Panthers split with Knights

A missed opportunity.

That’s how Creston baseball coach Brandon Phipps assessed Wednesday’s home doubleheader against Carroll Kuemper Catholic, which was made up from Monday’s rainout.

The top of the Knights order produced a run in the third inning on a double by Aaron McDermott and RBI single by Mason Knerl. That run held up in a 1-0 win over the Panthers in the nightcap. Creston pitcher Tanner Ray shut down Kuemper Catholic the rest of the way, allowing only three hits.

Creston stranded runners at second and third in the third inning and left the potential tying run on second base in the sixth. In that inning it appeared that Ray had been hit by a pitch with one out, but the umpire ruled the pitch a ball as it bounced into Ray’s leg. Phipps disputed the call to no avail, as a popout resulted in the second out. Sundrup retired the Panthers in order in the seventh.

Creston rolled 10-2 in the opener as Tom Mikkelsen pitched into the sixth inning, hitting a three-run homer in building a 7-1 lead. Brayden Schoon, Camden Smith and Mattias Schultes, who made his return from being out with an orbital fracture, each added an RBI in the sixth inning to stretch the lead to 10-1. Smith, Mikkelsen and Logan Stehr each had two hits in the game.

With the split, Creston stayed a half-game in front of Kuemper Catholic for third place in the Hawkeye Ten at 9-6, with Kuemper’s at 8-6. Denison-Schleswig and Clarinda were each 7-7 in the league.

Lewis Central (15-1) and Harlan (10-2) held the league’s top two positions after Wednesday’s games. Creston sits at 14-10 overall for the season.

“It was kind of unfortunate we weren’t able to come away with two,” Phipps said. “Tanner settled in and pitched well for us, giving up one (run) on three hits. That’s pitching well enough to win. They found a way to scratch one across. We had a lot of hard-hit balls right at people.”

Kuemper left-hander Ryan Sundrup pitched a complete game for the Knights, allowing only two singles by Mikkelsen with five strikeouts and two walks. Ray finished with five strikeouts and two walks.

“We knew he (Sundrup) was pretty good with a 1.7 ERA and a low walk rate,” Phipps said. “He worked everything on the outer half with a little back door spin. You can’t pull that stuff as a right-handed batter. We adjusted a little bit in the box but obviously not quite well enough.”

The Panther offense was much more productive in game one, starting with three runs in the first inning before a four-run fourth that included Mikkelsen’s third home run of the season. On the mound, Mikkelsen fanned nine and walked three on 93 pitches. Relievers Landyn Scherer and Rhett Driskell got the final seven outs.

“The difference in the first game was their pitcher was getting behind in the count and giving us positive counts to sit and hunt a quality pitch to hit,” Phipps said. “In the second game we got behind in the count and tried to battle with two strikes.”

Creston’s scheduled game at Clarinda Thursday night was postponed because of rain. A makeup date was not set yet at press time. A non-conference game scheduled Friday against Chariton has been cancelled because Chariton had to reschedule a conference game.

Creston 10, Kuemper Catholic 2

Kuemper pitching: Tyler Leise 3K 3BB, Nash Leonard (4) 1K 4BB, Caden Handlos (5) 1K 0BB. Creston pitching: Tom Mikkelsen 9K 3BB, Landyn Scherer (6) 1K 1BB, Rhett Driskell (7) 0K 0BB. W — Mikkelsen. L— Leise. HR — Cr: Mikkelsen. 3B — none. 2B — Cr: Mikkelsen. KC: Aaron McDermott. RBI — Cr: Mikkelsen 4, Logan Stehr 1, Brady McDonald 1, Mattias Schultes 1, Camden Smith 1, Brayden Schoon 1. Multiple hitters — Cr: Stehr 2, Mikkelsen 2, Smith 2.

Kuemper Catholic 1, Creston 0

Kuemper pitching: Ryan Sundrup 5K 2BB. Creston pitching: Tanner Ray 5K 3BB. W — Sundrup. L— Ray. HR — none. 3B — none. 2B — KC: Aaron McDermott. RBI — KC: Mason Knerl 1. Multiple hitters — Cr: Mikkelsen 2. KC: Knerl 2.