By Becky Walz,
Turkey Valley’s Caleb Kurtenbach makes a routine catch at short stop Saturday against Riceville. (Photo by Leah Kruse)
A slow night offensively was the demise for the Turkey Valley baseball team Tuesday as the Trojans fell to Kee in the district quarterfinals after defeating Riceville in round one Saturday.
The Trojans end the season 11-16 overall and will graduate five seniors — Oliver Schmitt, Caleb Kurtenbach, Russell Nieman, Aidan Holthaus and Braylen Byrne — who have been mainstays on the diamond this season and throughout their high school careers.
Round 2
It wasn’t the way any team wants the season to end; however, the Trojans suffered from lack of offense to fall in the district semifinal to Kee, 10-0 in six frames Tuesday night in New Albin.
A seven-run second inning by the Hawks was too much for TV as Kee strung the hits together with 10 batters stepping into the batter’s box. The Trojans knocked out just a pair of hits in the contest — singles by Russell Nieman and Oliver Schmitt.
“It’s not the way we wanted to go out, but we had a rough second inning that we just couldn’t recover from,” said Coach Dan Stepan. “Oliver, Caleb, Russell, Aidan and Braylen have been great senior leaders for us and we are going to miss all five of them.”
Logan Busta (LP) – 1-1/3IP, 7R, 5H, 2BB, 1K; Russell Nieman (RP) – 4-1/3IP, 3R, 5H, 2BB, 3K
1B – Nieman 1; Oliver Schmitt 1
Playoff win
An inning that fans saw the Trojans bat through the order and then some was enough to lift Turkey Valley over Riceville (14-15) in game one of the postseason Saturday in New Albin, 8-3.
“It’s always good to win in the postseason,” said Coach Stepan. “Pitching and defense have been our strong suit and they were good once again with our offense stepping up as well.”
The offense took three innings to warm up, but when it did the Trojans were hard to stop. Schmitt and Aidan Holthaus started things off in the fourth after walks led to runs on a Braylen Byrne sac fly and a Jordan Kriener double. Starting the fifth frame at the top of batting order, TV scored six runs on six hits and two walks as the Trojans sent 11 batters to the plate. That big inning was enough to hold off the Wildcats in the final two frames as Riceville plated one run in the sixth and two in the seventh.
Logan Busta got the win with Schmitt throwing in relief. In the batter’s box, the Trojans tagged the ball 11 times with doubles by Nieman, Busta and Kriener. Holthaus came through with a pair of singles while Byrne drove in three.
Logan Busta (WP) – 5IP, 3H, 3K; Oliver Schmitt (RP) – 2IP, 3R, 3H, 1BB, 2K
2B – Russell Nieman 1; Busta 1; Jordan Kriener 1; 1B – Nieman 1; Busta 1; Schmitt 1; Aidan Holthaus 1; Caleb Kurtenbach 1; Braylen Byrne 1; Kriener 1; Ethan Orvis 1; RBI – Byrne 3; Kriener 2; Kurtenbach 1; E. Orvis 1; SB – Schmitt 2; Kurtenbach 1; Hanson 1
Senior night
Having had a previous game rained out, the Trojans celebrated their five seniors Wednesday as Turkey Valley hosted Nashua-Plainfield (11-12) for the regular season finale, coming out on top, 2-1.
“We played very well defensively with Caleb Kurtenbach was making all sorts of plays. We pitched well enough to win, but we are still looking to score more runs,” said Coach Stepan.
TV combined four singles in the first frame including Caleb Kurtenbach’s grounder to score Nieman to give the Trojans the early lead. After rapping out his third hit of the game in the fifth, Schmitt scored TV’s second run on another Kurtenbach single. Those two were enough as the Trojans held the Huskies to one in the top of the seventh with Nashua-Plainfield leaving the bases loaded.
Busta and Schmitt combined in the win on the hill, striking out a total of six. It was a 10-hit outing for the Trojans with Schmitt leading the way with his 3-for-3 performance. Nieman and Kurtenbach were 2-for-3.
Busta (WP) – 4IP, 2BB, 3K; Schmitt (RP) – 3IP, 1R, 1H, 3K
1B – Schmitt 3; Nieman 2; Kurtenbach 2; Holthaus 1; Kriener 1; Alex Hanson 1; RBI – Kurtenbach 2; SB – Schmitt 2; Holthaus 1
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