LaMaster, Faustlin square off in pitching duel
PHIL COBB/DAILY FORUM
Northeast Nodaway junior second baseman Max Giesken looks the ball into his glove before flipping it to senior shortstop Garrett Jackson for a force out in a 2-0 loss for the Bluejays to the South Nodaway Longhorns Monday afternoon.
Two Northwest Missouri Baseball Conference teams squared off in a pitchers’ duel Monday afternoon with the South Nodaway Longhorns coming out on top over Northeast Nodaway, 2-0 at Beal Park in Maryville.
South Nodaway senior Garrett LaMaster was the winning pitcher, striking out 10 and walking two, while giving up just two hits and no runs.
“It felt better and better each inning,” LaMaster said. “Our defense has gotten stronger each game.”
LaMaster helped his cause by leading his team on the offensive side, as well.
He smacked a single, driving in teammate Bryce Deen, a junior, for his team’s first run of the game in the bottom of the first inning.
That was the only run of the game until the bottom of the sixth when LaMaster doubled to deep right field. Pinch runner Regan Meyer, a sophomore, scored on a fielding error of a ground ball by senior pinch hitter Quetin Ebrecht and that accounted for all the scoring in the contest.
“(LaMaster) was very dominant,” South Nodaway head coach Aaron Murphy said. “The defense we put behind him tonight showed how dominant it could be when they’re working together off of it.
“He had the defense behind him and that gave him the confidence to throw it and do his thing. He threw strikes and they put the ball in play.”
Equally dominant on the mound was Northeast Nodaway senior Andrew Faustlin.
He struck out 11 batters and walked just one while giving up five hits and only one earned run.
Faustlin worked his way out of a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the fourth inning that could have resulted in a big inning for the Longhorns.
Deen reached on a dropped third strike and advanced on a single from senior right fielder Logan Murphy.
LaMaster then smashed a long fly ball to left that was caught by Northeast Nodaway freshman left fielder Dylan Mildfelt for the first out of the inning.
Both runners advanced when Longhorn junior first baseman Corby Walker hit into a fielder’s choice for the second out, then senior center fielder Jed Galbraith walked to load the bases with two outs.
Faustlin seemed to reach down for something extra to strike out the final batter of the inning.
He would come out in the bottom of the next inning to strike out all three batters he faced.
“Andrew kept us in the game the whole time,” Northeast Nodaway head coach Vance Proffitt said. “This was his first game pitching of the year. He’s feeling strong.
“They just had a couple of hits that landed where nobody was and we weren’t able to do the same thing. We hit the ball hard, too, I thought, just right at people.
“(Sophomore Tristan Freemyer) did a real nice job catching, too. After the first inning those two started meshing together and did a nice job.”
South Nodaway (3-1) comes right back at 4:30 p.m. today to host Mid-Buchanan at Beal Park.
Northeast Nodaway (0-2) travels to Hopkins to take on the North Nodaway Mustangs at 4:30 p.m. Thursday.
PHIL COBB/DAILY FORUM
South Nodaway senior pitcher Garrett LaMaster rares back to fire a pitch in the first inning of his team’s 2-0 victory over the Northeast Nodaway Bluejays Monday at Beal Park in Maryville. LaMaster struck out 10 batters and supplied much of the offense in the shutout performance.
PHIL COBB/DAILY FORUM
Although it was just his first pitching performance of the season, Northeast Nodaway senior Andrew Faustlin looked like he was in mid-season form, striking out 11 batters in a 2-0 loss to the South Nodaway Longhorns Monday at Beal Park in Maryville.
