June 23, 2025
Local NewsState & National

BASEBALL: Wolverines' offense comes alive in recent stretch

By Ryan Stonebraker
NV/OM's Ty Strode winds a pitch in a recent home baseball game against East Union.

NV/OM's Ty Strode winds a pitch in a recent home baseball game against East Union. (Dan Dickinson)

Scoring runs this year has been tough for the Nodaway Valley baseball team. Through seven games, the Wolverines had scored six runs. Last week as the Wolverines looked at three Pride of Iowa Conference games waiting, they hoped to put up runs. Nodwaway Valley did just that in their third of three POI games last week in a 22-6 loss to East Union on June 14.Though the loss dropped the Wolverine’s record to 0-8, the Wolverine’s bats came alive to double their season total for runs in one game.

The Eagles took control of the game with a six-run top of the first. East Union led 8-0 before Nodaway Valley scored their first run in the bottom of the second to set the score at 8-1.East Union threatened to end the game early by the mercy-run rule with seven runs in the top of the third, but Nodaway Valley would push two runs home in the bottom of the third to set the score at 15-3. The Eagles would score seven unanswered runs to take a 22-3 lead into the bottom of the fifth. In the bottom of the fifth, Nodaway Valley plated three runs to get the score to its final of 22-6. The game ended early after the fifth due to the mercy run rule.East Union improved to 10-5 while Nodaway Valley saw their record slip to 0-8.

Nodaway Valley had six hits in the game. Keyin Steeve was 2-for-3 with two runs scored.Eli Harris was 2-for-3 with a RBI. Paul Berg had a double and RBI and Ty Strode had a hit and RBI in the game. Deakon Mullen, Remington Woosley, Christian Putney, and Aidan Kuster all reached base via a walk.

Deakon Mullen took the loss after working two innings. He gave up nine runs, six earned, and walked three. Keyin Steeve and Ty Strode also pitched in the game.

East Union had 22 hits in the game led by Terrian Islas and Austin Lack with four hits each. Seth Hudson added three hits and three others had two hits each. Fischer Buffington was the winning pitcher after going three innings while striking out four and walking four.

The Wolverines hosted Bedford on Tuesday, June 11 for the second of their two games this season. The Wolverines played Bedford three weeks prior in a game that saw the Wolverines fall 8-3 in a game closer than the final score. The Wolverines came in struggling on offense, having scored three runs combined in their first five games of the season.

Last Monday, the Wolverines bats were silent in a 14-0 Bedford win in five innings. The Bulldogs only scored runs in two of the five innings, but that was enough in the victory. The Wolverines played right with the Bulldogs in the first two innings as the score was 0-0 going to the third inning. There, the Bulldogs would bat around in their lineup and put up six runs for the lead. After a scoreless fourth, the Bulldogs took control of the game in the top of the fifth, scoring eight runs to set the score at 14-0. Nodaway Valley could not extend the game with runs in their half of the fifth, so the game ended by the 10-run mercy rule.

Klemit Olney started the game for Bedford and Marcus Knighton also pitched. The duo combined to no-hit the Wolverines. The two Bulldog pitchers combined to strike out seven and not allow a hit or a run in the game.

The Wolverines only gave up six hits to the Bulldogs, but eight walks and five hit batsmen came back to haunt the Wolverines. Keyin Steeve started and went two innings. He struck out three and walked one. He gave up four runs on three hits. Eli Harris pitched two innings in relief. He faced seven and gave up four runs on two hits. He struck out two and walked three. Deakon Mullen and Ty Strode also pitched in relief in the game.

The Wolverines traveled to SW Valley on Thursday, June 13 to play their second POI game of the week. The two teams were to play a doubleheader as the first meeting back on May 23 was postponed and supposed to be made up as a varsity doubleheader, but wasn’t. The game ended with the Timberwolves winning 8-0 with runs coming in four of the seven innings. SW Valley scored three times in the bottom of the first inning to take a 3-0 lead. That score stood until the bottom of the third when the Timberwolves extended their lead to 5-0 with a pair of runs. A single run in the fourth set the score at 6-0 and two more runs in the bottom of the sixth saw the Wolverines fall 8-0.

The Wolverines had six hits in the game from five different players. Lead-off hitter Deakon Mullen was 2-for-4 with two singles. Paul Berg had a triple while Remington Woosley, Christian Putney, and Bryan Gonzalez all had hits. Nodaway Valley was issued five walks in the game. Keyin Steeve and Ty Strode each walked twice and Eli Harris also reached on a walk. Eli Harris took the loss after working his longest outing this season to date. Harris pitched six innings, faced 27 batters, and needed 89 pitches. Harris struck out two, walked two and gave up eight runs on eight hits. Only five of those runs given up were earned. Brayden Maeder was the winning pitcher. He went seven innings, struck out three, and walked six in the game.

The Timberwolves improved to 5-11 on the season while Nodaway Valley fell to 0-7. SW Valley had eight runs on eight hits in the game.Owen Paul was 3-for-3 with three singles and 3 RBI’s while Brayden Maeder had two hits and an RBI to lead the Timberwolves.Maeder was the winning pitcher after a complete game shutout.He struck out three, walked six, and gave up two hits.