Savages hold off Montezuma late while overcoming injuries

At times, the depth of a baseball team may go overlooked, as a majority of the game is played by the starters, with some minor substitutions. Sigourney has depth, and more importantly, the guys who don’t start have also logged their fair share of minutes on the field. The Savages had to turn to two of their bench players to fill in for injury and the team pulled together late on June 11 to beat Montezuma 7-4, their fourth win in the last five games.

    “Having depth is huge for us,” Sigourney coach Lee Crawford said. “We have the highest baseball IQ’s since our 2001 and 2010 squad. Their IQ of baseball and throwing them in there, they can handle it.”

    Sigourney got things going early by plating a run in the bottom of the first. Josh Mohr led off by getting on base with a single, stole second and then came home from an RBI single off the bat of Carson Crawford. The scoring chance continued with two outs as Payton Schauf hit a single, but Kyle Weber ended the inning with a groundout.

    After inducing a couple strikeouts in the top of the first, Schauf went back to work on the mound in the second, with similar results. He walked the first batter, got the second to pop out to the catcher and the third got on base with an infield single. Both runners advanced on a double steal before Schauf picked up his third strikeout of the game. Those two runners would score on a wild pitch, but that was all they’d get as Schauf got the last batter of the inning looking at a third strike.

    Sigourney countered with two runs of their own in the bottom of the second, all with two outs. Brett Striegel got things started after being hit in the back by a pitch, followed by a walk to Mohr and a two RBI double for Molyneux. Mac Conrad got on base after being hit by a pitch and then Carson grounded out to end the inning.

    Schauf got the leadoff batter in the third to go down swinging for his fifth and final strikeout of the game. He was pulled from the mound after loading the bases with two batters hit and walking one. Nick Goad was brought on for relief and struck out his first batter swinging. A run would score to tie the game, but the threat was ended after Goad got the next batter looking on strikes.

    “This was the first game we got Payton back, that in itself changed the lineup for us. It was his first start of the year, we’ve got to get him in a better groove,” coach Crawford said. “We took him out to 60 pitches and we shut him down after seeing him struggle a little. Nick Goad is one of our more accurate pitchers by settling down and throwing strikes.”

    The Savages were held scoreless in the third but put up a four spot in the fourth to give them some breathing room. Striegel was hit in the back again to send him to first and then proceeded to steal second after Mohr popped out. Striegel was injured on the slide as he awkwardly went headfirst into the bag which hit his leg. After being down for some time, he was assisted off the field and would not return. Molyneux flew out to center field and like earlier, the Savages scored all their runs with two outs.

    Conrad got on base with a hit pitch, followed by an RBI single from Crawford which found a gap between third and shortstop. Schauf brought in two runs with a lined shot which came feet from going over the fence, instead it resulted in a standing double. Weber and Dustin Haines were walked before the starting pitcher for Montezuma was replaced. Schauf would score on a wild pitch to put Sigourney up 7-3.

    “When we hit the ball, we’re barreling it up with the bat,” coach Crawford said. “We’re hustling but I think we do need to improve on our base running and our plate discipline. They saw slower pitching and wanted to hit it as far as they could.”

    Montezuma scored their single run in the top of the fifth which led off with a single and then a stolen base. A groundout sent the runner to third and an infield error allowed the next batter to reach first, while the runner from third scored. They tried getting another runner in scoring position by stealing second but Sigourney picked him off. While the out was a result of a great throw from the catcher, Sigourney did witness another one of their players get injured as Haines remained on the ground for some time. He struggled to get onto his feet but was eventually assisted off the field. His injury status was unclear, but his ankle had swelled, and his night was done.

    “The two kids we brought in for Striegel and Haines were Bo Schmidt and Cade Streigle,” coach Crawford said. “They’ve played in seven of our games already, so I wasn’t concerned. Those two going into the game, I was happy with them. Those young guys are stepping up.”

    Neither side scored another run in the final 2 ½ innings. Sigourney had one reach base as Bo Schmidt got on base with a single in the bottom of the sixth with two outs. Conrad finished out the game on the mound and finished strong after allowing two walks and a balk to send Montezuma runners to second and third with no outs. He struck out the next batter swinging, got a force out at home and then got the final batter swinging to preserve the win.

    “We need to build some mental discipline and build off of it,” coach Crawford said. “I had a goal for us to build a winning streak this week and our team is capable of doing that. Our juniors are in a transition mode and we’re getting some leadership from them.”

    Sigourney leaders: Cade Molyneux/Carson Crawford/Payton Schauf – 2 hits, Josh Mohr – 2 runs, Cade Molyneux/Carson Crawford/Payton Schauf – 2 RBIs, Brett Striegel – 2 SB, Payton Schauf – 5 Ks

    Sigourney looked to extend their winning streak as they were on the road against North Mahaska on June 13 and then hosted Lynnville-Sully on June 15 to end the week.