JUCO baseball: Warriors open with sweep at State Fair

Mar. 8—SEDALIA, Mo. — The Warrior era of Indian Hills baseball got off to a successful start.

The former Falcons scored four wins in four games against State Fair at Liberty Park Stadium's Dey Field. After 6-5 and 24-2 wins on Saturday, IHCC finished off the series sweep with 4-0 and 14-2 victories on Sunday.

"Obviously we're pleased to get (four) wins to start the year," IHCC head baseball coach Matt Torrez said. "Game one was nice to see our guys battle back after letting them back in it, and game two was one that just had everything going our way.

"It was just great to for our kids to be able to get on a field and compete in the game of baseball again. It's our expectation, but after this last year, the wins are a bonus."

The opener on Saturday saw the Warriors get on top right away as Pier-Oliver Boucher knocked in Sam Fortier, who had reached after being plunked at the plate to put IHCC up 1-0. Indian Hills tacked on three more in the second frame with the big blow coming from Ren Tachioka as the Warriors' No. 9-hitter drilled a two-run homerun to right to put the visitors up 4-0.

"We were able to create some offense early, which we love to see," Torrez said. "That allowed Nick Marshall to shake off some rust and settle in."

Torrez gave the game one pitching assignment to Marshall, and the Wisconsin native didn't disappoint as he shut down the Roadrunners through five frames. The sophomore righty got into trouble in the bottom of the sixth however as he issued a walk to open the inning and State Fair followed with a double and a single and suddenly, the lead was cut to 4-2. Torrez called on Maddux Hoaglund out of the pen, but the Warriors' fortunes didn't improve as State Fair plated two more to tie it up before Arturo Rodrigues came on with two outs to put out the fire with a strikeout.

"That sixth inning got away from us, but Arturo got it shut down with it still being tied," Torrez added. "It was nice to see our offense respond in the seventh."

That seventh inning saw sophomore Dave Janssen reach after being hit by a pitch and Billy Rivera came through with a triple to hand IHCC the lead back at 5-4. The Warriors added an insurance run when Tachioka knocked in Rivera with a sacrifice fly to center to make it 6-4 heading to the bottom of the seventh.

As it turned out, Torrez's troops would need that extra run as Rodriguez gave up a single before getting the first out, but then the Roadrunners had back-to-back singles to draw the Roadrunners to within a run at 6-5. Rodriquez coaxed a foul out for the second out, but then he hit the next batter to load the bags. A fly out to Tachioka in right ended the suspense and handed the Warriors their first win of the season.

IHCC found a way to win despite being outhit 11-6. Tachioka led the team with the second inning homer and three RBIs. Rivera was also 1-3 with the crucial triple in the seventh, and two RBIs. Boucher, Janssen, Richardo Van Grieken and Justin L'Archeveque each added hits to the Warrior total.

Marshall ended up giving up six hits, three runs, all earned on seven strikeouts and one walk in his 5 1/3 innings. Rodriguez picked up the win in his 1 1/3 innings of relief, allowing one run on three hits and two strikeouts.

The nightcap lasted just five frames as the Warriors scored in every inning including a 13-run outburst in the second frame to turn it into a laugher.

"That second inning was something I've not seen much of ever," Torrez said of his team's offensive explosion. "Everything we hit found a hole, or was just out of reach for them."

Noel Perez singled in Boucher in the opening inning of game two to give the Warriors another quick lead at 1-0, but the damn broke for the Roadrunners in the second as Indian Hills would bat around the order twice to build the lead to 14-0 heading to the bottom of the second.

IHCC sophomore Wyatt Wendell returned to the mound for the first time since an outstanding freshman campaign in 2019, and the right-hander pitched three innings to get the win. Wendell struck out three and walked two.

"It took a little time for Wyatt to settle in, but he made the pitches we needed him to," Torrez added. "It was great to see him out there putting up zeros again."

Jurgen Switzer came on with the game in hand in the fourth frame and allowed State Fair's only two runs of the contest. Switzer didn't allow a hit, but control issues led to four walks.

"We wanted to get Jurgen out there to get some work because it's his first outing since Tommy John surgery," Torrez said.

Andrew Beissner finished the last 1 1/3 innings on the hill for IHCC, and shut the door allowing just one hit and striking out one.

The Warrior offense was led by four different players with three hits apiece. Fortier went 3-4 with double and five RBIs while Boucher was 3-4 with a triple and five RBIs.

Tachioka was 3-4 with four RBIs. Perez was 3-4 with a double and three RBIs.

Game one saw Ricardo Van Grieken get the offense on the board by driving in Noel Perez in the fourth with a double to put the Warriors up, 1-0. That would stand until the top of the sixth frame when Fortier singled to knock in David Janssen and Billy Rivera to make it 3-0.

The Warriors would tack on another run in the seventh on a Perez single to plate Noah Butler. The Indian Hills pitching duo of Charles Lefebvre and Gavin Hinkley would ensure that IHCC wouldn't need it as the two hurlers combined to shut out the Roadrunners while surrendering just four hits.

Lefebvre (1-0) earned the win going 3 2/3 innings with four strikeouts and one walk, while Hinckley closed it out over the final 3 1/3, fanning two and walking one.

"Both pitchers did a good job of keeping them off the board," Torrez said. "The few times State Fair threatened, but they both delivered key pitches when we needed it."

Perez led the offense in the opener, going 3-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Fortier delivered a pair of hits from the leadoff slot in addition to two RBI.

The Warrior offense got tuned up in the nightcap as IHCC scored five in the fourth, and seven in the sixth to break open what was just a 3-2 lead for Torrez's group at the time. Indian Hills played long ball in piling up impressive offensive stats as C.J. Castillo homered in the second to start the party, and Janssen and Rivera added round-trippers in the sixth as the Warriors were pulling away.

"Our offense did a great job again of putting pressure on the other team by scoring in four of the six innings," Torrez said. "Our hitters did a great job of taking advantage of most of our scoring opportunities and maximized those innings."

Fortier was again the trigger man at the top of the lineup as he piled up four hits in five plate appearances including a double and two RBIs. Rivera was 2-4 with a homer and four runs knocked in. Castillo ended up 2-4 with a single and a home run.

Perez, Van Grieken, and Ren Tachioka each added a pair of hits to the Warriors' gaudy hit total of 16.

Freshman Douglas Rojas got the start and the win in three innings on the hill for Torrez as he surrendered six hits and SFCC's only two runs, both earned, on six strikeouts and a walk. Dade Hensley pitched a pair of innings and Gercal Reyes one in relief.

"We were trying to get people mound time in the last contest so we can get them ready for the season," Torrez said. "All three of them did a good job of competing in the strike zone to give us a chance to make plays behind them. State Fair had a couple of opportunities to put up big innings on us, and the pitchers made some big pitches to shut those opportunities down."

The Warriors (4-0) will now be idle until their conference doubleheader opener on Wednesday, Mar. 17 at Creston versus Southwestern.