L-S baseball claims share of SICL crown

MONTEZUMA — A nine-run first inning got the Lynnville-Sully baseball team the lead and a five-run second helped the Class 1A No. 5 Hawks end the contest early during a 14-4, five-inning triumph over Montezuma on Friday.

Lynnville-Sully locked up at least a share of the South Iowa Cedar League championship with the win. The Hawks can win the league outright with a victory over HLV on Monday.

Corder Noun Harder improved his batting average to .574 with three more hits, Lannon Montgomery slugged a grand slam and Jaiden Richards had two hits, two runs, two RBIs and one steal in the victory.

Noun Harder added one run, two RBIs and one steal to his total. His .574 batting average ranks second in 1A, while he also ranks fifth in on-base percentage at .659 and first with 72 total bases. He also leads the Hawks (21-3, 14-0 in the SICL) with 20 steals.

Montgomery’s one hit was his third homer of the season and he added two runs and five RBIs. He leads L-S and ranks tied for sixth in 1A with 29 RBIs.

CJ Nikkel finished with one hit, one run, one walk, two RBIs and one steal. His 34 runs leads L-S and ranks sixth in 1A and he has a team-best 18 walks.

Davis Utech chipped in one hit, two runs, one walk and one RBI, Carson Maston doubled, scored one run, collected one RBI, walked once and was hit by one pitch. Maston’s 10 doubles rank tied for second in 1A.

Lucas Sieck tallied one hit and one RBI and Conner Deal collected his first career varsity hit.

Blake Van Wyk walked once and scored one run, Terran Gosselink was hit by a pitch and scored one run and Karter Smead was hit by a pitch.

Burt Johnson scored two runs and Matthew Mintle scored one run and stole one base.

Sieck (7-1) earned the pitching win after allowing no runs, no hits and one walk in 3 1/3 innings. He struck out seven in 51 pitches. The seven wins is tied for the 1A lead and he has 61 strikeouts, which rank 10th.

Samuel Philby tossed the final 1 2/3 innings and surrendered four earned runs on two hits and five walks and he fanned three.

The Hawks have won six in a row against Montezuma, which was led by Garrett Watts’ one hit and two RBIs. The Braves (4-9, 4-9) also got one hit and one run from Easton Hudnut.

Watts took the pitching loss after getting just one out in the first but only allowing two earned runs. Montezuma was plagued by three errors.

Lynnville-Sully 10, North Mahaska 1

NEW SHARON — Noun Harder clubbed his 1A-leading sixth homer, Richards cranked out three more hits and the Hawks downed North Mahaska 10-1 during an SICL contest on Wednesday.

Maston limited the Warhawks to one hit and the run was unearned despite the Hawks not committing an error.

L-S led 1-0 after one, 3-0 after two and plated four runs in the fifth to stay in front for good. North Mahaska scored its lone run in the fourth.

Richards finished with three hits, two runs, three RBIs and one hit by pitch to lead the Hawks, while Noun Harder homered and finished with two hits, two runs, one RBI, one walk, one hit by pitch and two steals.

Maston had two hits, doubled and walked twice, Sieck chipped in two hits and one run, Gosselink tallied one hit, one run, two RBIs and one steal and Sieck totaled one hit, one run, one walk and one steal.

Nikkel walked twice, was hit by one pitch, scored one run, tallied two RBIs and stole one base, Utech walked twice, Van Wyk walked once and had one RBI and Mintle scored two runs.

Maston (6-0) tossed all seven innings and surrendered one unearned run on one hit and three walks with 11 strikeouts. He lowered his earned run average to 1.21.

Nolan Andersen led the Warhawks (9-12, 8-6) with one hit and one walk. He also took the pitching loss after allowing six walks in 4 1/3 innings.