Courtesy of Rich Ray
Moo- 12, Spuds- 3
Fremont (R-H-E): 12-11-2; Casper: (R-H-E): 3-5-0
Win: Landon Mueller (3-1); Loss: Jullien Abraham (3-3); Save: Braden Sweet (2)
HR: Fremont: Tyler Harrington (2) (3rd; zero on base in the fourth inning; 4th; zero on base in sixth inning); Henry Hayman (5th; three on base in seventh inning); HR: Casper: None
Fremont, Nebraska- The Fremont Moo hit three home runs and moved within one win of the Independence League Baseball Championship with a 12-3 victory over the Casper Spuds, Friday night at Historic Moller Field.
Fremont started the scoring in the bottom of the second inning. Henry Hayman started it off with a single off Casper starter Jullien Abraham. Hayman stole second base and advanced to third on a fly out to right field by Hayden Lewis. The next batter, Connor Petersen, grounded out to shortstop, scoring Hayman, to put Fremont up, 1-0.
The Moo added to the lead in the fourth. Tyler Harrington led off by swinging at an Abraham 1-0 pitch and homered over the left center field fence to put Fremont up, 2-0. Two batters later, Hayden Lewis drew a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. After a Connor Petersen strikeout, Tyler Hummel singled off the left field fence, scoring Lewis, before getting thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a double. Fremont led 3-0.
The Spuds got the offense going in the top of the fifth and tied the game. Elijah Reeves and Dawson Baraconti drew back-to-back walks off Fremont starter Landon Mueller. Reeves stole third before Chase Burks hit a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Reeves, to make it 3-1. James Castognola hit an RBI double, bringing home Baraconi to make it 3-2. An errant pick off attempt by Mueller advanced Castognola to third base. Then, Matthew Marsic grounded out to second, scoring Castognola, to tie the game at 3-3.
Fremont recaptured the lead in the bottom of the fifth. Neil Jansen led off with a single. Then, Christian Hobbs doubled to put runners at second and third. The next batter, Carter Sintek grounded to short where Baraconi threw to third to retire Hobbs, but allowing Jansen to score, to make it 4-3.
Tyler Harrington struck again in the sixth. He swung at the first pitch from Abraham in the inning and homered over “The Moller Monster”, just inside the foul pole for his second long ball of the game, putting Fremont up, 5-3.
The Moo put the game out of reach in the bottom of the seventh. Neil Jansen led off with a double off reliever Adam Stolwick. Christian Hobbs grounded out to second, advancing Jansen to third. Then, Carter Sintek drew a walk and stole second base. The Spuds elected to intentionally walk Tyman Long to load the bases. After Harrington struck out, Henry Hayman swung at a Stolwick 2-2 pitch and hit a grand slam home run over the left field fence, to put Fremont ahead 9-3.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Fremont offense kept producing runs. Against reliever Ryan Schmidt, Connor Petersen was hit by a pitch, and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Then Tyler Hummel drew a walk. Casper made another pitching change, bringing Elijah Reeves to the mound, from center field, to throw. A passed ball advanced the runners to second and third. Two batters later, Christian Hobbs was hit by a pitch and gave way to Easton Steck to pinch run. Reeves walked Carter Sintek with the bases loaded to make the score 10-3. Two batters later, Tyler Harrington capped off the night with a two-RBI single to right, scoring Hummel and Steck to put The Moo up 12-3.
After three solid innings of relief, Braden Sweet returned to the mound to pitch the ninth. He got pinch hitter Danner Hamburg and Elijah Reeves to fly out to center field, for the first two outs. Dawson Baraconi singled and Chase Burks drew a walk to put runners at first and second. However, Sweet got James Castognola to swing and miss at a 3-2 pitch to end the game.
Fremont starter Landon Mueller (3-1) picked up the win. The Fremont native at Southeast Community College pitched 5.0 innings, giving up four hits, two earned runs, walked three and struck out five, while hitting one batter. Braden Sweet (2) earned the save. The Omaha native from Iowa Western Community College pitched 4.0 innings, giving up one hit, walked two, struck out four and hit one batter.
Casper starter Jullien Abraham (3-3) took the loss. He pitched 6.0 innings giving up nine hits, six runs, walked one, struck out two and gave up both home runs to Tyler Harrington, plus had one wild pitch. Austin Stolwick pitched 1.0 inning giving up one hit, three runs, walked two, struck out two and yielded the grand slam to Henry Hayman. Ryan Schmidt faced two batters, giving up two runs, walked one and hit one batter. Elijah Reeves pitched 1.0 inning, giving up one hit, one run, walked one and hit one batter.
Offensively, Fremont’s Carter Sintek was 0-for-3. However, the Fremont native at South Dakota State drove in two runs. Tyler Harrington was 3-for-4. The Lakeland, Tennessee native from Southwestern Tennessee Community College, headed to UAB, hit two solo home runs and drove in four. Henry Hayman was 2-for-4. The Melbourne, Australia native from Barton County Community College, headed to Akron hit a grand slam and had four RBI’s. Tyler Hummel was 2-for-3. The Nolensville, Tennessee native at Colorado School of Mines drove in one, and Neil Jansen was 2-for-4. The Cypress, California native at San Jose State had a single and a double.
For Casper, James Castognola was 1-for-5 with an RBI.
More Information: With the win, Fremont took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five Championship Series. In six games this season, Fremont and Casper have won three each.
Up Next: Fremont (33-22) will host Casper (33-24) in game four of the series, Saturday night. First pitch is 7:05pm. If Fremont wins, The Moo will claim the ILB Championship. If Casper wins, the decisive Game 5 will be Sunday at 5:05pm, at Historic Moller Field. For tickets to Game 4, go to: www.fremontmoo.com/tickets, or call (402)-660-1217 for more information.
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. All Moo home games have video streaming live on YouTube at: BSDN Live.
