(Moville, IA) – From the crack of the bat to the roaring crowds, CAM continues on in postseason play. The Cougars could not be stopped from pushing forward in postseason action after capturing a 4-3 win over Woodbury Central.
Through the first three frames of action, CAM featured two three-up-three-down innings until the third when Kegan Croghan started getting things going on offense with a single and was left stranded at first to head into the bottom of the third. While Woodbury Central had a few chances in the first two innings, the Wildcats had two singles from Jayden Lloyd and Joe DeStigter.
Scoring didn’t start until the bottom of the third inning when Eric McGill earned a walk and was able to steal second to put a runner in scoring position with no outs. DeStigter came up to hit another single to score McGill from second giving the Wildcats a 1-0 advantage after three innings.
CAM would go into the fourth and capture the lead into their hands after Brayden Chester and Chase Spieker hit back-to-back singles to put two runners on with no outs. After taking a base on a passed ball, CAM had runners at second and third with Jack Follmann at the plate. Follmann and Brody Paulsen hit into groundouts that allowed the two CAM baserunners to score and put it at a 2-1 advantage for the Cougars.
After the Wildcats went through an up-and-down bottom of the fourth and after CAM couldn’t add any runs in the top of the fifth, Woodbury Central was able to put on a little run at tying the game. Eric McGill would knock a double to put a runner on second with one out. After a groundout, Brody Bremer hit a ball on the ground that skipped toward third base and was overthrown to score McGill and tie the game up at 2-2.
The Cougars would shake up the game once again in the top of the sixth with a key walk from Jack Follmann to put a runner on first with two outs. Brody Paulsen would come up to the plate with a grounder to third base that was overthrown. After Follmann was already taking off for third, he rounded the base and headed home to score and give CAM the 3-2 lead.
Woodbury Central would rely on Jackson Reblitz after he hit a single to put a runner on first with no outs. Keaton Gernhart would be hit by a pitch that would be followed by a groundout from Abe McGill to put runners at second and third. After another groundout from Jayden Hogel, the Wildcats would tie the game up at 3-3 where the teams would stand until the ninth inning.
CAM wouldn’t get anything going in the top half of the seventh inning while Woodbury Central would leave the bases loaded after the Cougars were able to retire the side. After a three-up-three-down eighth inning for both teams, it all came down to the ninth inning.
With one out on the board in the top of the ninth, Makade Paulsen launched out a shallow fly ball that just barely missed the glove of Jayden Lloyd as Paulsen was able to run over to third with just one out on the board. After Lukas James walked, Kegan Croghan hit a key sac fly to score Paulsen to put CAM at a 4-3 advantage. Woodbury Central would go into the bottom of the ninth with to outs on the board when Brody Bremer was hit by a pitch to go to first. Brody Thomas came up to hit a single that put him and Bremer on with two down. After Jackson Reblitz was hit by another pitch, that put the bases loaded with just one out to go. Keaton Gernhart went up to the plate and hit a 5-3 groundout to help CAM move on in the postseason and win 4-3.
This game marked the first time that the Cougars have played in extra innings all season and were able to close out the ballgame in a stunning fashion.
Both Makade Paulsen and Lukas James showed a lot of grit on the mound on Tuesday night. They combined for five strikeouts while allowing eight hits for a combined 0.78 ERA. These two helped keep CAM in the game despite a few sticky situations.
Moving forward, the Cougars will be taking on the Coon Rapids-Bayard Crusaders for the third time this year. Coach Ticknor knows that it is do-or-die time for the Cougars and they’re not looking to back down any time soon.
CAM will face off against Coon Rapids-Bayard this Saturday, July 13th for the third time this season. Woodbury Central finishes off the season with a 19-8 overall record while CAM improves to 15-8 overall.
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