Indianola Pitcher Brady Blake was just one strike away from throwing a no-hitter against Pella, but the Dutch spoiled the bid in the seventh despite Indianola winning 9-1 in a game heard live on 94.3 KNIA.
The Indians jumped all over the Dutch in the first inning, scoring seven runs off of RBI hits from Blake, Noah Johnston, Gavin Legg, and Kasey Carter, and that score held until the fourth when Carter hit a solo home run, followed by another solo home run by Johnston in the fifth.
Blake was dominant on the mound, striking out seven Dutch batters, and had the no-hit bid with two outs in the seventh, when Tate Weesner hit a bloop single to center to break it up, followed by two straight hits including an RBI Single by Joe Bokhoven.
Indianola Head Coach Jon Fitzpatrick tells KNIA Sports Blake was stellar on the mound, and his squad is finding the right approach to have at the plate.
“We are hitting for our team, we aren’t hitting for ourselves. We don’t care what our batting average is or getting some of those things. Not saying we were, but with two strikes being ok with widening up and choking up and hitting a ground ball to second and scoring a run. So I think they’ve bought into that the last couple of weeks, whatever the team needs to get that run across they are doing a good job.”
Weesner led Pella with a hit and a run scored, while Carter and Johnston each had three hits, a double, a single, and a solo home run, with three RBI’s apiece.
Pella falls to 18-14 on the season and will travel to Washington on Tuesday, while Indianola improves to 22-12 and will travel to Ballard on Tuesday.
The #7 Indianola softball team defeated West Delaware 7-1 and Urbandale 7-6 in a walkoff at the DCG Invitational Friday.
The Indians fell behind early to Hawks 1-0 in the second inning, but answered with two runs in the second to take the lead they would not give up. The Indians then scored a run in the third on a Cassy Anderson double, another on a groundout in the fifth, then three in the sixth that included a two-RBI double by Kiley Kindelspire.
Against Urbandale, the Indians jumped out early scoring three runs on an error and two groundouts, with the J-Hawks answering in the second matched by the Indians in the bottom half of the inning on a Mara Bishop RBI hit to lead 4-1. Urbandale scored two in the fourth, and another in the fifth to tie the score, only to see the Indians again answer with two runs on passed balls to lead 6-4. The J-Hawks again tied the score in the seventh, but Brynn Ortlund walked it off to win the contest.
Indianola is now 25-11 on the season, and will host class 5A power Fort Dodge on Wednesday for their regular season finale.