April 24, 2024

Freshman baseball team busy in doubleheaders

Members of the Creston freshman baseball team are, from left in front, Isaac Davis, Mark Waigand, Kendall Crawford, Brenton Barber and Matthew Kunz. Back row, coach Anthony Donahoo, Payton Pryor, Zac Hague, Walker Patterson and Christian Gist. Not pictured, Matthew Borha, Bobby Baker, Dylan Linch, Mason Kinsella, Garrett Dahl, Joe Eblen, Cory Marquardt, Nate Pudenz and Tucker Flynn. (CNA photo)

The Creston freshman baseball team played five home games last week, starting with a 15-0 loss to ADM on June 23.

Mark Waigand was 2-of-2 in that game for the Panthers. Dylan Linch, Nathan Pudenz and Kendall Crawford also had hits.

Matthew Kunz, Walker Patterson, Waigand, Matthew Borha and Crawford each pitched one inning.

“ADM had some older boys but it was good for our boys to see that kind of speed on the pitches and what really good defense looks like,” Creston coach Anthony Donahoo said. “This will definitely help us down the road.”

Glenwood took two games from the Panthers on Thursday, 14-1 and 15-1.

Crawford pitched the opener with one strikeout and six walks in five innings. Mason Kinsella and Joe Eblen were each 1-1 with a walk, and Pudenz added a single.

Eblen, Kunz and Tucker Flynn each pitched an inning in game two, totaling one strikeout and 13 walks. Christian Gist hit a double for the Panthers.

“We were short on pitching in this game, so the upside was that we really got to see who could throw strikes,” Donahoo said. “We’ll keep working to improve.”

Creston played two more games the next day, falling 11-4 and 15-1 to Winterset.

In the opener, Kylan Smallwood pitched two innings and Bryce Fitzgerald also pitched a pair of innings. They combined for three strikeouts and five walks.

Kunz, Kinsella, Smallwood and Deavon Reese had hits for the Panthers in that game.

Fitzgerald also pitched the first two innings of the second game, with one inning of relief each by Linch and Eblen.

Zac Hague and Kunz had hits.

“We got some help in that first game (from the JV) and both Kylan and Bryce were pitching really well,” Donahoo said. “Our defense was making plays, and I was happy with the effort. The boys came out in the same game and played really good defense, but we just walked too many batters.”

The Panther freshmen were scheduled to play a doubleheader today at Norwalk before hosting Atlantic in two games Thursday starting at 11 a.m.