Baxter baseball cruises past Riceville, splits with Colo-NESCO

BAXTER — Baxter’s baseball team came into last week with just one win.

And while the Bolts still aren’t where they want to be in the win-loss column, they doubled their win total this past week and nearly scored a doubleheader sweep of GMG on Friday.

The biggest win came against Riceville on Tuesday. Baxter used three crooked innings to down the Wildcats 10-0 in five innings.

“It was important to get it done early. We have a lot of games this week so Jake (Travis) getting those five done in 58 pitches is huge for us,” Baxter baseball coach Brett Slight said. “It was a great outing by Jake. That’s going to help us out for the rest of the week.”

Travis pitched the Bolts past Riceville on Tuesday. He struck out six, walked one, hit two and allowed only one hit in the complete-game shutout. He threw just 58 pitches.

The Bolts (3-11) plated two in the second to grab an early lead and then scored four in the third to go up 6-0. The three-run fourth pushed Baxter in front 9-0 and it ended the game with a single run in the fifth.

“We are starting to put it together,” Slight said. “It was a great game defensively and offensively, pitching was great and the base running looked good. We have to keep playing complete games.”

Cael Shepley and Nate McMinamen registered two hits each to lead the Bolts offense. They had seven hits total as Rory Heer, Cael Wishman and Travis each collected one hit.

Shepley scored three runs, had two RBIs and stole three bases, one of McMinamen’s hits was a triple and Heer had one RBI, one steal and one walk.

Travis doubled, scored one run and walked once and Ben Richardson scored one run, had one RBI, walked once, was hit by a pitch and stole two bases.

“We are hitting for more power. It’s good to see,” Slight said. “I knew it would turn for us. The guys work hard in practice and it’s good to see it all work out here toward the end of the year. It’s fun for them.”

Cody Damman walked three times, Perrin Sulzle scored two runs, had one RBI and walked once, Kolton Hill walked twice, Cade Robinson scored two runs and Wishman was plated once.

Andrew Pridgen had Riceville’s only hit and the Wildcats (2-12) were plagued by six errors. Baxter’s defense only committed one error.

“We only have 13 guys so we can’t afford to make a ton of errors. We have to help our pitchers,” Slight said.

Bolts split conference doubleheader with Royals

ZEARING — Baxter and Colo-NESCO split an Iowa Star Conference South Divison doubleheader on June 13.

A fast start propelled the Bolts to an 8-6 win in one of the games, but the Royals cruised to a 19-1 victory in the other.

In the victory, Baxter totaled 15 hits and committed just two errors. The Royals lost despite cranking out 10 hits.

The Bolts scored six runs in the first and never looked back. They added one in the second and one in the fourth.

The Royals (9-7) tried to rally with two in the fifth and three in the seventh but fell short.

Shepley, Sulzle and Wishman all had three hits and Heer and Damman tallied two apiece. The other hits came from Richardson and Aiden Johnson.

Shepley doubled twice and had one RBI, Sulzle scored one run and had one RBI and one of Wishman’s hits was a double.

Heer and Damman both had two hits, one run, one walk and one steal, Johnson and McMinamen each had an RBI, Hill walked once and scored one run, Robinson scored three runs and stole one base and James Esqueda came around to score one run.

Shepley and Damman combined to pitch the Bolts to the win. Shepley got the win after allowing three runs — two earned — on five hits with three strikeouts, one walk and two hit batters in four innings.

Damman earned the three-inning save after surrendering three runs — two earned — on six hits with four strikeouts and one walk.

Andrew Grover had two hits and three runs to lead the Royals.

In the Royals’ 19-1 win, Grover crushed a home run and had six RBIs. Ben Rouse also had three hits and three runs for the Royals.

The Bolts were held to five hits. Colo-NESCO led 2-0 after one, 8-0 after three and then scored five in the fourth and six in the fifth to end the game early.

Damman had one hit, two walks and one steal to lead the offense. McMinamen tallied three of the team’s five hits and Wishman added one hit.

Richardson walked once, scored one run and stole two bases, Shepley tallied an RBI and Sulzle, Hill and Esqueda all walked once.

Sulzle, Johnson, McMinamen and Wishman all pitched for the Bolts. Sulzle took the loss after allowing eight earned runs on nine hits with two strikeouts, two walks and two hit batters.

Johnson tossed one inning and allowed eight earned runs on six hits with three walks and two hit batters.

McMinamen got just one out and allowed three runs on three hits with one strikeout and three walks. Wishman retired two batters and struck out one.

Bolts edged twice by GMG in road doubleheader

BAXTER — The Bolts played in two completely different games during a doubleheader against GMG on Friday.

Unfortunately for Baxter, it lost both games. The Bolts fell 10-9 and 2-1.

The Bolts scored first in both games. In the 2-1 loss, Baxter plated its run in the first. GMG (7-7) tied it in the fourth and then won it in the seventh in walk-off fashion.

Damman doubled, scored one run and stole one base to lead the Bolts. Johnson, Shepley, McMinamen, Wishman, Sulzle and Hill all had one hit apiece.

Shepley pitched six innings and got the no decision after allowing no earned runs on three hits with seven strikeouts and three walks.

Wishman got just one out on the mound in the seventh and took the loss. He surrendered one earned run on two hits and hit one batter.

Colin Teske had two hits and was hit by a pitch at the plate and earned the win on the mound. He surrendered no earned runs and seven hits while striking out six and hitting one.

The Bolts lost the 10-9 game despite collecting 15 hits. Both teams had three errors, but GMG won it after scoring three runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings.

Shepley and Wishman each had three hits and Heer, Damman, Travis and Sulzle all recorded two hits.

Shepley and Wishman doubled and scored one run and Wishman had one RBI, Heer stole one base and Damman doubled, scored one run, had one RBI, walked once and stole one base.

Travis added one run, one RBI and was hit by one pitch and Sulzle scored one run, walked once and stole one base.

McMinamen doubled, scored one run, had one RBI and walked once, Richardson walked once, was hit by one pitch and scored one run and Hill walked twice, was hit by one pitch and scored one run. Robinson scored two runs.

Travis, Damman and Sulzle all pitched for Baxter.

Travis took the loss after allowing one earned run and one hit in three innings. He struck out four, walked one and hit one.

Damman allowed six runs — four earned — on six hits and struck out three and walked one in two innings.

Sulzle threw three innings, allowed three earned runs and struck out one while walking two and hitting one.

Teske registered two hits and had three RBIs in the GMG win.