Win over Durant is highlight of five-game week
Caleb Sauser of Monticello tags out a Durant runner at second base in the Panthers’ 7-3 home win over Durant June 10. (Photos by Pete Temple)
Tate Petersen comes across with a run for Monticello in the Durant game.
The biggest result of a five game week of high school baseball for Monticello Panthers was a 7-3 home win over Durant June 10 at Dailey Field.
What made it significant was not only that it was a River Valley Conference win, but it was a form of payback for a 6-0 loss to Durant in last season’s substate final game.
It was the Panthers’ second game in a row against a 2020 state tournament-qualifying team; Monticello (4-4, 5-7) also faced Mid-Prairie June 8 in a 9-5 loss.
“They are both state tournament teams,” Monticello coach Kolby Harms said. “To get a split with them, we’ll take that in a given week.”
Durant came into Thursday’s game leading the RVC South Division, but the Panthers jumped on the Wildcats early, tagging them for four runs in the bottom of the first inning. A three-run fourth inning made it a 7-1 lead before Durant added two runs in the fifth.
“We talk about it all the time,” Harms said, “that if we can just get out to an early lead, then we can stay aggressive on the basepaths, we can steal, we can push the issue.”
Dylan Roher pitched a solid 4 2/3 innings to get the win, allowing just one earned run on four hits and striking out eight.
“Dylan came out and attacked them,” the coach said.
Preston Ries came on in the fifth and got the Panthers out of a bases-loaded jam. He went on to pitch 2 1/3 innings of no-hit ball, fanning two.
“Preston has been huge. He’s had some big relief moments,” Harms said. “He shut the door there, and the upperclassmen took care of the rest.”
Monticello collected 14 hits. Roher helped his cause with a 4-for-4 outing. Caleb Sauser was 3-for-4 with two doubles. Justin Recker and Ries each had two hits and two runs batted in. One of Ries’ hits was a double. Recker stole two bases.
Earlier, the Panthers made a solid comeback in the week’s opening game, June 8 at Mid-Prairie. Down 6-0 through four innings, Monticello scored three in the top of the fifth inning and two more in the sixth to pull within one at 6-5. But the Golden Hawks answered with three in the bottom of the sixth to regain a four-run lead, and held on from there.
“We just didn’t finish some innings,” Harms said. “But I thought the late innings said a lot about us. I didn’t know if we’d turn over and get 10-runned, and we answered with a five-spot.”
Monticello had seven hits, Preston Ries was 2-for-3 with two doubles. Caleb Sauser had a triple and two runs batted in, and Tate Petersen had a double and two RBIs. Blaine Brighton was the starting pitcher, and took the loss. Grahm Schneiter and Sauser pitched in relief.
On June 11, non-conference opponent Maquoketa Valley paid a visit to Dailey Field, and Monticello grabbed an early 11-3 lead on the way to an 11-9 victory.
MV scored three runs in the top of the first inning, but Monticello scored 11 runs over its first three innings – 10 of them unearned – to take the lead.
“We’ve been putting the ball in play, putting pressure on defenses, and forcing them to make plays,” coach Harms said. “Then we kind of went into cruise control. They started chipping away and got their momentum rolling.”
The Wildcats rallied with three runs in the fourth inning and three more in the sixth to get within two runs, but Brighton came in to pitch the seventh inning for the Panthers and close out the win. Starter Sauser was the winning pitcher, and Brighton earned a save.
“We just made enough plays to win,” the coach said.
Monticello had 12 hits in that game. Tate Petersen went 4-for-4 with two RBIs and three stolen bases. The Panther attack also included a triple by Sauser and doubles by Connor Lambert and Recker. Ries and Recker both went 2-for-4.
The Panthers then traveled to Lisbon for a Saturday daytime doubleheader June 12 and lost a pair of close games, 9-7 and 5-4. The Lions’ seven-run third inning was the difference in the first game. Panther relief pitcher Peyton Schilling worked 3 1/3 innings, allowing no earned runs on three hits and striking out three. Ries hit a three-run homer for Monticello in the game.
In the second game, Lisbon scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to provide the winning margin. Monticello had nine hits, including 2-for-3 efforts from Recker and Roher, each of whom had a double. Sauser also doubled during the game.
“That’s probably the best hitting team we’ve seen all year, up and down the lineup,” Harms said of the Lions. “But with the bounces we got, and the mental mistakes we made, I can’t believe it wasn’t worse. Just one of those days.”
June 8
Mid-Prairie 9, Monticello 5
MONTICELLO AB R H BI
Sauser ss 4 2 1 2
Petersen 2b 4 0 1 2
Ries 3b 3 0 2 1
Recker lf 3 0 1 0
Roher rf 3 0 0 0
Monk dh 4 0 0 0
Brighton p 0 0 0 0
Sampson cr 0 0 0 0
Schneiter p 0 0 0 0
Gillmore c 3 0 1 0
Jesenovec cr 0 1 0 0
Lambert 1b 2 1 1 0
Luensman cf 2 1 0 0
Totals 28 5 7 5
Monticello 000 032 0 – 5 7 1
Mid-Prairie 321 003 x – 9 10 2
3B – Sauser.
2B – Ries 2, Petersen.
SB – Luensman.
Monticello IP H R ER BB SO
Brighton (L, 0-1) 2.2 6 6 6 4 1
Schneiter 3 3 3 1 1 2
Sauser 0.1 1 0 0 0 0
Total 6 10 9 7 5 3
June 10
Monticello 7, Durant 3
MONTICELLO AB R H BI
Sauser ss 4 2 3 0
Petersen 2b 3 1 1 0
Ries 3b 3 1 2 2
Recker lf 4 1 2 2
Roher p 4 0 4 1
Jesenovec cf 0 2 0 0
Monk dh 3 0 1 1
Sampson rf 0 0 0 0
Gillmore c 3 0 1 1
Schilling cr 0 0 0 0
Lambert 1b 1 0 0 0
Luensman cf 3 0 0 0
Totals 28 7 14 7
Durant 001 020 0 – 3 14 1
Monticello 400 300 x – 7 14 1
2B – Sauser 2, Ries.
SB – Recker 2, Petersen, Jesenovec,
Sauser, Schilling.
Monticello IP H R ER BB SO
Roher (W, 2-1) 4.2 4 3 1 3 8
Ries 2.1 0 0 0 0 2
Total 7 4 3 1 3 10
June 11
Monticello 11, Maq. Valley 9
MONTICELLO AB R H BI
Sauser p 4 2 1 0
Petersen ss 4 2 4 2
Ries 3b 4 2 2 2
Recker lf 4 1 2 2
Roher rf 4 0 1 1
Monk dh 3 1 0 0
Sampson 2b 0 0 0 0
Schneiter dh 1 0 0 0
Brighton p 0 0 0 0
Gillmore c 3 0 0 0
Jesenovec cr 0 1 0 0
Lambert 1b 3 2 2 1
Luensman cf 3 0 0 0
Totals 33 11 12 8
Maq. Valley 301 303 0 – 9 15 3
Monticello 164 000 x – 11 12 3
3B – Sauser.
2B – Recker, Lambert.
SB – Petersen 3, Ries, Recker, Jesenovec.
Monticello IP H R ER BB SO
Sauser (W, 1-2) 3.2 4 6 4 4 3
Petersen 1.1 5 3 2 0 1
Luensman 1 3 0 0 1 1
Brighton (S, 1) 1 0 0 0 0 1
Total 7 12 9 6 5 6
June 12
Lisbon 9, Monticello 7
(first game)
MONTICELLO AB R H BI
Sauser ss 3 1 1 0
Petersen 2b 3 1 1 0
Ries 3b 3 3 1 3
Recker lf 3 1 1 0
Roher rf 3 0 0 2
Monk dh 3 0 1 1
Schneiter p 0 0 0 0
Schilling p 0 0 0 0
Gillmore c 4 0 0 0
Jesenovec cr 0 0 0 0
Lambert 1b 4 0 1 0
Luensman cf 2 1 1 0
Totals 28 7 7 6
Monticello 103 320 0 – 7 7 7
Lisbon 017 100 x – 9 8 5
HR – Ries.
SB – Jesenovec.
Monticello IP H R ER BB SO
Schneiter (L, 1-2) 2.2 5 8 2 2 1
Schilling 3.1 3 1 0 2 3
Total 6 8 9 2 4 4
Lisbon 5, Monticello 4
(second game)
MONTICELLO AB R H BI
Sauser ss 2 1 1 0
Petersen 2b 2 0 1 0
Ries 3b 2 1 0 1
Recker lf 3 1 2 1
Roher rf 3 0 2 0
Monk c 4 0 0 0
Schneiter dh 3 0 0 0
Brighton p 0 0 0 0
Sampson 2b 0 0 0 0
Gillmore ph 1 0 1 1
Jesenovec cf 0 0 0 0
Schilling cr 0 0 0 0
Lambert 1b 3 1 1 0
Luensman cf 2 0 1 0
Totals 25 4 9 4
Monticello 101 100 1 – 4 9 2
Lisbon 020 030 x – 5 8 3
2B – Sauser, Recker, Roher.
Monticello IP H R ER BB SO
Brighton 1.1 1 2 2 3 2
Ries (L, 1-1) 4.2 5 3 2 2 4
Total 6 6 5 4 5 6
Category:
You may also like:
Subscriber Login
(319) 465-3555 | 111 E. Grand St | Monticello, IA 52310
