Mustangs outlast Indians, 13-11
Charlie Sorrells - Sentinel Sports EditorArticle Photos
ARMSTRONG - The Armstrong-Ringsted and Pocahontas prep baseball rosters combined for 24 runs, 21 hits, 10 hit batters, 14 walks and 21 runners stranded Tuesday night.
Right-handed reliever Ridge Christiansen's fifth strikeout sealed the hometown Mustangs' 13-11 non-league victory over the Indians in Armstrong.
"Well, that only took about three hours," Armstrong-Ringsted mentor Ryan Luedtke said with a smile. "I'm happy that we won a game that lasted that long."
Ironically, Christiansen the Mustangs' fourth choice to step to the hill and hard-throwing right-hander Jake Stevens the Indians' third hurler to toe the rubber closed the offensive floodgates during their final two innings.
Christiansen, who surrendered Pocahontas catcher Tom Brinkman's solo home run in the seventh, notched five strikeouts without issuing a walk or hitting a batter in two frames of work to earn the victory.
Stevens allowed Spencer Clausen's run-scoring single and Logan Anderson's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth before recording four of his five strikeouts in working a scoreless fifth and sixth. Stevens limited the Mustangs' damage to two runs on four hits over the final 4.2 innings.
Stevens' pitching predecessors, however, did not fare as well as starter Alex Jenson and reliever Jarrod Schott combined to give up 11 runs on six hits, while walking three and plunking three batters in 2.1 frames.
Christiansen's RBI single and Brett Tigges' run-scoring double staked the Mustangs to an early 2-0 lead after one complete inning before the Indians erupted for five in the top of the second.
Brinkman's RBI single and Kyle Francis' run-producing hit, combined with two Mustang errors and three walks, fueled the offensive outburst.
But Armstrong-Ringsted manufactured four runs on three hits in the second and five more on only one hit in the third to create an 11-5 cushion.
Travis Hantelman and Ethan Eisenbacher singled to bookend Craig Tigges getting hit by a Jenson offering before Dillion McBride collected the second of his game-leading three hits an RBI single to center to set the table in the bottom of the second.
Anderson's RBI fielder's choice, Brett Tigges' run-plating hit-by-pitch and Shaun Ash's bases-loaded walk eclipsed Pocahontas, 6-5.
Anderson's RBI single to the hole at short proved the only hit of the third as the Indians committed three of their six errors and issued three of their total seven walks during the five-run span.
Trailing 13-7, Schott unleashed a towering three-run home run in the fifth to close the gap to three before Christiansen slammed the door on Pocahontas over the final two frames, except for Brinkman's solo shot in the seventh.
McBride went 3-for-4, scored four runs and drove in one run for the Mustangs, while Anderson and Brett Tigges finished with three and two RBIs, respectively.
Leadoff batter JR Plantz, Stevens, Brinkman and Francis each produced two hits for the Indians (13-11).
Armstrong-Ringsted (9-11) travels to Ruthven, Iowa, tonight for its regular-season finale.
Pokie 050 230 1 11 11 6
A-R 245 200 x 13 10 3
Alex Jenson (LP), Jarrod Schott (2), Jake Stevens (3) and Tom Brinkman. Spencer Clausen, Logan Anderson (3), Ethan Eisenbacher (5), Ridge Christiansen (6, WP) and Craig Tigges.
LOBPocahontas 12, A-R 9. 2BBrett Tigges (AR), Stevens (P). HRSchott (P), Brinkman (P). SFAnderson (AR). SACClausen (AR).
