Strong plays all over help boys outlast Wayne in 11 innings

In baseball, the Nodaway Valley/OM Wolverines showcased Friday why a game isn’t over until it’s over.

The Wolverines dug deep, turning in a resilient performance in all aspects of the game on their home diamond for an 8-7, 11-inning win over visiting Wayne.

While senior Eli Harris had the winning RBI hit in the bottom of the 11th inning, many had strong plays on the night that led to the win.

The win was the fourth for the team this season and the first in many tries for them. It was a momentum-booster for the program going into the final week of the regular season and the playoffs.

The win meant the Wolverines could salvage a season split with the Falcons, who beat them 11-1 in five innings in Corydon earlier in the season.

“We had a couple of balls [this game] early on that they had some balls they made plays on, but then we were able to answer back, get some runs on our own,” NV/OM head coach Dan Jameson said. “Paul [Berg] came in and threw five innings. We didn’t think it would go that long, but he only had 58 pitches, so that was pretty efficient on his part.”

The Wolverines led 5-3 going to the top of the third after they trailed 3-0 right out of the gates. They went up 7-4 in the bottom of the fourth and the game was tied at seven after seven innings.

Sophomore pitcher Manolis Galanakis started the game, then the middle innings were pitched by Harris, before Berg entered in the seventh, getting the win. Together, they had five strikeouts, four walks and gave up five earned runs on 16 hits.

Behind them, the defense made four errors. Jameson was especially impressed by sophomore Sam Miller, who stepped into the varsity lineup for the first time, playing second base flawlessly with five assists and two putouts.

One of Miller’s best plays of the night came on a popup in the 10th inning down the first base line. Miller caught the ball, turned and whirled the ball toward home, all in one motion, which kept a runner at third. Berg struck the next batter out to end the threat.

“He hadn’t played any varsity this year but has been playing pretty good shortstop in JV. He had a heck of a night in the field,” Jameson said.

NV/OM had six hits, led by two from freshman leadoff Titan Foster. Remington Woosley doubled while Berg, Harris and Miller each had singles. Harris finished with two RBIs while Berg and Woosley also drove runs in.

“Hopefully this gives us a good pick up so we know we can get it done,” Jameson said. “We know we’re going to face some good teams coming up.”

The only other games on the week for the Wolverines were two at Lenox last Monday. One was a suspended game from the previous week that the Wolverines lost 16-1. Lenox led 13-1 after three innings and finished with three more in the fourth to run rule NV/OM.

The Tigers also came out with a win in the other game, 13-8. Foster, Berg, Woosley, Warner and Will Shilling had hits. Galanakis had the win on the mound, pitching 1 1/3 innings. Ty Strode went three innings and Harris 2 2/3.