The Pella Christian baseball team knocked off cross town rival Pella 6-4 last night in a game heard live on the KRLS3 stream at www.kniakrls.com.
The Eagles jumped out a 2-0 first inning lead and never trailed, getting enough offense to back a six-inning eight-strikeout no-walk performance from right hander Micah DeHaan. It wasn’t all easy sailing however, as DeHaan struggled with his command in the first inning, allowing Pella to put runners at second and third. After getting out of that pickle, coach Braden Shull says that DeHaan settled in.
“Micah is a big fan of giving me a little miniature heart attack in the first inning this year. I always have to tell him to make sure he checks his pockets and didn’t forget his curveball in there. He’s a great pitcher and a great kid, and he can really pitch it when he gets going.”
After the Eagles scored their two runs in the first inning, Pella battled back for two of their own in the third, but P.C. answered immediately with four runs in the bottom of the inning to take control. The Little Dutch got two more off DeHaan in the sixth, but closer Bennett Spronk slammed the door with a one-two-three seventh.
While it was an upset based on the records coming in, Pella coach Jesse Jablonski knew that the Eagles would give them all they could handle, and he says that his team wasn’t prepared for it.
“We came in a little over confident. We didn’t get in good pitcher counts early, and all we had was a fastball to get back in those counts and they were waiting for it. They hit the ball, and we didn’t make any adjustments at the plate to hit a 75 mile per hour fastball. We’ve got to be able to hit that.”
The Little Dutch did outhit the Eagles 8-7, but three Pella errors proved costly. Kyle Branderhorst was the only P.C. player with multiple hits, as he went 2-3 with an RBI. Corbin Westerkamp and Kellan Shull each scored a pair of runs. For Pella, Mason Wittmer was 3-4.
The Eagles improve to 5-10 on the season and 4-5 in Little Hawkeye Conference play. They’re at Norwalk for a doubleheader tomorrow night. Pella drops to 11-5 and 6-3 in the league. They’re also headed to Warren County tomorrow night to take on Indianola in a varsity twinbill.