Jermain, Longhorns shut down Mustangs
JASON LAWRENCE/DAILY FORUM
South Nodaway junior pitcher Ben Jermain fires a pitch early in the Longhorns’ 6-0 win over North Nodaway Thursday at Beal Park. Jermain threw a complete-game shutout, allowing just four hits while striking out four and walking two Mustang batters.
The last time the North Nodaway and South Nodaway baseball teams met, the Mustangs scored seven runs in the seventh inning to end the Longhorns’ season in the first round of the 2014 Class 1, District 16 Tournament.
South Nodaway didn’t give the Mustangs that chance Thursday afternoon at Beal Park, allowing just four hits in a 6-0 victory.
“A year ago, we played them and gave up seven in the last inning to lose,” South Nodaway head coach Aaron Murphy said. “We know what can happen, so we stayed on edge, but we were very confident and played like we knew our capabilities.”
The Longhorns (2-1) got to North Nodaway junior starter Koby Reynolds early as his South Nodaway junior counterpart Ben Jermain led off the bottom of the first with a walk. Jermain moved to second on a passed ball and sophomore second baseman Tristan Freemyer ripped a base hit to right field to plate Jermain and give him a little backing.
However, after junior catcher Bryce Deen reached first on a fielder’s choice and stole second, senior shortstop Garrett LaMaster followed Freemyer’s lead and drove in Deen to double the advantage early.
“Getting to (Reynolds) early was good,” Murphy said. “We were in control at that point. We had some jams and got out of some jams. … But getting to Reynolds, that was key.”
Reynolds settled down in the second and third innings, striking out the side in the second and facing just two batters over the minimum over the two innings combined. Reynolds struck out six while allowing six hits on the day.
Just like in the first inning, the Mustangs got two men on base with two outs in the fourth inning, but couldn’t bring them around to score. North Nodaway got just one runner to third base all day against Jermain, who scattered four hits and four strikeouts over seven innings.
“This early, pitchers it’s hard for them to find their rhythm,” Murphy said. “We’re very fortunate the pitchers we’ve put out there have really fell into the groove quick. Ben did his job today. He got pop flies and the ball barely left the infield. Getting ground balls, that’s what pitchers do. … That’s a pitcher out there pitching with confidence.”
The Longhorns added a little insurance in the bottom of the fourth inning as senior left fielder Logan Murphy opened the inning by reaching on an error. He advanced to second on an errant pickoff throw and senior third baseman Trestan McGeorge moved him to third with a single. McGeorge stole second and with one out, senior center fielder Jed Galbraith also reached on an error.
“A couple errors in that fourth inning hurt us,” North Nodaway head coach Andrew Webster said. “Really without the errors and whatnot, we’re looking at a two, three-run ballgame. There’s a lot of positives going forward for us.”
Sophomore right fielder Regan Meyer hit an RBI single and Jermain helped himself with a sacrifice fly in the next at-bat to give the Horns a 4-0 advantage.
After Freemyer was hit by a pitch, Deen roped a two RBI single to left field to give Jermain all the insurance he needed.
Reynolds stayed perfect at the dish and recorded his third hit of the afternoon — all singles — in the top of the fifth, but was picked off first base and tagged out in a rundown between first and second to end the Mustangs’ final scoring threat. Jermain didn’t allow another base runner the rest of the way.
“He was mixing it up up there,” Webster said of Jermain. “Anytime you can switch speeds some and sometimes he’d saw us off — we’d hit it off the handle a little bit. I think the guy had a heck of a performance and used his defense real well behind him.”
South Nodaway hosts Northeast Nodaway (0-1) at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 31 at Beal Park in Maryville. North Nodaway (0-1) takes a week off before hosting the Bluejays at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, April 2 in Hopkins.
JASON LAWRENCE/DAILY FORUM
North Nodaway junior first baseman Ben Hart drives a pitch into the outfield for one of the four Mustang hits Thursday during their 6-0 loss to South Nodaway. Hart finished 1-for-3 on the afternoon, just one of two Mustangs to record a hit in the loss.
