth to score three runs. NFV had one more chance to take the game in the seventh with the tying run at first before Garrett Kurtenbach fielded a grounder and turned the double play to end the game.
Game two was a close 7-5 contest through the first two frames before NFV broke the game open, scoring in the fourth, fifth and sixth frames.
R H E
T. Valley 2 2 1 0 0 1 0 6 4 5
NFV 0 0 0 2 0 3 0 5 4 4
Oliver Schmitt (WP) – 4IP, 2R, 1ER, 2H, 1BB, 5K; Kalvin Langreck (Save) – 3IP, 3R, 2ER, 2H, 4BB, 4K
1B – Dylan Reicks 2; Calvin Bodensteiner 1; Carson Busta 1; RBI – Busta 2; Reicks 1; Bodensteiner 1; Schmitt 1; SB – Reicks 3; Busta 2; Bodensteiner 1; Chase Hayek 1; Caleb Kurtenbach 1
R H E
T. Valley 1 4 0 0 0 1 0 6 6 5
NFV 2 5 0 1 2 4 x 14 9 3
Busta (LP) – 2IP, 7R, 6ER, 4H, 5BB, 4K; Bodensteiner (RP) – 3IP, 3R, 3ER, 2H, 5BB, 4K; Russell Nieman (RP) – 2/3IP, 4R, 3H, 2K; Reicks (RP) – 1/3IP
2B – Garrett Kurtenbach 2; Busta 1; 1B – Reicks 1; Busta 1; Garrett Dietzenbach 1; RBI – G. Kurtenbach 2; Reicks 1; Busta 1; Langreck 1; SB – Reicks 4; Bodensteiner 1; Busta 1
UIC finale
In a match-up rescheduled from earlier in the season, the Trojans played their second team of the day Tuesday at Postville (0-17, 0-17 UIC), winning 16-1 in four innings.
“The boys did a good job of hitting the ball in this game and our pitchers threw no-hitters in both the varsity and junior varsity contests,” said Coach Stepan.
TV scored just one run in the first inning before sending all nine batters to the plate in the second to tack on five more. The inning was highlighted by a bases-clearing three-RBI double by Busta.
A nine-run third frame nearly closed out the game on the 15-run mercy rule; however, the Pirates had scored one run in the second, leaving the Trojans ahead 15-1. Garrett Kurtenbach scored the final run on the contest in the fourth for TV on his second single of the game.
R H E
T. Valley 1 5 9 1 x x x 16 14 0
Postville 0 1 0 0 x x x 1 0 6
Noah Hanson (WP) – 4IP, 1R, 1ER, 1BB, 5K
2B – Busta 1; C. Kurtenbach 1; 1B – Hanson 3; G. Kurtenbach 2; Busta 2; Reicks 1; Bodensteiner 1; Treyton Hulbert 1; C. Kurtenbach 1; Dietzenbach 1; RBI – Busta 3; Hanson 2; Bodensteiner 2; Dietzenbach 2; Schmitt 2; Reicks 1; Hulbert 1; SB – Hanson 4; Hayek 2; Busta 1; C. Kurtenbach 1
Road to state
Turkey Valley will have an uphill battle in the postseason as the Trojans begin with Saint Ansgar Saturday, July 10, in Calmar at 7 p.m.
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