Courtesy of Rich Ray
Sasquatch- 11, Moo- 10
Spearfish (R-H-E): 11-13-0; Fremont (R-H-E): 10-16-3
Win: Joe McBride (2-2); Loss: Connor Petersen (2-1); Save: None
HR: Spearfish: None; HR: Fremont: None
Spearfish, South Dakota- The Spearfish Sasquatch handed the Fremont Moo an 11-10 loss, courtesy of a walk-off RBI double in the bottom of the ninth inning, Thursday night at Black Hills Energy Stadium.
Fremont started the scoring in the top of the first. With one out, Henry Hayman singled off Sasquatch starter Hunter Polley. Then, Tyman Long doubled to put runners at second and third. The next batter, Jayson Willers, was hit by a pitch, to load the bases. Then, Neil Jansen hit a bouncing ball to third for a ground out, which scored Hayman, to make it 1-0.
Spearfish tied the game in the bottom of the first. Seth Nelson drew a walk from Moo starter Brody Sintek. Trey Vorwald singled to put runners at the corners. Two batters later, Jack Nehler grounded out to shortstop, scoring Nelson, to make it 1-1.
The Moo recaptured the lead in the top of the second. Easton Steck led off with a double. Then, Hunter Palmer hit an RBI single, bringing home Steck to make it 2-1. Two batters later, Carter Sintek singled, driving home Palmer, to make it 3-1, in favor of The Moo.
The Sasquatch would get the runs back in the bottom of the second. Luis Reyes led off with a double, and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Then, Bryson Hoier hit an RBI double, bringing home Reyes, to make it 3-2. Hoier stole third and after Seth Nelson walked two batters later, Trey Vorwald reached on an error by Carter Sintek at shortstop, scoring Hoier, to tie the game at 3-3.
Fremont grabbed the lead again, in the top of the third. With two outs, Neil Jansen singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Then, Jason Clark hit an RBI single, bringing home Jansen, to put Fremont up, 4-3.
The Moo had their largest lead in the top of the fourth. Hunter Palmer led off with a double and two batters later, Carter Sintek singled, bringing home Palmer, to make it 5-3. Henry Hayman was hit by a pitch, then a wild pitch put the runners at second and third. Two more wild pitches allowed Sintek and Hayman to score, making it 7-3, Fremont, midway through the fourth.
The Sasquatch responded with their largest scoring inning of the night, in the bottom of the fourth. Keegan Weston led off with a triple. Then, Seth Nelson grounded to short, but Carter Sintek’s throw to first was dropped by Tyman Long, scoring Weston, to make it 7-4. Trey Vorwald singled to put runners at first and second. A base hit by Joey Legg scored Nelson, to make it 7-5. A wild pitch by Brody SIntek scored Vorwald and Jack Nehler singled to load the bases. Another wild pitch brought home Legg, to tie the score at 7-7. Ryan Bachman drew a walk to put runners at the corners, and Fremont went to the bullpen, bringing in Kadyn Van Hill. On the first offering after the pitching change, Luis Reyes laid down a sacrifice bunt, scoring Nehler, to put the Sasquatch in front, 8-7.
Spearfish extended the lead in the bottom of the fifth. Keegan Weston led off with a double and scored on two wild pitches, making it 9-7, Spearfish, after five innings.
The Moo got a run back in the top of the sixth. Tyman Long led off with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Then, Jayson Willers hit an RBI double, driving home Long, to make it 9-8.
The Sasquatch pushed the lead back to two runs, in the bottom of the sixth. Bryson Hoier reached on a one-out base on balls and stole second base. Daniel Thiessen singled to put runners at the corners. Then, a groundout to third by Keegan Weston, brought home Hoier, to make it 10-8, Spearfish.
Fremont plated a run in the top of the seventh. With two outs, Carter Sintek singled and Henry Hayman followed with an RBI double, scoring Sintek, to make it 10-9.
Spearfish had a chance to close out the game in the top of the ninth, but The Moo would tie it in wild fashion. Against closer Joe McBride, Henry Hayman led off with a single and Tyman Long drew a walk to put runners at first and second. Jason Willers attempted to bunt, twice, but was down in the count 0-2, before flying out to right field for the first out. McBride got Neil Jansen to pop up to shortstop for the second out of the inning. Fremont sent Tyler Harrington to the plate to pinch hit. With the count 2-2 and Fremont down to its final strike, Harrington hit a ground ball right at shortstop Bailey Bordas for what looked to be an easy force out at second to end the game. However, the ball took a wicked hop and bounced over Bordas’ right shoulder into left field, scoring Hayman, to tie the game at 10-10. McBride got out of the inning by getting Easton Steck to strike out, ending the top of the ninth.
Fremont reliever Connor Petersen, who kept the Sasquatch scoreless in the eighth, tried to do so in the ninth, but Spearfish would come up big. After Petersen struck out Trey Vorwald and Joey Legg for the first two outs, Jack Nehler singled. Then Bailey Bordas hit a Petersen 1-0 pitch in the left-center field gap, all the way to the fence, scoring Nehler from first, giving the Sasquatch the walk-off win, 11-10.
Spearfish starter Hunter Polley pitched 3.2 innings, giving up nine hits, seven runs, walked two, struckout two, had four wild pitches and hit two batters. Julio Romero pitched 4.0 innings, giving up five hits, two runs, walked five, struck out two, had two wild pitches and hit one batter. Joe McBride (2-2) picked up the win. He pitched 1.1 innings, giving up two hits, one run, walked one and struck out one.
Moo starter Brody Sintek pitched 3.0 innings. The Fremont native at Wayne State College gave up eight hits, three earned runs, walked four, struck out three and had three wild pitches. Kadyn Van Hill pitched 4.0 innings. The Omaha native from Iowa Western Community College gave up two hits, two runs, walked four, struck out one, had three wild pitches and hit one batter. Connor Petersen (2-1) took the loss. The Tucson, Arizona native at Midland University pitched 1.2 innings, giving up three hits, one run, walked one and struck out four.
Offensively, Spearfish’s Trey Vorwald was 2-for-5. Joey Legg was 1-for-4 with an RBI. Jack Nehler was 2-for-5. Ryan Bachman was 1-for-3, driving in one run. Luis Reyes was 2-for-4 with an RBI. Bryson Hoier went 2-for-4 with a run batted in and Keegan Weston was 2-for-4 with an RBI.
For The Moo, Carter Sintek was 4-for-6. The Fremont native at South Dakota State drove in two runs. Henry Hayman was 3-for-5. The Melbourne, Australia native from Barton County Community College had one RBI. Tyman Long was 2-for-4. The Sioux Falls, South Dakota native at College of Southern Nevada had a double and a single. Jayson Willers was 1-for-4. The Davenport, Iowa native from Morningside University drove in one run. Jason Clark was 1-for-4. The Victoria, Illinois native at Knox College had one RBI. Tyler Harrington was 1-for-1. The Lakeland, Tennessee native headed to Alabama-Birmingham, drove home one run, and Hunter Palmer went 2-for-3. The St. Michael, Minnesota native at South Dakota State had one RBI.
More Information: After the loss, Fremont had its three game winning streak snapped, but took the season series from the Sasquatch, 6-3. Fremont’s Henry Hayman ran his hitting streak to nine straight games. With the Badlands Big Sticks getting swept in a doubleheader at Hastings, and Casper defeating Oahe, Thursday night, Fremont will now be paired with the Independence League’s second-half champion, the Casper Spuds, in the ILB best-of-five championship series, beginning next week. Games one and two will be played August 1st and 2nd at Mike Lansing Field, in Casper Wyoming. Game times have not been announced, as of yet. Game three of the series will be at Historic Moller Field, in Fremont, Friday, August 4th at 7:05pm. Game four (if necessary) will be Saturday, August 5th, in Fremont at 7:05pm and Game five (If necessary) will be Sunday, August 6th at 5:05pm, in Fremont. For tickets to the Moo home games in the Championship Series, go to: www.fremontmoo.com/tickets, or call (402)-660-1217 for more information.
Up Next: Fremont (30-20, 13-13) will wrap up the regular season this weekend, in a three-game series at the Hastings Sodbusters (16-34, 10-15). Game one of the series is Friday night, at Duncan Field, with first pitch at 6:35pm. Spearfish (24-29, 13-15) will host the Casper Spuds in a regular season ending three game series, beginning Friday.
On The Air: All Moo home and road games are broadcast on radio on Big Dog Country, 98.9 FM and 1340 AM, KHUB. Games can also be heard on smartphones, iPads, and other mobile devices by going to: www.fremontmoo.com/mixlr. All Moo home games have video streaming live at: www.fremontmoo.com and on YouTube at: BSDN Live.
