(Greenfield) Nodaway Valley/O-M coughed up a six run lead in the 7th inning, but recovered to beat West Central Valley 12-11 in a wild one on Wednesday night.
With two outs in the top of the 7th inning, nine consecutive West Central Valley batters reached safely. The Wildcats drew five walks, were hit by a pitch three times, and had one hit to fight their way back into the game. Kaedon Lindsay’s single, followed by an error in centerfield, cleared the bases and tied the game at 10-10. Lindsay scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch. It was the visitor’s first lead since the top of the first inning. The Wildcats clawed back despite having just three hits all night. They’d take an 11-10 lead into the bottom of the 7th.
Nodaway Valley/O-M’s chances looked slim after reliever Braiden Beane got a strikeout and a groundout to begin the bottom of the 7th. However, the next three batters would reach safely on a hit by pitch and two walks. This brought in Wolverine leadoff hitter Matthew Weber with the bases loaded and two outs. West Central Valley re-entered starting pitcher Blaise Beane to try and get the final out. Weber had other ideas. The senior centerfielder dropped a two-strike pitch into right field. Chase Walker scored from 3rd to tie the game and Nathan Russell came around from 2nd to score the winning run.
Nodaway Valley/O-M held leads of 2-1, 4-2, 8-4, and 10-4 at various points in the contest. Their offense finished with nine hits, drew five walks, and batters were hit by a pitch four times. Boston DeVault had two hits and one RBI. Caelen DeVault hit a double. Paul Berg and Elliot Cooney each had an RBI single. The Wolverines improve to 9-2 on the season. West Central Valley is 4-10.
