Comets roar back to defeat Panthers, 12-3

By John Burbridge sports@charlescitypress.com

MANLY — Just looking for an excuse to reference “The Big Lebowski” while morphing the movie’s famous quote — “Sometimes you eat the bear; sometimes the bear eats you”  — into “Sometimes you hit the ball, sometimes the ball hits you.”

For the Charles City Comets in their non-conference baseball game against Central Springs on Monday, the former worked out better than the latter.

After spotting the Panthers a 4-0 lead after one, the Comets appeared to have taken the lead in the bottom half of the second — it was a Charles City home game moved to Manly.

With the scored tied at 4 and the bases loaded, Dylan Salinas got hit by a pitch. But as he jogged down to first base with the go-ahead run crossing the plate, the umpire invoked that idiotic 8-1-1-D rule that doesn’t award a base to a hit batsman if he doesn’t make an effort to avoid getting hit if the umpire believes he could have.

Thus, the runner was sent back to third and Salinas popped up to end the inning.

But then the Comets again started hitting the ball, which apparently didn’t do its part to avoid contact, while rallying for four more runs in the third inning and two more each in the fifth and sixth to win going away, 12-4.

Cole Reams hit a 2-run home run, his second home run of the season; Elliott Sinwell was 2 for 3 with a double and 2 RBIs, Noah Schlader doubled in two runs and walked in another, and Salinas eventually did get an RBI with a bloop single as Charles City improved to 12-10 overall.

Comet junior Carter Johanningmeier got the start and managed to pitch two scoreless innings in the second and third after getting tagged for 4 runs in the first.

Wyatt Stevenson, Sinwell and J.J. Ritter helped keep the Panthers scoreless in their respective relief stints.

Right fielder Theo Arndt also helped keep Central Springs off the scoreboard for the latter six innings with several outstanding plays.

In the second inning, Arndt made an all-out diving catch of a sinking liner hit by Tony Holding. Then in the fifth, Arndt covered about 75 feet while ranging to his right to track down a would-be double hit by Josh Stepleton.

The Panthers fell to 6-15.

The Comets will conclude the Northeast Iowa Conference part of their schedule with a doubleheader against New Hampton at Wartburg College’s Hertel Field in Waverly starting 5 p.m. Tuesday.