FORT DODGE, Iowa – The Northeast Community College baseball team traveled to Fort Dodge, Iowa Thursday to begin the Region 11 Tournament. The Hawks fell to five seed Des Moines Area Community College by a final score of 10-2 in Game 1 of the tournament and dropped Game 3 of the event by a final score of 6-2 against six seed North Iowa Area Community College in 10 innings.
Northeast (34-24, 21-12 ICCAC) gave the ball to Aidan Brainard (Littleton, Colo.) in Game 1 of the tournament and the sophomore tossed a gem as the starting pitcher for the Hawks. Brainard fanned six Bears over five innings of work and allowed just three hits. Brice Wallar (Papillion, Neb.) launched a two-run shot in the bottom of the fourth to put Northeast ahead, but that would be the last time the Hawks would lead in the matchup as DMACC would push three runs across in the sixth, seventh and ninth frames.
After the loss in Game 1, Northeast hit the field again in the nightcap in a battle with NIACC in what was a win-or-go-home matchup. The Hawks got on the board first in the bottom of the first inning when Derek Woolwine (Boulder, Colo.) singled on a line drive to center field to score Cade Grevengoed (West Des Moines, Iowa). The showdown shifted into a pitchers’ duel soon after as neither team put a run on the scoreboard until the seventh inning when the Trojans added two runs. Wallar drew a walk with the bases loaded to score Kale Jensen (Central City, Neb.) in the bottom half of the seventh and then the ballgame went scoreless until the 10th frame.
In extra innings, NIACC scored four runs in the top half of the 10th inning and Northeast was unable to match that total in the bottom half of the 10th to conclude what was an incredibly successful for the Hawks.
STAT SHEET AGAINST DMACC:
Brice Wallar (Papillion, Neb.): 1-4, HR, R, 2 RBI
Kale Jensen (Central City, Neb.): 2-4, R
Aidan Brainard (Littleton, Colo.): 5 IP, 3 H, ER, 6 K
STAT SHEET AGAINST NIACC:
Derek Woolwine (Boulder, Colo.): 2-3, RBI, BB
Brice Wallar (Papillion, Neb.): 1-1, RBI, BB
Oliver Ward (Mill Creek, Wash.): 7 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 8 K
HEAR FROM THE HAWKS COACH:
Head Baseball Coach Marcus Clapp on the day and what this group has meant to him:
“Obviously, it’s tough and disappointing,” Clapp said. “This was a good group of kids. They took care of business on and off the field and represented Northeast the right way. I also want to thank the parents of this group for all that they did this year.”
