Big innings lead to Go-Hawks’ DH sweep over Comets

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

CHARLES CITY — It was likened to one of those “Little League Home Runs” … the type of roundtripper kids gush about over the phone to their grandparents while conveniently leaving out the defensive mishaps that made it possible.

After two remarkably quick innings to start Game One of Tuesday’s Northeast Iowa Conference baseball doublehead between Waverly-Shell Rock and hosting Charles City, the Go-Hawks had something going in the top half of the third inning.

With the bases loaded with one out shortly after WSR scored its first run of the game, Go-Hawk senior Abram Wrage hit a drive down the right-field line to chase all three runners home. Wrage was able to slide safely into third ahead of the throw, but when the ball got away, Wrage was able to complete the circuit while scoring himself.

It was essentially a “grand slam” though Wrage was credited with a 3-run triple.

The Comets rallied for 3 runs in the bottom of the fifth and were threatening to score some more with the bases loaded and no outs. But Wrage, WSR’s starting pitcher in the first game, struck out the next three Comet hitters and eventually he and the Go-Hawks got the win in a 6-3 final.

Waverly-Shell Rock went on to complete the doubleheader sweep with an 8-1 win in the nightcap.

The Comet went up 1-0 in the first inning of the second game when Malachi O’Brien’s double chased home Lincoln Joslin, who had got aboard with a single.

Waverly-Shell Rock scored 6 runs in the top of the second while sending 11 hitters to the plate. The big blow of the big inning was Wrage’s 2-run double — Wrage later rapped another double in the second game and was 4 for 7 with 5 RBIs and 3 runs scored for the entire night.

Junior Grant Parker was the complete-game winner in the second game while striking out 12, yielding 1 earned run and four hits for the Go-Hawks (5-4, 3-1 NEIC).

Comet freshman O’Brien went 2 for 3 with an RBI in both games.

Senior Brennan Schmidt had a double in the second game for the only other extra-base hit of the night for the Comets (3-6, 1-3), who will travel to Waukon on Friday for another NEIC doubleheader.

Game One

WAVERLY-SHELL ROCK 6, CHARLES CITY 3

WAVERLY-SHELL ROCK   AB  R  H BI  CHARLES CITY         AB  R  H BI

Dylan Stockdale       4  1  1  1  Carter Cajthaml       3  0  0  0

Lance Myers           1  1  0  0  Lincoln Joslin        3  0  1  1

Landon Destival      1  0  0  0  Malachi O’Brien     3  0  2  1

Abram Wrage           4  1  2  3  Kayden Blunt          2  0  1  1

Ian Sedgwick          4  0  2  0  Reed Peters           4  0  0  0

Ayden Hoffert         4  0  1  0  Brennan Schmidt       3  0  0  0

Nolan Foster          2  1  0  0  Jack Hanson           3  0  0  0

Grant Parker          2  0  0  0  Zach Chambers         2  1  1  0

Sam Roose             2  1  2  1  Kaden Buseman         1  1  0  0

Gehrig Tibbitts       1  1  1  0  *Jameson  Mayhew      0  1  0  0

TOTALS               25  6  9  5  TOTALS               24  3  5  3

WAVERLY-SHELL ROCK            005 001 0 — 6

CHARLES CITY                  000 030 0 — 3

LOB–WAVERLY-SHELL ROCK 5, CHARLES CITY 8. ERR–Kaden

Buseman, Brennan Schmidt (2), Jack Hanson. 3B–Abram Wrage.

HBP–Gehrig Tibbitts, Nolan Foster, Kayden Blunt (2).

SB–Sam Roose, Gehrig Tibbitts, Zach Chambers (2).

WAVERLY-SHELL ROCK              IP    H    R   ER   BB   SO   HR

Abram Wrage (W)                5.00    4    3    3    6    7    0

Ian Sedgwick                   2.00    1    0    0    0    0    0

CHARLES CITY

Lincoln Joslin (L)             4.00    5    5    5    5    2    0

Brennan Schmidt                3.00    4    1    1    0    1    0

SO–Dylan Stockdale, Nolan Foster, Ian Sedgwick, Brennan

Schmidt, Kayden Blunt, Reed Peters (2), Jack Hanson (3).

BB–Sam Roose, Gehrig Tibbitts, Grant Parker, Lance Myers

(2), Kaden Buseman (2), Carter Cajthaml, Malachi O’Brien,

Lincoln Joslin, Zach Chambers.

Game Two

WAVERLY-SHELL ROCK 8, CHARLES CITY 1

WAVERLY-SHELL ROCK   AB  R  H BI  CHARLES CITY         AB  R  H BI

Dylan Stockdale       3  2  1  1  Carter Cajthaml       3  0  0  0

Ayden Hoffert         1  1  0  0  Lincoln Joslin        3  1  1  0

Abram Wrage           3  2  2  2  Malachi O’Brien     3  0  2  1

Ian Sedgwick          3  0  1  1  Kayden Blunt          3  0  0  0

Gehrig Tibbitts       3  0  0  0  Reed Peters           3  0  0  0

Grant Parker          2  0  0  0  Brennan Schmidt       3  0  1  0

Ethan Chapin          4  0  0  0  Jack Hanson           2  0  0  0

Sam Roose             4  1  1  1  Zach Chambers         1  0  0  0

Nolan Foster          3  1  1  1   Holden McInroy       2  0  0  0

*Jude Landers         0  1  0  0  Kaden Buseman         2  0  0  0

TOTALS               26  8  6  6  TOTALS               25  1  4  1

WAVERLY-SHELL ROCK            060 101 0 — 8

CHARLES CITY                  100 000 0 — 1

LOB–WAVERLY-SHELL ROCK 6, CHARLES CITY 4. ERR–Malachi

O’Brien. 2B–Abram Wrage (2), Nolan Foster, Ian Sedgwick,

Malachi O’Brien, Brennan Schmidt. HBP–Dylan Stockdale.

SB–Sam Roose, Abram Wrage, Ayden Hoffert, Jude Landers (3),

Dylan Stockdale (2).

WAVERLY-SHELL ROCK              IP    H    R   ER   BB   SO   HR

Grant Parker (W)               7.00    4    1    1    1   12    0

CHARLES CITY

Kayden Blunt (L)               1.67    4    6    5    4    2    0

Brennan Schmidt                1.33    0    0    0    0    1    0

Malachi O’Brien              2.33    2    2    2    3    2    0

Reed Peters                    1.67    0    0    0    1    1    0

PB–Jack Elsamiller, Carter Cajthaml, Holden McInroy (2).

WP–Malachi O’Brien. BALK–Malachi O’Brien. SO–Ethan

Chapin (2), Dylan Stockdale, Nolan Foster (2), Ian Sedgwick,

Kaden Buseman, Carter Cajthaml, Lincoln Joslin, Zach

Chambers, Brennan Schmidt (2), Kayden Blunt (3), Reed Peters

(2), Jack Hanson. BB–Abram Wrage, Ayden Hoffert (3), Gehrig

Tibbitts, Grant Parker (2), Ian Sedgwick, Jack Hanson.