The Fremont Moo broke through with two runs in the sixth and three in the seventh to take control in a 6-3 win over the Hastings Sodbusters, giving Fremont its seventh consecutive win, a new franchise record.
The game was tied at one through five innings. The Sodbusters had quieted the Moo bats, with Hastings starting pitcher Shane Scott retiring 11 Fremont hitters in a row at one point. But with two outs in the sixth, Brock Reller broke that streak with a double to right. With Ryan Koski at the plate, Reller moved to third on a wild pitch. Then Koski reached on an error, scoring Reller and giving the Moo a 2-1 lead. Jackson Meier followed with a double to left, driving in Reller to push the Fremont lead to 3-1.
The Moo (7-1) cranked up the offensive attack again in the seventh. With one out, Chase Reynolds doubled to center. Tyler Push was hit by a pitch, putting two on with one out. Darien Morphew singled through the left side, scoring Reynolds to make it 4-1, Moo. After EJ Taylor was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Reller lined a two-run single to right, scoring Push and Morphew to make it 6-1, Fremont.
The Sodbusters (2-6) scored one in the seventh, then mounted a threat with the bases loaded and one out in the seventh. Hastings pushed across a run to make it 6-3, but then the Moo summoned Marco Ozuna, Jr., from the bullpen. He struck out Cameron McClure and got a fielder’s choice grounder to get out of the inning with the Moo still leading by three. Ozuna induced a double-play ball from Tyler Monroe and struck out Treyton Kozal to clinch the victory.
Ozuna closed a solid pitching performance by Fremont. In his Moo debut, Joe Richter (1-0) threw the first five innings, allowing just a run and three hits while striking out four. Grant Hubka surrendered just one run in two innings of relief, before giving way to Luke Ballard, who handed the game to Ozuna.
Fremont took a 1-0 lead in the first. With one out, Morphew singled to center, moved to second on a Taylor walk, then scored two batters later when Koski singled to right. Hastings tied the game in fourth, before the Moo pushed across two in the sixth.
Reller led the offense, going 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI. Morphew was 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.
The win was Fremont’s seventh straight, breaking a franchise record for longest-ever win streak. The Moo had three previous winning streaks of six games, July 19 through 24, 2019, July 23 through 30, 2020 and August 8 through 14, 2020.
Fremont now travels to Dickinson, N. Dak., to take on the Badlands Big Sticks, in a rematch of last year’s championship series. First pitch Friday is scheduled for 7:05 pm, and the game can be heard on FremontMoo.com and Big Dog 98.9 FM and 1340 AM.
