Central Swept in Florida Baseball Opener
After an extra-inning defeat in the opener, the Central College baseball team’s offense couldn’t keep pace with Springfield College (Mass.) in a doubleheader sweep Sunday.
In a pair of scheduled seven-inning contests, the Pride (2-0) took a 2-1 victory in eight innings to start the doubleheader and the Dutch (2-6) also fell in the second game 10-2.
Central got a great performance from its game one starting pitcher Declan O’Hare. After giving up a first inning home run, O’Hare allowed just three total hits in 5.0 innings while striking out five and walking none. Reliever Bryce Haessig yielded four hits and one walk while striking out two. In the nightcap, Central had another strong relief outing by Andrew Doyle, who scattered four hits and a walk over 3.1 innings of work giving up one run. Offensively, third baseman Brayden Sawyer had two hits in the opener and right fielder Colton DeRocher had a pair in the second game.
The Dutch were coming into the day after a nightmare travel experience on Saturday. After leaving Pella for Chicago at 5 am, the Dutch had their flight to Florida canceled. After being rerouted and subsequent delays, Central didn’t land in Florida until midnight. They were stranded on the tarmac until 3 a.m. and did not arrive at their accommodations until 6 am.
Central returns to the field today for a 3:45 p.m. (EDT) contest with Mount St. Joseph University (Ohio).
Central Men’s Golfers Open in Eighth in North Carolina
An abundance of penalty shots prevented the Central College men’s golf team from posting a better number in its first outing of the spring at the 36-hole Hampden-Sydney (Va.) Tiger Invitational on Sunday. The Dutch stand eighth in an 11-team field with a 334. Harold Dobernecker is tied for 15th individually with 79, with Jacob Moffett at 82, Cole McGriff at 85, John Oltman at 88 and Kayden Pendergrass at 89. Temperatures reached 60 but the players had to navigate 30-mph winds as well as adjust to thin early spring Bermuda turf. Day two of the tournament for the Dutch is slated to begin today at 8:30 am.