By Sam Parsons
The Oskaloosa Indians baseball team (10-9) entered their Wednesday night conference showdown with Dallas Center-Grimes (12-6) in a cold spell. They had lost 5 straight games after starting the season 10-4, thanks in large part to playing back-to-back top 10 ranked teams in Pella and Indianola in doubleheaders, as well as sustaining frequent self-inflicted wounds in those games. Wednesday night’s game provided the right opportunity for the Indians to get back on track against a DCG team that, while formidable, was missing their best player: top 100 MLB Draft prospect Taitn Gray was in Phoenix, Arizona, for the MLB Draft Combine.
Sophomore Tyler Edgar got the start on the mound for Oskaloosa and managed to silence a Mustang lineup that, even without Gray, had more than its fair share of threats. He surrendered a 2-out double in the top of the 1st, but then proceeded to go 3 straight innings without surrendering a hit. The Mustangs collected hits in innings 5, 6, and 7, but never strung enough of them together to plate a run against Edgar and an Oskaloosa defense that performed well after struggling with errors in their recent skid.
Ultimately, Edgar did not allow a single run while going the distance against Dallas Center-Grimes. In 7 innings of work, Edgar allowed 5 base hits and 2 walks while striking out 3 batters.
Offensively, the Indians did just enough to get the job done while Edgar was rolling on the mound. They were held scoreless in the first two innings, but in the bottom of the 3rd, senior Grady Kool led the inning off with a base hit, which was immediately followed by senior Maddux Ashman getting hit by a curveball from DCG pitcher Lincoln Harris. Senior Jaden DeRonde then reached on an error, loading the bases for the top of the Indians order. It was then that Tyler Edgar drove in a run on a fielders’ choice, making the game 1-0. Osky couldn’t push the envelope any further than that, but Edgar had gotten what he needed.
Osky would score again in the bottom of the 5th inning. With just 1 run still separating them from DCG, they embarked on their journey for some insurance when Ashman reached on a 1-out single; a subsequent 2-out single from Edgar moved him up to 2nd base. That set the stage for junior Jake North: with 2 outs and a full count, Ashman took off for 3rd base and North put the ball on the ground down the third base line, setting up a difficult throw for DCG’s Brady Smith; Smith was unable to make the play in time, and Ashman made the heads-up move to sprint towards home plate in the process. While the Mustangs tried, and failed, to get North out, Ashman was busy scoring Oskaloosa’s second run to make it 2-0.
From there, Edgar shut the door on the mound, and Oskaloosa clinched the 2-0 win. It was the Indians’ 2nd win against DCG in their last 16 meetings, and the conference victory gives the team a shot in the arm after they had been sliding for 5 games.
Now with an 11-9 record, Oskaloosa will travel to Newton on Friday for a conference doubleheader.