- RBI single by Jake Thilges gives DMACC the win in the first game
- Simon Gregersen comes away with the victory
- NECC takes the nightcap with a five-run rally in the top of the seventh
Freshman Jake Brill of Maple, Wis., scored on an RBI single by Covid-19 freshman (CoFR) Jake Thilges of Johnston in the bottom of the 12th inning to give the DMACC baseball team a 2-1 win over Northeast (Neb.) Community College (NECC) in the first game of a doubleheader April 27 at the DMACC baseball diamond.
NECC, ranked 18th in the Division II poll from the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), won the nightcap, 10-7, with a five-run rally in the top of the seventh.
The split gives DMACC a 30-17 record overall and a 16-10 mark in the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC).
Brill opened the DMACC 12th by being hit with a pitch and moved to third on a single by freshman Reed Stallman of Alburnett. After freshman Brodie Kresser of Jesup received an intentional base on balls, Thilges lined a base hit into left field to score Brill with the winning run.
DMACC took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third when CoFR Tre Mungin of Omaha, Neb., led off with a base hit, took second on a wild pitch and moved to third on Stallman's single. Kresser then grounded out on a sacrifice bunt to down the first base line that allowed Mungin to score.
NECC tied the game in the fourth when shortstop Zane Zielinski homered.
Stallman led DMACC's 14-hit attack with four singles. Mungin and Covid-19 freshman Jayden Singleton of Des Moines had three hits apiece, including a triple by Singleton, and Thilges had a pair of base hits.
CoFR Jackson Stewart of Urbandale pitched the first eight innings for the Bears, allowing one run on two hits. He struck out nine and walked one. Freshman Simon Gregersen of Ramsey, Minn., went four innings and got his fourth win of the season against two losses. He allowed two hits and struck out four batters.
NECC took a 3-0 lead in the first inning and scored twice in the fifth and five times in the seventh to win the second game. DMACC tied the game at 3-3 with single runs in each of the first three innings and used a two-run rally in the bottom of the sixth to make it a 5-5 game. The Bears rallied for two runs in the bottom of the seventh but got no closer.
Brill, Stallman, freshman Cael Boever of Sioux City and CoFR Jackson Fisher of Chariton had two hits apiece for the Bears and Kresser drove in a pair of runs.
Covid-19 sophomore (CoSO) Bret Price, Jr., of Boone pitched five innings for the Bears, allowing five runs on six hits with four strikeouts. Freshman Dale Stout of Waukee went one inning and suffered the loss to fall to 0-1. He allowed one run on one hit. Freshman Drew Scherbenske of Rapid City, S.D., pitched two-thirds of an inning and allowed four runs with one strikeout and two walks and CoFR Jarrett Novak of Omaha, Neb., walked two batters but was not credited with any innings pitched. CoSO Cade Van Ness of Glenwood threw one-third of an inning, retiring the only batter he faced.
The DMACC baseball team will play doubleheaders against Indian Hills Community College (IHCC) April 30 and May 1 at the DMAC baseball diamond. IHCC, an NJCAA Division I program, is 29-13 overall and 19-7 in the ICCAC.
