Warhawks finish off Wolverines

MILO – Southeast Warren baseball took advantage of the free baserunners it was given Friday night as the Warhawks took down Nodaway Valley 15-0 in four innings of play to advance to the Class 1A District 15 finals.

Nodaway Valley had a chance to flip the game on its head in the top of the first inning after a leadoff single from Cole Shike and a hit-by-pitch drawn by Mason Menefee.

With two on and nobody out, the Wolverines were threatening to put a quick score on the board against a fifth-rated Warhawk team they had beaten earlier in the season.

Tyler Vandewater tangled with SEW pitcher Bryce Hall in an at-bat where he saw a minimum of 10 pitches, but Hall eventually garnered an out on a fielder’s choice.

NV’s early chance to rattle the junior pitcher ended as he settled in with the two strikeouts to end the frame.

“Hall was kind of on the ropes there in the first inning,” said NV head coach Dan Jameson. “If we could have got one through the infield or gotten a hold of one there, it would have been a whole different ball game.”

The Wolverines proceeded to set Southeast Warren down in order in the first inning, but after the Warhawks returned the favor, SEW opened up the scoring.

Two walks and two outs brought up Bryce Kyner who looped a ball just over the 302-foot fence in left field to put the Warhawks up 3-0 and quickly shift the confidence to the home team’s dugout.

It was the same story in the third inning as Hall pushed a ball over the left field fence for a two-run shot after a batter walked in front of him.

NV put another two runners on in the top half of the third, but a strikeout once again ended any threat.

Southeast Warren broke the contest open in the fourth inning as 12 batters came to the plate and 10 scored before the game ended in a run rule.

Colby Page ended the contest with a grand slam that sailed over the same portion of the left field fence his two teammates had found earlier.

Southeast Warren ended the game with five hits, three of which left the park and it was the free baserunners that ultimately came back to bite NV.

“Anytime you give up free bases, especially against a team like this that just kills you,” said Jameson. “They didn’t have a lot of hits, but they made them count.”

Caelen DeVault got the starting nod for NV and Jameson mentioned that both he and Brady Hilpipre – who came on in relief – shut the Warhawks down in the two team’s first meeting.

Nodaway Valley concludes the season with a 15-11 overall record and will lose two pieces of its everyday starting lineup to graduation.

Starting shortstop and leadoff hitter Cole Shike will depart as well as left fielder and left-handed hurler Brady Hilpipre.

“He stepped up and he grew into that position throughout the year,” said Jameson of Shike after he asked him to move from third to short. “He hit leadoff for us. ... He did a super job for us and is a leader in the dugout.”

“Brady is a super athlete and played a great left field for us. He came into some big ballgames and really pitched well for us,” Jameson said. “They’re going to be dearly missed. There weren’t very many of them (seniors), but they made a big impact.”

Shike finished the year with a .337 batting average, a year removed from a knee injury that forced him to miss all of his junior campaign.

Hilpipre will depart with a .283 batting average in his senior year as well as two home runs.

Southeast Warren 15, Nodaway Valley 0 (4)

R  H  E

NV 000  0 —  0  4  1

SEW 032  (10)  —  15 5 0

NV: Caelen DeVault 4K 0BB, Brady Hilpipre 2K 2BB, Peyton Sickels 1K 1BB and Tyler Vandewater. SEW: Bryce Hall 4K 0BB and Colby Page. W — Hall (5-1). L – DeVault (3-2). HR – SEW: Hall, Bryce Kyner, Page. 3B – None. 2B — SEW: Hall. RBI — SEW: Kyner (3), Hall (4), Page (4), Mason Merfeld, Cade Nelson.