(Avoca, IA) – AHSTW turned the tide in Friday night’s baseball conference game against IKM-Manning where they captured a 4-3 victory in seven innings of action.
Scoring started in the first inning for both teams after IKM-Manning was able to add on the first run of the ballgame with the utilization of four singles, but AHSTW was able to hold the Wolves to just one run with bases loaded to retire the side and head into the bottom of the first inning. To start the inning, Nick Denning earned a walk while Caleb Hatch reached on an error that led Denning in to score and tie the ballgame at 1-1 heading into the second.
IKM-Manning came out ready to add some more runs on the scoreboard. After Karsyn Lorenzen hit into a groundout, and Tritan Barry was thrown out at the plate with a stellar throw by Evan Wendt, the Wolves had two outs. That didn’t matter for Ross Kusel, Braden Fuse, and Lane Sams who all had singles while both Kusel and Fuse were able to score and give Sams an RBI. This put the game at 3-1 headed into the bottom of the second and that is where it would stand until the bottom of the fifth inning. While AHSTW left runners stranded in the bottom of the third, neither team featured a baserunner until AHSTW’s rally in the fifth inning.
The Vikings brought up the ninth batter with Ty Nelson, who had just eight hits going into the ballgame in 38 plate appearances. He was able to start a rally for AHSTW that Head Coach Trey Brix knew was key to getting the win on Friday night.
Diving further into the fifth inning, the Vikings were back to the top of the order with Aiden Akers who hit another single and put two runners on with no outs. Nick Denning came up to the plate to hit a sacrifice fly to score Nelson in from third and put the game at 3-2. Following just a few pitches later, Aiden Akers was able to get in and score off Braeden Fineran’s single and tie the ballgame at 3-3. When it came to Fineran, he reached second base off a passed ball, and with the single by Chase Wheatley, Fineran was close to being tagged out at third until the ball was overthrown. The junior put on the jets and scored to put it at 4-3 on the scoreboard for AHSTW’s first lead of the game.
The sixth inning featured a single by Tristan Barry with two outs and put two runners on first and second. Unfortunately for the Wolves, Karsyn Lorenzen struck out as pitcher Aiden Akers retired the side. AHSTW wouldn’t score in the sixth, but Ty Nelson did knock away a double, but didn’t lead to any more runs for the Vikings. The ballgame was now down to the seventh inning where the Vikings forced Ross Kusel to hit into a groundout, Braden Fuse to fly out, and Lane Sams struck out looking to take the 4-3 victory.
This game focused heavily on the defensive side of the ball, something that AHSTW had previously been struggling with beforehand. On Friday, it was all defense for the Vikings.
Speaking of the defense, Aiden Akers pitched in all seven innings of the ballgame, striking out eight batters and had four total three-up, three-down innings. The junior was more than capable of pitching a fantastic ballgame, and he didn’t disappoint.
AHSTW now has a total of five games remaining of the regular season. The Vikings have been taking steps in the right direction just in time for some postseason action.
The Vikings take on Bedford on Saturday, with the opening pitch at 11:30 a.m. for the varsity competition.
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