Raiders down Timberwolves in first round
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The Mount Ayr Raiders defeated the East Union Eagles to close out the regular season on top of the Pride of Iowa, before heading into Districts.
The Raiders began District play on Saturday, July 2 against Southwest Valley.
The win over the Timberwolves pushed them to the next round to face the Lamoni Demons who advanced to the next round after a comeback win against the East Union Eagles.
Mt. Ayr 12, SWV 4
The Raiders hosted the Southwest Valley Timberwolves in the first round of District play last Saturday.
In their third meeting, the Raiders were victorious, after the Timberwolves gave the Raiders a scare, tying the game at at four runs after a four-run inning in the third inning.
The Raiders were able to answer back with a five run inning in the bottom of the fourth.
The Raider bats stayed true, adding three more runs in the sixth.
Jace Grose pitched six innings, allowing four runs off 12 hits, while striking out four batters.
Jaixen Frost entered the game on the mound in the seventh, throwing 13 pitches and striking out three batters, to end the contest.
The Raider bats were led by Ryce Reynolds and Daron Drake.
Reynolds was two-for-four at the plate with one RBI and two runs, while Drake was two-for-four with two runs.
Stats
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 F
SWV 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 4
MA 3 1 0 5 0 3 0 12
Hitting
AB H R BI
Frost 2 1 2 1
Reynolds 4 2 2 1
Shay 2 2 1 3
Knight 4 1 1 2
Stark 4 0 0 0
Drake 4 2 2 0
Larson 4 2 1 1
Grose 4 0 0 0
Ehlen 2 1 2 2
Sackett 0 0 0 0
Trujillo 0 0 1 0
TOTALS 30 11 12 10
Pitching
IP H ER R K
Grose 6 12 2 4 4
Frost 1 0 0 0 3
TOTALS 7 12 2 4 7
Mt. Ayr 18, EU 8
The Raiders finished out the regular season with a 15-3 record and the Pride of Iowa Championship, however, they may have had a little bit of a Championship hangover heading into their final game of the season against the East Union Eagles last week.
The Eagles put up runs early and stayed ahead of the Raiders as their bats swung hard against Raider pitcher Raines Sackett.
The Mount Ayr bats attempted to stay in the game, but after adding five runs in the top of the third the Raiders were down 8-3.
“I don’t think we brought our A game tonight,” said coach Bill Huntington. “I thought practice was meh, but it was five big games last week, but once one kid got it going, they started scoring runs.”
The Raiders closed the five-run deficit to only one after Jaydon Knight had a ball hit deep into the outfield and was able to put runs across. The four-run inning put Mount Ayr down only 8-7 after three.
The fourth inning was the turning point for the Raiders.
They didn’t allow the Eagles another run for the remainder of the contest, while the bats scored 10 runs in the bottom of the fourth to lead 17-8, before closing out the game in the bottom of five.
“I just thought we came out and looked sluggish and they were getting these one hops that bounced over their heads and sometimes that’s baseball,” said coach Anthony Maldonado. “We responded. We didn’t panic. We told them to put the ball in play and make most of the opportunities. This and last Monday (come from behind win against Wayne) I never want to see again, but at least we’ve been there and we know how to respond if the time every comes again.”
Coach Huntington agreed that the Raiders are more comfortable being behind than the coaches are.
“They walked into the dugout and I didn’t see any changes in their looks, how they’re acting,” said coach Huntington. “They weren’t worked up. They just went up and did the job.”
The Raiders recorded 18 runs on 14 hits, with 15 runs batted in.
Tyler Martin had a solo home run in the contest, while Jaydon Knight recorded two runs on two hits with four RBI and Jaixen Frost was two-for-two at the plate with two runs and five RBI.
Despite the runs allowed to the Eagles, the Raiders committed no errors on the night and recorded 15 putouts on 19 total chances with four assists.
Raines Sackett started on the mound, pitching two and one-third innings allowing five runs on seven hits and striking out one.
Jace Grose received the win after entering the game and pitching for two and two-thirds innings, allowing three runs on five hits and striking out four.
Stats
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 F
EU 2 1 5 0 0 x x 8
MA 1 2 4 10 1 x x 18
Hitting
AB H R BI
Frost 2 2 2 5
Reynolds 4 1 1 3
Shay 3 1 1 0
Knight 4 2 2 4
Martin 4 2 2 2
Stark 2 2 4 0
Larson 4 2 1 1
Grose 2 1 1 0
Ehlen 1 1 3 0
Sackett 0 0 0 0
TOTALS 26 14 18 15
Pitching
IP H ER R K
Grose 2.2 5 3 3 4
Sackett 2.1 7 5 5 1
TOTALS 5 12 8 8 5
