(Anita, IA) – You never know what is going to happen in the postseason and the district matchup between Riverside and CAM was one of the top baseball games of the season. CAM was able to hit a walk-off single and score the final run of the ballgame in the bottom of the seventh inning to capture an 8-7 victory to move on in postseason play.
Through the first inning, both teams weren’t able to add anything on the board as the Cougars left Spieker stranded after he hit a single to head into the top of the second inning. Riverside started things off right away with Aaron Smith knocking a double toward right-center field to put a runner in scoring position. After Cole Jeppesen struck out, Kyler Reiken was hit by a pitch that put two runners on with one out. Paxton Meek struck out to put two outs on the board and then Garrett Hough hit a key single to earn two RBIs and go up 2-0. CAM struck back in the bottom of the second after Brody Paulsen started things off with an immediate single to put a runner on and no outs. After back-to-back walks for Makade Paulsen and Lukas James, Keegan Croghan would hit a sacrifice fly to score Brody from third and put the game at 2-1. Designated hitter Austin Eblen then went on to hit a single of his own to score Makade and after another single by Carson McKee, James would come in to score and go up 3-2 to end the second.
In the third inning, Riverside would tie things up once again off two key singles by Mason McCready and Dalton Smith. While Smith eventually was out on the bases, the stolen base, and the passed ball helped to put McCready at third with one out. McCready would go on to score off another passed ball at home and tie the ballgame at 3-3. CAM would recapture its lead with a walk from Jack Follmann as he would eventually score off a few misthrows on the infield to give CAM the lead back at 4-3.
Riverside would then go on to tie things up again in the top of the fourth inning after Cole Jeppesen walked to start off the inning. After Reiken stuck out, Paxton Meek and Garrett Hough each earned a walk to put the bases loaded with one out. Payton Amdor would then come up and get hit by a pitch to tie things up again at 4-4. CAM would go scoreless in the bottom of the fourth to remain all tied up. After a scoreless fifth inning for both teams, it all came down to the sixth inning of action.
At the top of the sixth inning, Riverside’s Garrett Hough earned another walk that was followed up with back-to-back outs to put a runner on with two outs. Mason McCready would then go on to launch out a single to score Hough and give Riverside the advantage once again at 5-4. CAM battled back in the bottom of the sixth for another lead change after a pitch hit James and Austin Eblen hit a key single to put two runners on with one out. After Zachary Kauffman came in to run for Eblen, Carson McKee came up to the plate to hit an RBI single to tie up the ballgame once again. Brayden Chester would then hit a sacrifice fly that would score Kauffman and push the lead back on their side of the scoreboard 6-5.
It all came to the top of the seventh inning as Riverside started off with Cole Jeppesen reaching on an error from short to put a runner on second with no outs. In a key play, Kyler Reiken turned on the jets after he was able to reach first on another error from third and not only hit second base but jumped over to third. After Jeppesen was able to score successfully, the Cougars overthrew third base and Reiken scored to give Riverside a 7-6 lead.
When it hit the bottom of the seventh inning, it was do-or-die time for the Cougars. Jack Follman capped off the inning with a single and featured a steal to put himself at second. Brody Paulsen hit a deep double to put runners at second and third with no outs.
Makade Paulsen would eventually reach first off a throwing error that loaded up the bases with no outs. Lukas James would then walk with the bases loaded to score the tying run with no outs on the board. It was all up to Cougars Keegan Croghan who would hit a bouncing grounder up the middle to score Brody Paulsen from third and win the ballgame 8-7. This final inning was a key piece in the Cougars win on Saturday night.
Saturday’s game featured a total of five lead changes and a combined total of three errors on the night which cost some crucial runs on both sides of the field. One thing that CAM needs to pursue moving forward is cleaning up their play on the field and limiting errors.
Brody Schultes was able to pick up his pitching game and ended up pitching the majority of the game while allowing two earned runs and four strikeouts. He was a key piece to CAM getting their win both at the plate and on the mound.
Moving forward, CAM will take on Woodbury Central this coming Tuesday in the District #4 semifinal. This game features a long bus drive to Moville as the Cougars will now look to prepare for in the coming days.
Riverside finishes out their season with an 8-14 record while CAM improves to 14-8 as they return to action on Tuesday. KSOM 96.5 will have that broadcast on Tuesday with a pregame show at 6:45 p.m.
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