MONTICELLO — With a three-run seventh inning, Iowa-Grant earned a 7-6 comeback win over Monticello-Albany on Monday, April 4. The first five Panthers reached via walk in the seventh inning.
“In order to have a successful baseball season, a baseball team needs six to eight players that can come in and throw strikes and compete on the mound,” Monticello-Albany head coach Richard Wachholz said. “Most of our kids play three sports, and they didn’t throw a baseball until our pitchers and catchers week. We need to build them up to handle a full, seven-inning game.”
Iowa-Grant looked to get on the board first in the top of the second inning, thanks to a two-out double by Boden Brokopp. The Panthers’ No. 8 hitter, Alex Popple, then lined a ball into the right-center gap, which was caught by Cody Pryce to end the inning.
“Cody’s catch in the top of the second was big because their No. 7 hitter just had a big, two-out double to left center,” Wachholz said. “The next hitter took the same approach and was ready to jump on that first pitch. Any misplay on that ball and they are the first on the scoreboard instead of us.”
The Ponies used that momentum to score three runs in the bottom half of the second. The first four batters reached via walk to score a run. Nate Stokstad scored, as Aidan Harvey earned the RBI. Another two runs scored on an error by third baseman Will Fulton.
Iowa-Grant responded in the third to score four runs. A leadoff walk, followed by a single and error loaded the bases for the Panthers. Fulton then made up for his error in the previous inning by drawing a walk for Iowa-Grant’s first run of the game.
Monticello-Albany recorded the first out of the inning, as Harvey tossed to Aiden Brewer to get Fulton out at second. Everett Zimmer scored, though, to make it a one-run game. After a strikeout from Tyler Patchen, Maddox Fisher roped a two-out, two-RBI double to right for the 4-3 lead. Patchen got the next batter to ground out.
Rather than hang their heads, the Ponies went to work again in the bottom of the fourth.
Ray Valentine was hit by a pitch, and Brayden Bakken walked. Carson Gafner moved them into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. Patchen then loaded the bases, reaching on a fivepitch walk. Stokstad and Pryce hit back-to-back twoout singles to reclaim the lead. Pryce came around to score on a bases-loaded
walk to Leon Parker, giving Monticello-Albany a 6-4 lead.
“I was very happy with that response,” Wachholz said of the three-run fourth. “That was our best inning offensively because we executed very well there. Those runs and getting the lead back kept the players loose and relaxed as we continued to play the game.”
Parker and Brewer held the Panthers scoreless in the fifth and six, facing four batters each.
In the seventh, Gafner walked the first five batters and threw just five strikes in that stretch. He then sat down the next three batters on a strikeout and two groundouts.
The Ponies needed just one run to tie the game and send it into extra innings, but Parker was the only batter to reach.
Gafner suffered the loss, giving up three earned runs. He was one of seven pitchers to make an appearance in the game. At the plate, Stokstad and Pryce accounted for Monticello-Albany’s only hits. They each had two walks. Although he didn’t record a hit, Parker reached base three times via walk and recorded an RBI.
