Thunder push past no-quit Mustangs
JON DYKSTRA/THE FORUM
Nodaway Valley junior Lane Larabee throws a pitch on Friday in Guilford.
GUILFORD, Mo. — North Nodaway finished the year without a win in baseball, and if any team could’ve mailed it in for districts, it was the hard-luck Mustangs.
The Mustangs were coming off two 1-run heartbreaks in their last four games and were dealt a tough draw with a Nodaway Valley squad that beat them by 10 earlier this season.
North Nodaway didn’t quit though and even when the Mustangs fell behind 5-0 in the third inning, they battled. The game felt similar to the season finale in basketball where the Mustangs went down fighting against Platte Valley.
“We played our best game of the year,” North Nodaway coach Cody Jenkins said. “Obviously we didn’t want it to be our last game of the year, but we definitely put forth our best showing of the year today.”
At the end of the day, Nodaway Valley proved its fortitude as well after North Nodaway roared back to within 5-4 to close the game out with a 6-4 win.
Thunder ace Lane Larabee had his team off to as good of a start as you could have — striking out the side in the top of the first inning.
A single for senior Kayden Conn put Nodaway Valley up 2-0 after one inning.
Larabee struck out the side again in the top of the second. North Nodaway put its first ball in play in the top of the third, but a fly out, strikeout and ground out provided a perfect first trip through the order for Larabee.
“Lane Larabee, he is a hell of a pitcher,” Jenkins said. “He really came out and he really dominated us for the first three innings. Then we started getting our timing down, hitting the ball, putting it in play and good things happened.”
Nodaway Valley added three more runs in the bottom of the third and took a 5-0 lead.
The Mustangs responded in the top of the fourth with back-to-back 2-out RBI singles by Blaine Clements and Preston Hansen sparking a rally. After an error, Daryn Berg added a single and the Mustangs cut the margin to 5-4.
The pitchers settled in from there with Ethan Fry out of North Nodaway’s bullpen and Tye Hoyt out of Nodaway Valley’s. Hoyt says he likes the role of stalling another team’s momentum when he enters the game.
“I just knew I had to go in there and get it done,” the freshman said.
Hoyt also provided the only run-scoring hit off either reliever. With two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Hoyt beat out an infield single to plate Tyler Gray for a 6-4 lead.
Brice Trimble got the tying run to the plate for North Nodaway with a leadoff single in the top of the seventh, but Hoyt erased it with a grounder back to himself which he turned into a double play. Hoyt picked up a strikeout to end the game.
“Brice hit that one and I was like, ‘Gosh dang it,’” Hoyt said. “But then I caught one and turned it to second. It was good.”
Larabee finished with 3 2/3 innings of 3-hit baseball with two earned runs and eight strikeouts. Hoyt had 3 1/3 innings of shutout ball with four hits allowed, four strikeouts and no walks. Hoyt needed just 28 pitches to record 10 outs.
“I felt like that when we got up, we kinda let off the gas for some reason,” Nodaway Valley coach Mike Hollingsworth said. “They got timely hits. … At that point in time, they had all the momentum in their favor, so Tye coming and making that huge double play at the end, gave him confidence and gave (the team) confidence.”
Nodaway Valley was led by two hits from Conn.
North Nodaway saw Clements go 3 2/3 innings with just one hit allowed and one earned run. Fry pitched 2 1/3 innings and allowed four hits and no earned runs. Trevin Wyllie had two hits to lead the Mustangs.
“Can’t say enough about Blaine Clements, he really kept us in that game,” Jenkins said. “And then Ethan came in and kept them there.”
North Nodaway saw seniors Aydan Blackford, Fry, Trimble, Berg and Hansen finish out their Mustang careers.
“Every single one of them brings something different,” Jenkins said. “They bring the leadership, they bring the comedy, they bring the stability, they just bring everything. Any attribute you want, one of them has it.”
Nodaway Valley will face top-seeded South Holt in the district semifinals on Monday. The Knights beat Nodaway Valley 2-1 and 12-3 in their two meetings this season.
“We’ve just got to get it done and lock in,” Hoyt said.
