POTOSI — Argyle and Potosi-Cassville entered the bottom of the sixth in a 2-1 game before the Chieftains went off for seven runs to run away with a 9-2 victory in a WIAA Division 4 Regional Semifinal on Tuesday, May 30.
“We played well. We played against a good team, and some things didn’t go our way. That’s baseball,” Argyle head coach Tyler Ritschard said. “If you take out some of our mental errors on the bases, it’s a totally different ball game.”
The Orioles set the tone in the first inning, scoring right away. Max Godfrey led off the inning with a six-pitch walk and stole his way to third. With one out, Helfvogt came up clutch with a grounder.
“Max being in that lead-off spot and getting on base is huge for us,” Ritschard said. “He has speed and awareness on the bases for sure, giving us a good opportunity to score. Will has also been a great contact guy for us all year, so him being able to push that run across early on really hyped us in the first inning.”
Potosi-Cassville responded in the bottom half of the frame, though, to take a 2-1 lead. With two outs, Preston Steiner drew a walk and came around to score on a passed ball in the next at-bat. Ethan Kerhoff also walked and scored on an RBI single by Nick Hampton.
The Chieftains lead held until the bottom of the seventh when they scored seven runs. In the meantime, Godfrey struck out the side in the second and got help from his defense, including an inning-ending double play in the fifth.
In those four and a half innings, Argyle had plenty of opportunities to score.
In the third inning, Argyle drew two walks and got a single from Thomas Nelson, but Weston Ganshert was picked off at first. In the fourth, the Orioles ended the inning at home, as Ike Waage attempted to score on a bunt. In the fifth, Ganshert was thrown out taking home. In the sixth, Waage was thrown out stealing second, and Garrett Phillipson was picked off at first.
“At some points, yes, we got a little too aggressive trying to do too much,” Ritschard said. “I told the guys that we need to get the ball thrown around a little bit by being aggressive, and we did that. They [Potosi-Cassville] made up for that with great throws and plays. We left seven people on base and got caught five times. That’s way too many times at chances of scoring. If you take half of those chances and runners, that’s six more potential runs.”
Godfrey reached his pitch limit (105 pitches), sending Waage to the bump in the sixth. The Chieftains scored seven runs on three walks, two hit by pitches and three hits — one of which was a grand slam by Kerhoff.
Argyle didn’t go down quietly in the seventh, drawing three straight walks to load the bases. Caleb Mckenna scored on a passed ball, but Logan Kruser ended the inning with a strikeout and fly out.
Waage ended the game 2-for-3 at the plate. The remaining two hits came from Godfrey and Nelson. On the bump, Godfrey gave up two earned runs on four hits. He struck out seven and walked four. In 1 2/3 innings relief, Waage gave up seven earned runs on three hits.
Argyle ended its season with a 6-11 record.
“We are young, losing one senior [Nelson],” Ritschard said. “There’re freshmen and sophomores that stepped into spots that they’re not used to, and by the end of the year, they were starting to feel more comfortable. Baseball’s a game of repetition, and as a program, we just need to get more repetition to prepare ourselves for games like that.”
