Fremont, Nebraska – On the Fourth of July, what do you expect? Explosiveness. Offensively, there was plenty of that at Historic Moller Field, Thursday. However, what The Fremont Moo did not expect was to lose to a team that had dropped their first thirteen games of the year. That happened… When The Plainsmen defeated Fremont 13-9, in ten innings.
The offensive show started in the bottom of the second, when Fremont got on the board first. Against Plainsmen starter Owen Kelley, Fremont’s Bridger Coleman led off the inning with a solo home run to left field, putting The Moo up, 1-0. The next batter, Stephen Espinoza, doubled and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Two batters later, Trey Brooks grounded out to shortstop, scoring Espinoza, to make it a 2-0 Fremont lead.
The Plainsmen got on the board and took their first lead in the top of the fourth inning. Against Fremont starter Robert O’Malley, Luke Froehlich led off with a walk, then stole second. Two batters later, Jordan Massis also walked, to put runners at first and second. Then, Kyle Whitaker hit a three-run home run over the left field fence, putting The Plainsmen up, 3-2.
Fremont answered right back in the bottom of the fourth. The Moo sent nine batters to the plate and scored four runs. Isaac Bonner led off with a double, then advanced to third on a wild pitch. Three batters later, Miles Meadows smacked an rbi triple to the left center field gap, scoring Bonner, to tie the score at 3-3. Then, Josh Blount hit an rbi double, scoring Meadows, to put Fremont back in front, 4-3. Cooper Fuchino followed with a walk. Then, Parker Mooney hit an rbi single, scoring Blount, to make it 5-3, Fremont. Bridger Coleman followed with a single, bringing in Fuchino, to make it 6-3.
The Plainsmen got a run back in the top of the fifth. With two outs, Brody Boyle walked, then stole second. Then, Luke Froehlich hit an rbi double, plating Boyle, to make it 6-4.
The Moo responded with two more runs in the bottom of the fifth. With two outs, Dylan Brandenburg singled, then stole second. Then, Miles Meadows delivered an rbi single, scoring Brandenburg, to make it 7-4. The Plainsmen went to the bullpen and brought in Ben Brown. Meadows stole second, then third and scored on an errant throw by Plainsmen catcher Kobe Sandstrom, to make it 8-4, Fremont.
In the sixth, Fremont went to the bullpen and brought in Bobby Simmons to pitch. With one out, The Plainsmen’s Kyle Whitaker singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Kobe Sandstrom walked. Then, C.J. Fish hit an rbi double, scoring Whitaker, to make the score, 8-5.
Fremont got the run right back in the bottom of the sixth. Cooper Fuchino led off the inning with a solo home run to left center field, to make it a 9-5, Fremont lead.
The Plainsmen started their comeback with an offensive surge in the top of the seventh. Luke Froehlich led off with a single. Two batters later, Jordan Massis singled. A ground out by Kyle Whitaker put the runners at second and third. Then, Kobe Sandstrom hit a two-rbi single to center, making it a 9-7 game.
Fremont went to the bullpen in the top of the eighth and brought Grant Wagner to the mound. C.J. Fish led off the inning with a double. Two batters later, Jackson Brooks hit an rbi double, scoring Fish, to make it 9-8. Then, Brody Boyle hit an rbi single, scoring Brooks, to tie the game at 9-9.
Neither team scored in the ninth, thus, pushing the game to extra innings. In the tenth, The Plainsmen’s Kobe Sandstrom was the placed runner at second. Against Fremont reliever, Alex Oliver, C.J. Fish laid down a sacrifice bunt, advancing Sandstrom to third, with one out. Dean Samuel drew a walk to put runners at first and third. Oliver struck out Jackson Brooks for the second out. However, Brody Boyle hit an rbi single, scoring Sandstrom, to make it 10-9. Then, Luke Froehlich followed with an rbi single, scoring Samuel, to put The Plainsmen up 11-9. The next batter, Chris Ortega, hit a two-rbi single, scoring Boyle and Froehlich, to make it a 13-9 Plainsmen advantage, before Oliver got Jordan Massis to hit into an inning-ending fielder’s choice.
In the bottom of the tenth, Fremon’s Dylan Brandenburg was the placed runner at second. Ben Brown struck out Miles Meadows for the first out. Then, Josh Blount singled, to put runners at first and third. The threat for Fremont ended when Brown got Cooper Fuchino to pop up to shortstop for the second out and Parker Mooney grounded out to first for the final out of the game.
The Plainsmen (1-13, 1-8) picked up their first win of the season with thirteen runs off fifteen hits and committed two errors. Fremont (18-14, 5-3) scored nine runs off seventeen hits and had one error.
Plainsmen starter Owen Kelley pitched 4.2 innings, giving up seven runs off thirteen hits, struck out five, walked one, gave up one home run and had two wild pitches. Ben Brown (1-0) earned the win with 5.1 innings of relief. He gave up two runs off four hits, struck out ten, gave up one home run and had one wild pitch.
Fremont starter Robert O’Malley pitched 5.0 innings, giving up four runs off four hits, struck out ten with three walks, gave up one home run and had one wild pitch. Bobby Simmons pitched 2.0 innings, giving up three runs off five hits, struck out three with one walk and one wild pitch. Grant Wagner pitched 1.0 inning, giving up two runs off three hits and struck out one. Alex Oliver (1-1) took the loss. He pitched 2.0 innings, giving up three earned runs off four hits, struck out three and walked one.
Offensively for The Plainsmen, Jackson Brooks was 2-for-6 with an rbi. Brody Boyle was 2-for-5 and drove in two runs. Luke Froehlich was 3-for-5 with two rbi’s. Chris Ortega was 1-for-6 and drove in two runs. Jordan Massis was 2-for-5. Kyle Whitaker was 2-for-5 with a three-run home run. Kobe Sandstrom was 1-for-4 and drove in two. C.J. Fish was 2-for-4 with an rbi.
For Fremont, Miles Meadows was 2-for-6 with two rbi’s. Josh Blount was 4-for-6 and drove in one run. Cooper Fuchino was 3-for-5 with a solo home run. Parker Mooney was 1-for-5 and drove in one run. Bridger Coleman was 2-for-5 with a solo home run. Trey Brooks was 0-for-3 with an rbi groundout.
The two teams will play game two of their four game series Friday night. First pitch at Historic Moller Field is 7:05 p.m.
