Wildcats overtake Braves 9-6

LEOPOLD — Starting pitcher Darren VanGennip's Leopold teammates forced him to be patient Monday.

The Wildcats finally overtook Scott County Central with four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to knock off the Braves 9-6 in their Class 1 District 2 baseball opener.

Leopold advanced to face top-seeded Oran in the semifinals today at 2 p.m. in Leopold.

The Wildcats put runners on base every inning against Scott County, but Braves starter Ben Freed made some crucial pitches and got some help from his defense until the sixth inning.

"We were nervous," VanGennip said. "We wanted to get a win and go to the second game of districts. We were real nervous about that."

Freed's defense bailed him out in the second after Leopold loaded the bases with no outs. Scott County turned a triple play to quash the threat.

Cody Van De Ven hit a little popup to the pitcher and was called out on the infield fly rule. But Freed dropped the ball, and Leopold's runners took off. The Braves recorded the second out at home when VanGennip was tagged at the plate, then the third out came when Ryan Davis tried for third.

"That was just a fluke thing," Leopold coach Brandon Robinson said. "I don't think anybody knew what was going on. They just started taking off running and I'm saying back. By the time we knew what was going on, they already had two outs. But as I told them, you don't dwell on it."

The Wildcats broke through in the sixth, thanks to patience and timely hitting. Van De Ven and John Bohnsack singled to chase Freed, who gave way to Caleb Johnson.

After a walk to load the bases, Clayton Stoverink dribbled an infield single to tie the game at 6-6. He said it was difficult to face the hard-throwing Johnson after batting against Freed for the first 5 1/3 innings.

"The whole game we were used to that one guy [Freed], and this guy [Johnson] started pitching faster," Stoverink said. "It kind of threw us off a little bit."

Dustin Thiele's sacrifice fly gave the Wildcats their first lead, then three straight walks, two with the bases loaded, provided the final margin.

"We were having guys swinging at the ball that was out of the zone," Robinson said about the difference between the first five innings and the sixth. "The thing is he [Freed] was getting tired and we just took advantage of it. I don't think we did anything different approach wise. I think we swung at better pitches and we took advantage of him throwing a lot of pitches."

Stoverink pitched a perfect seventh to earn the save. He said the plan was for him to pitch the seventh if Leopold could gain the lead.

"I owe that one to Darren," Stoverink said. "He's the one who pitched the most. I came in fresh and did what I had to do and that was it."

VanGennip did enough to keep his team in the game. He allowed six runs over six innings, but managed to avoid giving up a big inning.

"I felt strong, probably the strongest I felt all year," VanGennip said. "I thought I was throwing the ball fairly decent. I was just throwing it hard and throwing strikes and being able to put it down the plate."

VanGennip's biggest weapon was the strikeout. He finished with 11 strikeouts, and walked four.

"His curveball really wasn't that sharp like it usually is," Robinson said. "But he was successful because he was throwing strikes and he was getting ahead of hitters. Even though he didn't have the curveball, they were still thinking it."

VanGennip helped himself at the plate, too. He finished 3-for-3 with a walk. He said he usually performs well at the plate when he's pitching.

"I have a lot more confidence when I'm batting," he said. "When I bat well, then I have more confidence pitching, so it kind of works together."

Scott County 202 020 0 — 6 7 1

Leopold 200 124 x — 9 15 2

WP — Darren VanGennip. LP — Ben Freed. 2B — John Boese. 3B — Wade Wiseman. Multiple hits — Scott County: 2-2; Leopold: John Bohnsack 3-4, Wiseman 2-3, Clayton Stoverink 2-4, VanGennip 3-3. Records — Leopold 8-9.