By Sam Parsons
The Oskaloosa Indians baseball team played their season opener under the lights of their home stadium on Tuesday night versus the Fairfield Trojans after their previously scheduled season opener at Albia was postponed Monday night. The Indians brought back many familiar faces from last year’s team, setting the stage for growth this season, and opening night proved to be an auspicious beginning.
The night began on a somewhat rocky note for the home Indians, as Fairfield got on the board in the top of the 1st. Junior Linus Morrison started on the mound for Oskaloosa and surrendered a 1-out single to Fairfield’s Dane Burkhart, followed by an RBI double off the bat of Luke Konczal. Morrison limited the damage from there, but the Trojans had taken a 1-0 lead.
Fortunately, the Indians were very quick to respond in the bottom of the 1st. Senior second baseman Maddux Ashman kick-started a rally with a single, which was immediately followed by an RBI double from Morrison to help his own cause. Then senior DH Lukas Toubekis reached on a walk, setting the stage for a 2-RBI double from junior catcher Trey Parks to put Osky up 3-1, where the score remained entering the second inning.
From there, Morrison strung together 3 strong innings on the mound for Oskaloosa, racking up a total of 7 strikeouts in 4 innings of work and holding the Trojans scoreless and hitless in innings 2-4. Morrison finished the night with 1 earned run allowed in 4 innings while allowing 2 hits and 3 walks.
While Morrison was keeping the Fairfield bats at bay, the Indians’ offense continued to work. In the second inning, they brought 9 hitters to the plate and scored 3 more runs. They had 5 straight hitters reach base to start the second inning, with senior CF Jaden DeRonde the first to ultimately cross the plate after drawing a walk. With 1 out, Linus Morrison again came through at the plate, ripping a 2-RBI double. Two batters later, Trey Parks drove in another run on an error. By the end of the second inning, it was 6-1 Osky, and there was still more to come.
A silent 3rd inning for both sides preceded 4 more runs for Oskaloosa in the bottom of the 4th. Morrison reached base on an error and Toubekis got aboard with his second drawn walk. Parks promptly laced a single to run his RBI total up to 4 on the night, and then senior first baseman Caden Johnson knocked another run in with an RBI double to make the score 10-1 Oskaloosa.
Parks then replaced Morrison on the mound to conclude the game, allowing 1 run on 0 hits in 2 innings, striking out 3 batters and walking 2. His only earned run allowed was the result of a sac fly hit by Fairfield’s Archer Krueter, which was set up by an errant pickoff attempt and a wild pitch.
That run proved to be too little, too late for the Trojans. In the bottom of the 6th, the Indians would ice the game with 2 runs to mercy rule Fairfield. Caden Johnson got the ball rolling by coaxing a walk, allowing junior third baseman Tate Peterson to drive him in with a double. The final run of the game was ultimately scored by Tyler Edgar, who had reached base on a fielder’s choice and wound up scoring on a wild pitch to end the game. The game’s final score was 12-2 Oskaloosa, giving the Indians a season-opening victory.
Oskaloosa (1-0) will play a doubleheader at Knoxville tomorrow (5/22), then will return home on Friday to host Ottumwa. The Ottumwa game will be broadcast on KBOE 104.9 FM and kboeradio.com starting around 6:45pm.
