(Atlantic) — Red Oak pushed across three runs in extra innings to secure a 4-2 win over Atlantic in a tightly contested high school baseball game Thursday night in Atlantic.
The Tigers managed four runs on four hits, while the Trojans tallied two runs on 11 hits but struggled to bring runners home. Atlantic Head Coach Nathan Block was happy with the eleven hits, it was just the fact they could string those hits together.
Red Oak struck early, grabbing a 1-0 lead in the top of the first after a hit-by-pitch set the table for Brody Bond’s RBI single. Despite the early run, Atlantic starting pitcher Jack Muller settled in, retiring 10 straight batters during a dominant stretch.
Atlantic tied the game at 1-1 in the third inning, and from there, it became a classic pitcher’s duel between Muller and Red Oak’s Adam Baier, and fellow reliever Brett Erickson. Neither team could break the deadlock in regulation, sending the game into extra innings. Muller pitched eight innings, threw 106 pitches, six strikeouts, two walks, two hit batters, while allowing one run on four hits. Block says Muller has been solid all season.
Erickson picked up the win in relief for the Tigers going five and one third innings, four strikeouts, and four walks.
In the extra frame, Red Oak’s offense came alive, plating three crucial runs to pull ahead 4-1. Reese Montgomery singled and drove home a run, Carson Roeder lifted a sacrifice fly, and the Tigers third run came on a passed ball. Gavin McLaren belted an RBI double in the bottom of the ninth, but it wasn’t enough as the Tigers held on for the win.
Adam Baier, Reese Montgomery, Cale Hall, and Blake Sloan accounted for the Tigers four hits.
For Atlantic, Jack Muller hit a single, and a double, Kale Jensen, and Sawyer Tarrell each belted two singles, Gavin McLaren drilled a two-bagger, and Grant Petty, Hudson McLaren, Keston Schmitt, and Collin Harris, each hit singles.
