Tough losses for Raiders
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The Mount Ayr baseball team had a tough stretch of games early last week with a home game with SE Warren and an away game at POI leading Martensdale-St. Mary’s.
The Raiders fell to both to fall back into a virtual tie for fourth place in the conference standings. The Raiders picked up a 3-2 win last Friday, June 21 at Nodaway Valley.
The week began with a 10-8 loss on senior night to SE Warren.
Mount Ayr came into the game having won three of the last four meetings between the two schools.
SE Warren scored first with a pair of runs in the top of the first after sending six to the plate. The Raiders answered the runs with two of their own in the bottom of the second to tie the game at 2-2. SE Warren broke the tied game in the top of the fourth with two runs to get the score to 4-2.
Mount Ayr seemed to take control of the ball game in the bottom of the fifth inning, scoring four runs to take a 6-4 lead. Three of the runs came in on bases-loaded walks that led to RBI’s for Tate Dugan, Dylan Graham, and Drew Graham. Conlee Stark also had a sacrifice fly to drive in a run in the inning.
SE Warren grabbed the lead back with three runs in the top of the sixth, 7-6, and extended their lead to 10-6 with two runs in the seventh.
The Raiders rallied in their half of the seventh, but it wasn’t enough to get the score to 10-8. Stark smacked a one-out double, scoring a run, and Rowan Sackett hit an RBI single with two outs to get the Raiders within two runs.
Dylan Graham took the loss after starting and going six innings. He struck out five and walked two batters. He gave up seven runs on 12 hits while facing 34 batters.
Drew Graham pitched one inning in relief and gave up three runs on three hits.
Mount Ayr had 10 hits in the game and four players with multi-hit games. Conlee Stark was 2-for-3 with a double and 2 RBI’s while Rowan Sackett and Drew Graham each had two hits and an RBI. Hayes Stogdill also had a pair of hits. Other hits came from Preston Fleharty and Tate Dugan.
Austin Ledlie was the winning pitcher after working seven innings with three strikeouts and one walk. The Warhawks were led by their top-3 in their batting order who all had three hits. Drake Steil, Tate Dierking, and Brody Crow all had three hits and combined to drive in six of the Warhawk’s runs.
The Raiders game at Earlham scheduled for June 19 was canceled due to weather. The Raiders traveled to POI leading Martensdale-St. Mary’s on June 20. There, the Blue Devils won 14-4 in six innings.

Preston Fleharty slides safety into home plate in baseball action last week. The Raiders got the run and someone got a heavy duty laundry job. PHOTO BY DARLA SOBOTKA.
The Blue Devils broke a scoreless game with three runs in the bottom of the third. That 3-0 score held until the top of the fifth where the Raiders scored four runs to take a 4-3 lead. Conlee Stark had an RBI double with one out to set the score at 3-1. With two outs, Preston Fleharty had an RBI single to set the score at 3-2. Later an RBI single by Adler Reed set the score at 4-3.
MTSM scored three in the fifth to take a 6-4 lead. The Blue Devils took control of the game in the sixth when they erupted for six runs to end the game by the 10-run mercy rule, 14-4.
Mount Ayr had four hits in the game. Conlee Stark had a double and RBI while Preston Fleharty and Adler Reed each had hits and an RBI. Dylan Graham had the other Mount Ayr hit. Drew Graham also reached base via a walk. Jaxsen Walter, Tate Dugan, and Drew Graham all pitched in the game with Dugan taking the loss.
Travis White was the winning pitcher after six innings. He struck out five and walked one. MTSM had 12 hits in the game. White and Cale Morrow each had two hits in the game. Morrow had a team-high 3 RBI’s.
The Raiders had to fight from behind to beat Nodaway Valley last Friday. The Raiders fell behind 1-0 after the second and 2-0 after the third inning. Mount Ayr scored their first run in the top of the fourth when Avery Wolfe doubled scoring Trevin Victor with one out and the score at 2-1.
That 2-1 score stood until the Raiders were able to push two runs home in the top of the sixth to grab the lead, 3-2. The big hit was a two-out, Preston Fleharty double that scored two runs. Those runs would hold and prove to be the winning hit in the game.
Mount Ayr had nine hits in the game led by Drew Graham who was 3-for-4 Avery Wolfe had two hits while Fleharty, Dugan, Dylan Graham, and Rowan Sackett all had hits in the game.
Tyler Still pitched and got the win after working seven innings. He struck out five, walked six, and gave up two runs on three hits.
Pride of Iowa Conference Baseball Standings
As of Sunday, June 23
Team POI Overall
Martensdale-St. Mary’s 12-0 17-5
Bedford 9-4 13-9
East Union 9-4 13-6
Mount Ayr 7-6 7-9
Lenox 7-5 13-6
SE Warren 7-5 10-11
Wayne 3-8 5-10
SW Valley 4-7 7-13
Nodaway Valley 1-9 1-12
Central Decatur 0-11 1-13
