Seventh Inning Rally Saves Savages’ Season

SIGOURNEY—The Sigourney Savage baseball team kicked off their playoffs by hosting the Danville Bears on July 1. The Savages snuck past the Bears with a two run seventh inning rally to secure the 5-4 victory. 

The Bears jumped out to a two run lead after the first half inning of play. Cole Mckay stole home in the bottom half of the inning to cut the Danville lead down to one. The Savages went on to tie the game at two apiece in the bottom of the second inning, when Issac Bruns stole home on a passed ball. Each team added another run in the third, and then Danville resecured their lead in the top of the fourth.

The Savages found themselves in a one run deficit with their final three outs. Jake Moore stepped up to the plate, and kicked off the rally by rocketing a double into the right center gap. Caden Clarahan and Reid Molyneux drew walks to load the bases for the Savages. The next batter, Max Phillips, was hit by a pitch, which brought home the game tying run. Brady Clark stepped up into the box with a chance to win the game. Clark held off on low pitch in the dirt that went screaming past the Danville catched. Caden Clarahan came screaming home from third, and dove safely into home base to give the Savages the 5-4 victory.

Sigourney head coach Lee Crawford described the victory with, “I was just really proud of the kids. The kids really took charge and led. Jake Moore getting a leadoff double like that was huge for our momentum.” He went on to elaborate with, “We have two seniors, and the rest are juniors and below. I think you saw a young team on both sides. We need to figure out our focus moving forward, and work on our routines for every game. We were thrown off by routines a little bit today.”

It was a tough day of luck for the Savages, as they lost both Cole McKay and Issac Bruns due to injury in the course of the game. Coach Crawford spoke on the effect it had on the team with, “We had two or three eighth graders out in the lineup by the end of the game. Those guys have been getting at bats all year. They have been playing. Two of the three of them play a lot of travel ball. They are seasoned, they are not eighth graders anymore. They have the utmost confidence out there to play.”

The Savages advance to the second round of the Class 1A-Region 5 bracket, where they will host the Regina Catholic Regals on July 5.