Posted by
Wade Gerstner
-
Fri, May 2, 2008
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NEKS
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by Justin Fluke
The Holton baseball team is celebrating its first Big 7 baseball title since the inaugural season of 2000, but won the title outright for the initial time Thursday with a sweep of rival Royal Valley 12-2 and 6-3.
Holton used the pitching of Kyle Porter and four home runs to win the first game in six innings, then took a lead in the third frame of game two and held on as Curt Bontrager got the final eight outs in relief of Tyler Miller.
Miller had a two-run-homer in the first inning of game one that was enough run support for Porter. Kyle Zimmerman connected on a solo blast in the second and added a second round-tripper in the fifth to put the Wildcats ahead 9-1. Porter homered leading off the third inning and was 3-4 with three runs scored. Anthony Schuetz added two hits and two runs while Dalton Harshaw had a pair of hits and RBIs. Shawn Seematter pitched the first five innings for Royal Valley and suffered the loss while Trevor Bausch had two hits and drove in both Panther runs.
Royal Valley scored in the first inning of game two on three errors and led until the third inning. Tyler Miller's two-run-double put Holton ahead for good 3-2 and the Cats added two tallies in the fourth and fifth frames for good measure. Both Miller and Bontrager allowed just two hits and combined to strike out 9 while the Panthers stranded 18 total base runners in the double header. Jeff Roden took the loss in game two and Jaime Farris had two of the four hits. Royal Valley falls to 7-5 with the loss and 6-2 in the league while Holton completes their undefeated league championship at 8-0 and now stands at 11-7 overall.
In the other Big 7 league double header Jeff West picked up two wins at Maur Hill/Mount Academy 10-7 and 8-3. The Tigers are now 10-6 on the season and play at Topeka Hayden Friday.
In high school softball, Jeff West swept a twin bill at Hiawatha by scores of 13-1 and 3-2. Whisper Livington and Moriah Stortzum eanred the Tiger pitching wins while Kyane Stortzum added a home run. After winning the first game in five innings, Jeff West needed two runs in the 7th to complete the sweep. The Lady Tigers are 6-6 on the season while Hiawatha is 6-9-1. Both teams are scheduled to play against today as Hiawatha host Oskaloosa and Jeff West travels to Royal Valley.
McLouth remained undefeated as they beat Silver Lake 10-0 and then couldn't finish the second game because of lighting with the score tied at four. Lezley Lawson had a two run homer for McLouth and earned the pitching victory in game one with seven strikeouts and just four hits allowed. McLouth softball is now 13-0-1 on the season after avenging their only loss from last year which came in the Regional finals.
