(Anita, IA) — Newell Fonda had not won a road game in the regular season but they have won two in a row in the playoffs as the Mustangs upset CAM in the Class 1A District Semifinals on Tuesday night 3-2.
Lukas James started the game for CAM and had control problems all night long — in the first inning he walked Andrew Greenfield then hit two batters in a row to load the bases. Trevor Tauber scored Greenfield on a sacrifice fly to make it 1-0. James got a caught stealing and strike out to avoid further trouble. In the top of the 3rd, he walked Greenfield again and he scored on a RBI double from Mason Hoberman to make it 2-0.
In the first 3 innings, Mustang starter Max Carlson allowed just single hits by CAM but no runs. In the bottom of the 4th with 2 outs, Collin Bower reached on an error and would score on a RBI bloop hit by Kayden Winther that fell between the 2nd baseman and right fielder and the Cougars were on the board trailing 2-1.
In the top of the 5th, James hit the first two batters he faced and that knocked him from the game. In came Carson McKee and Gunnar Baron greeted him with a RBI single to make it 3-1 Newell Fonda.
Carlson would give up a 1 out double to Chase Spieker to left center that the Mustang outfielders lost in the sun and Brayden Chester lopped one over of the mound but Carlson got a pop out and strike out to get out of the inning. He retired CAM in order in the 6th and struck out the first two batters in the bottom of the 7th. Chase Speieker did not want the season to end and hit a towering drive over the wall in left for a solo HR to cut the lead to 3-2. Carlson, however, regrouped and got a grounder to end the game.
Carlson went the 7 innings and allowed 2 runs, 1 earned on 6 hits, he walked only one and struck out 9.
For CAM, James went 4+ innings, allowed 3 earned runs on just 1 hit, walked 4, hit 7 batters and struck out 4. Spieker went 3-4 with 2 doubles and a solo HR in his final game with CAM. Brayden Chester went 2-4.
CAM’s season ends at 17-4 while Newell Fonda is 11-13 and will visit Coon Rapids Bayard on Saturday.
Line Score
Newell Fonda (11-13) — 3 runs 5 hits, 0 errors, 13 LOB
CAM (17-4) — 2 runs, 6 hits, 1 error, 6 LOB
W: Carlson (6-5)
L: James (4-2)
Time: 1:41
