Wolverines equal best run total at Mount Ayr

MOUNT AYR - The Nodaway Valley Wolverine baseball team saw their record slip to 0-5 after three losses last week. However, in one game, the Wolverines equaled a season-best run total in the loss. Nodaway Valley enters this week with a record of 0-2 in the Pride of Iowa Conference.

The Wolverines fell 13-3 in five innings at Mount Ayr. The Raiders improved to 5-4 while Nodaway Valley fell to 0-5.

Nodaway Valley scored all three of their runs in the top of the first inning. Deakon Mullen led off with a walk and stole second base. Keyin Steeve doubled in Muller for an RBI and 1-0 lead. Paul Berg would ground out for the first out and advance Steeve to third. Eli Harris had an RBI single to score Steeve and set the score at 2-0. Remington Woosley walked, moving Harris to second. Christian Putney then stepped up and hit an RBI single, scoring Harris for a 3-0 lead.

Mount Ayr would trim the Wolverine lead to 3-2 by the end of the first inning. That NV lead would hold until the bottom of the third when the Raiders plated four runs to take their first lead at 6-3 after three innings. The Raiders added four more runs in the fourth and three runs in the fifth to reach their 10-run margin of victory.

“We would have liked to win, but we hit the ball the best we have so far,” said Nodaway Valley head coach Dan Jameson.

“We (players) know that a lot of it (the game of baseball) is confidence and believing in yourself. We talked about how to approach and at-bat identify good pitches to hit and timing it up. Then it just started clicking,” said Jameson.

Nodaway Valley had eight hits in the game, a season-high to date. Eli Harris was 2-3 with two singles, an RBI and a run scored. Christian Putney also was 2-3 with a pair of singles and an RBI. Keyin Steeve had a double and an RBI. Other hits came from Deakon Mullen, Paul Berg and Bryan Gonzalez.

Eli Harris took the loss after working his longest outing to date of four and one-third innings. Harris faced 23 batters and gave up 11 runs, five earned, on nine hits. Keyin Steeve pitched in relief.

Mount Ayr came into the game having won four of their last five games. The only loss was a 6-2 defeat against Murray. The Raiders won the eighth straight time over Nodaway Valley, dating back to the 2019 season. The two teams will face each other in Greenfield on June 21.

Nodaway Valley began the week in Greenfield for their 2024 home opener against Earlham. The Wolverines came into the game 0-2 with losses at Creston and Bedford. Earlham was playing in their 12th game of the season and used a four-run fourth to break the game open in an 11-0 win.

Earlham scored single runs in each of the first three innings to take a 3-0 lead going to the fourth inning. In the fourth, the Cardinals scored four runs to extend their lead to 7-0. A single run in the fifth set the score at 8-0 after five innings. It would stay that way until the top of the seventh when the Cardinals would plate three runs.

The game was delayed for 30 minutes because of a heavy rain burst that moved through about the time the varsity game was about to begin. Eli Harris started and took the loss after giving up four runs on five hits in two innings. He walked three batters and faced 16 Cardinal batters. Keyin Steeve and Deakon Mullen also pitched over the final five innings in relief. Blake Tiemeyer was the winning pitcher for Earlham after three innings of allowing no runs and no hits. Ryan Stills was 4-4 and hit for the cycle in the game with a single, double, triple and home run while driving in four runs and scoring one.

The Wolverines had three hits in the game by three different players. Paul Berg, Eli Harris, and Remington Woosley each had singles. Berg also reached base via a walk.

Earlham had lost two of their last three before their game with the Wolverines. The Wolverines had come into the game winners of three of the last four meetings between the schools since July 2020.

The following night, Thursday, June 6, the Wolverines traveled to Coon Rapids-Bayard to play the Crusaders. The Crusaders were a state-ranked team at the start of the season but started the year with three losses in four games. The Crusaders were 5-2 in their seven games since.

Last week, the Wolverines were in the game until the bottom of the third when the Crusaders erupted for 14 runs to help take the game 17-0 after four innings. Cade Behrens started and struck out five of the seven batters he faced over two and a third innings and Tyler Mohr pitched one and two-thirds innings in relief, striking out four and walking three. The two combined to pitch a no-hitter in the game. Behrens was 2-for-3 with two singles, 3 RBI’s, and a run scored. Three other Coon Rapids-Bayard players each drove in two runs.

Ty Strode started and pitched into the third inning. He took the loss. Eli Harris, Christian Putney and Remington Woosley all pitched in relief. Nodaway Valley was issued four walks in the game. Deakon Muller was on base twice due to walks while Eli Harris and Ty Strode also reached base via walks.

The Wolverines face three Pride of Iowa Conference foes this week with a pair of home games bracketing a doubleheader in Corning. Nodaway Valley hosted Bedford on Tuesday, June 11, and then play at SW Valley on Thursday, June 13 in a doubleheader. That is due to an earlier home game with the Timberwolves being wiped out due to weather. The Wolverines end the week at home on Friday, June 14 against East Union.

Pride of Iowa Conference Baseball Standings

As of Sunday, June 9

Team POI Overall

Martensdale-St. Mary’s 6-0 10-4

Bedford 5-2 7-6

Mount Ayr 5-2 5-4

East Union 4-3 6-5

Lenox 3-3 8-3

SE Warren 3-3 4-6

Wayne 2-4 3-6

SW Valley 1-4 4-9

Nodaway Valley-OM 0-2 0-5

Central Decatur 0-6 0-7