Comets drop DH to first-round postseason opponent Vikings

By John Burbridge sports@charlescitypress.com

CHARLES CITY — The jury is still out when it comes to replay rulings in Major League Baseball.

Regardless, such a corrective protocol may have made Charles City’s doubleheader loss to visiting Northeast Iowa Conference foe Decorah a little more bearable for the team and its fans.

In the fourth inning of the second game, Viking junior Philip Inde drove a Theo Arndt pitch deep to left field over the head of Colton Slinger. From the vantage point from the home-field bleachers parallel to first-base line, it appeared the ball landed at the base of the fence and rolled under it.

The umpires didn’t see it that way, and with Inde standing on second base, they granted him the latter 180-feet passage to home plate much to the consternation of the Comet faithful.

For the 20-win Vikings, it was their first homer of the year as it helped pave way to a 4-1 victory that followed their 9-2 win in the first game.

It was a tough evening for the Comets as the promise of “No Pain, No Gain” didn’t seem to apply.

With the team still smarting from the disputed homer, Comet catcher Dylan Salinas was called out in the latter half of the fourth inning after being hit by a pitch by Jace Johnson. It was a tough call as the Viking sophomore has a big-breaking curve that tends to prompt hitters to back away from called strikes. Salinas didn’t appear to lean into the pitch to get hit intentionally, but rather stood his ground in the batter’s box.

Though the Comets didn’t have replay review at their disposal, they will get a one-game rematch against a team they’ve gone 0-3 against this season as they will face the Vikings in the first round of the Class 3A Substate District 5 tournament 7 p.m. Friday at Wartburg College.

The bracket championship game will be 7 p.m. July 17.

In the second game, Jalen Jones was 2 for 2 and drove in Charles City’s lone run in the bottom of the seventh.

Arndt and Wyatt Stevenson each had RBIs in the first game for the Comets (10-19, 6-12 NEIC).

Jackson Varney was 3 for 4, Ryan Thorsten was 2 for 3 with two doubles, and Drake Shelton was 2 for 3 with a double and 2 runs scored in the first game; and Game 1 winner Brannan Hogan had two hits in the second game for Decorah (20-6, 14-4).

Johnson was a complete-game winner for the Vikings in the second game.

DECORAH 9, CHARLES CITY 2

DECORAH    AB  R  H BI  CHARLES CITY AB  R  H BI

Drake Shelton     3  2  2  0  Cole  Reams           3  0  1  0

Jackson Varney    4  2  3  0  Nate Lasher           4  0  0  0

Jace Johnson       3  0  0  1  Drew Mitchell         3  0  1  0

Davon Thompson  1  0  1  0  Dylan Salinas      2  1  1  0

Brannan Hogan     5  0  1  3  Theo Arndt            2  1  1  1

Ian  Smith            4  0  1  1  Colton Slinger        3  0  0  0

Dawson Holkesvik1  2  0  0  Wyatt  Stevenson  2  0  0  1

Kailer McCabe   2  1  0  0  Jordan Kapping        1  0  0  0

Thomas Knoke    1  0  1  1   Jalen Jones          2  0  0  0

Ryan Thorsten        3  1  2  1  Elliott Sinwell       3  0  0  0

Dawson Meyer          4  0  1  1                                    

*Tucker Young         0  1  0  0                                    

TOTALS          31  9 12  8   TOTALS               25  2  4  2

DECORAH                       021 204 0 — 9

CHARLES CITY                  000 200 0 — 2

LOB–DECORAH 11, CHARLES CITY 7. ERR–Jace Johnson, Nate Lasher. 2B–Ryan Thorsten (2), Drake Shelton. HBP–Dawson Holkesvik. SACF–Wyatt  Stevenson. SACB–Ryan Thorsten, Jace Johnson. SB–Dawson Holkesvik, Jackson Varney (2), Tucker Young.

DECORAH                      IP    H    R   ER   BB   SO   HR

Brannan Hogan (W)              6.00    4    2    2    3    2    0

Michael Bruening               1.00    0    0    0    1    0    0

CHARLES CITY                

Tait Arndt (L)                 2.67    3    3    2    4    0    0

Carter Johanningmeier         3.00    7    6    6    2    0    0

Elliott Sinwell                1.33    2    0    0    1    0    0

PB–Ian  Smith (2). WP–Brannan Hogan. BALK–Tait Arndt. SO–Dylan Salinas, Nate Lasher. BB–Ian  Smith, Dawson Holkesvik (2), Kailer McCabe, Jackson Varney, Drake Shelton (2), Dylan Salinas, Theo Arndt, Drew Mitchell, Cole  Reams.

DECORAH 4, CHARLES CITY 1

DECORAH  AB  R  H BI  CHARLES CITY   AB  R  H BI

Drake Shelton     3  0  0  0  Cole  Reams           3  0  0  0

Jackson Varney    2  1  0  0  Nate Lasher           2  0  0  0

Jace Johnson       2  0  1  1  Drew Mitchell         3  0  0  0

Brannan Hogan   4  0  2  0  Dylan Salinas         3  0  0  0

Ian  Smith            2  0  0  0  Theo Arndt            1  1  0  0

Dawson Holkesvik  3  1  2  0  Colton Slinger      2  0  1  0

Ryan Thorsten  1  0  0  1  Wyatt  Stevenson      3  0  0  0

Philip Ihde          3  1  1  1  Jordan Kapping        1  0  0  0

Dawson Meyer     3  0  1  1   Jalen Jones          2  0  2  1

*Cael Luzum           0  1  0  0  Elliott Sinwell       3  0  0  0

TOTALS           23  4  7  4   TOTALS               23  1  3  1

DECORAH                      100 201 0 — 4

CHARLES CITY                 000 000 1 — 1

LOB–DECORAH 6, CHARLES CITY 5. ERR–Drake Shelton, Dylan Salinas. 2B–Brannan Hogan. HR–Philip Ihde. HBP–Ian  Smith, Ryan Thorsten, Jackson Varney. SACB–Ryan Thorsten, Colton Slinger. SB–Dawson Holkesvik, Jackson Varney (2).

DECORAH                      IP    H    R   ER   BB   SO   HR

Jace Johnson                   7.00    3    1    1    3    5    0

CHARLES CITY                

Theo Arndt                     5.00    6    4    4    3    2    1

Nate Lasher                    2.00    1    0    0    1    0    0

PB–Dylan Salinas. SO–Dawson Meyer, Dawson Holkesvik, Dylan Salinas (2), Colton Slinger, Wyatt  Stevenson, Cole  Reams. BB–Jace Johnson (2), Jackson Varney, Drake Shelton, Theo Arndt (2), Nate Lasher.