Cougars walk-off West Fork

ACKLEY – Jaden Penning had the biggest hit so far of his career, launching a two-run homer past the left field fence to lift AGWSR’s baseball team past West Fork, 3-2, in eight innings.

The Warhawks had just taken a 2-1 lead in the top of the eighth on an RBI double by Carter Meints that scored Ian Latham.

However, the Cougars had the top of their lineup coming up with their No. 2 hitter, Brody Roder, hitting the ball hard all night long, who doubled down the third base line to set up the game-winning hit.

“Obviously, the approach was going to change there,” AGWSR head coach David Showalter said, “based on the score. If it’s 1-1 in the bottom of the eighth, maybe get a runner on, get him over, score on a base hit. It was a great at-bat by Brody, just to get into scoring position there and trying to figure out what we’re doing from there.

“I liked Jaden hitting the ball there. I thought he’d been making good contact all night…I was just hoping it would get over. Very happy for Jaden, it’s a cool moment for him. Great win for our guys…great finish to the first week of our season with all of the stuff that’s been going on, good weather, good way to cap off the week.”

Both Dylan Schlader and Ben Macy went the distance for their respective teams.

“They out-hit us at the end there,” West Fork first-year coach Tom Shreckengost said. “We were right where we wanted to be. Dylan threw a great game; that is, I think, his first career start on varsity on the mound, I believe. He pitched really well. He was only 76-77 pitches in, too, so he had a really good game going.

“When he (Latham) gets on, I mean, we’re a quick team. In three games, that is 10-11 stolen bases already this year. When we get on, we’re running, we’re going. It’s just one pitch, hung it and that’s it. Eighth grade (was the last time Latham played). He came out because he wanted to hang out with the guys, all the players, being since he didn’t get a track (or golf) season, so he decided to go out for baseball. It’s all good. We’ll come back after it and win tomorrow.”

It made a winner of Macy, who showed rare emotion after striking out pinch hitter Levi Janssen looking to end the seventh inning with a runner in scoring position. Macy struck out four, three looking.

“We’re happy with the way Ben pitched today,” Showalter said. “He did a good job of mixing up pitches; worked out of some tough jams there. I’m sure his arm was tired, but he was still trying to build up arm strength, but he kept the pitch count low for eight innings, I thought. Really good defense behind him, as well.

“He’s pretty even keel most of the time, so that was good to see. He worked hard in that at-bat there and he did a lot for us tonight. I was really glad that Ben was able to go the distance there. It sets us up pretty well the rest of the week to get ready for a tough week ahead.”

Both teams scored a single run in the second and remained knotted until the extra-inning dramatics.

Noah Maske led off the second with a double to left, moved to third on a ground out to second and then scored on a single to left-center by Hayden Shreckengost.

The Cougars answered with a single by Bradly Roder, went from first to third on a single by Darren Veld and then scored on a sacrifice bunt attempt by Chase Harms after he was initially looked back to the bag.

“It was a really good game overall,” Showalter said. “Monday night, we had a great win at Grundy Center, but I thought win or lose, after that seventh inning, I was really happy with the way we played tonight. Two really good defensive teams tonight. It felt like both teams hit the ball hard all night, too. A lot of good plays in the outfield.

“We came into this week with a couple of guys in the outfield that we needed to get some work and evaluate and I thought they did a really good job. We’re young, but we’ve got some senior leaders, some juniors who’ve played quite a bit of varsity baseball that helped us grow up.”

West Fork drops to 1-2, falling both times to NICL teams to start the season.

“We hung one there, and let the guy hit it,” Shreckengost said. “It’s unfortunate for us, because we’re a good team. We need to battle back for (Friday) because we play Northwood-Kensett at home, that will be a good game, too. We just couldn’t hit when we needed to. When we got guys on base, we got them home, but unfortunately, we didn’t get runners on. Didn’t get bunts down when we needed it.”

AGWSR improved to 2-1 amid concerns that a pair of teams close by have had their season suspended due to the coronavirus, either exposure or a positive test.

“Definitely a concern, Iowa Falls-Alden to the west, Aplington-Parkersburg to the east, both out for a couple of weeks,” Showalter said, “so we’ve talked to the kids about making good choices, hydrating, washing their hands, monitoring if they have any symptoms.

“I told the guys, ‘we’ve got to be smart, we’ve got to be careful.’ This season wasn’t guaranteed to begin with, there is no guarantee to the end of the season. We’ve got to take advantage of what we can do, be smart about it and enjoy it while we can.”

AGWSR 3, West Fork 2 (8)

W. Fork        010   000   01   -    2     4     2

AGWSR       010   000   02   -    3     7     0

Winning battery– Ben Macy and Brody Roder. Losing battery– Dylan Schlader and Kellen Cameron. Two or more hits– WF (Carter Meints); AGWSR (Bro. Roder). 2B– WF (Meints, Noah Maske); AGWSR (Bro. Roder). HR– AGWSR (Jaden Penning). SB– WF (Maske, Ian Latham). RBI– WF (Hayden Shreckengost, Meints); AGWSR (Penning 2, Harms). HBP– WF (Cameron, Shreckengost); AGWSR (Bo Gerbracht).