The Aplington-Parkersburg baseball team went 2-0 and Clarion-Goldfield-Dows went 0-2 as they competed in the inaugural Strikeout Cancer Wayne Bergstrom Classic hosted by the Cowboys on Friday. A-P won 5-0 over Turkey Valley in the opener, C-G-D fell 8-7 to Turkey Valley in the second game and A-P won 13-2 in five innings over C-G-D to conclude the day.
In the opener, Aplington-Parkersburg scored a run in the third inning and defended that 1-0 lead into the seventh inning. In the seventh, the Falcons pulled away plating four runs, with one scoring on a Turkey Valley error and three scoring on RBI singles by Benny Waller, Jaxon Kleespies and Wes Shirk. Waller was zoned in for the Falcons on the mound, pitching a complete game shutout with 11 strikeouts. Waller also led the team with two RBI’s.
Falcons Head Coach Brett Kleespies on Waller’s performance and the Falcons being part of the event.
“The turf is pretty nice to play on once in a while, the balls rolled pretty pure, so defensively we played really well. A really good job out of Benny Waller on the mound today. He hasn’t pitched in while and that was his longest outing today pitch wise. The bats came alive there in the later innings. We had some walks and did some things that we need to do. We took some at bats that we needed to, deep in the count and just kind of extended things. Overall pleased,” says Kleespies. “Reminding the kids that life is short, we get to play baseball and honor some of their coaches and family with the strikeout cancer game. Just to be a part of this for the first time is good and hopefully we get to do it again next year.”
In game two, trailing 2-0 the Cowboys rallied in the second inning to take a 4-2 lead, behind an RBI apiece by Ryland Morgan and Paxton Lingenfelter and two Trojans errors. The Trojans battled back, plating three runs in the third for a 5-4 lead. The Cowboys evened the game up at 5-5 in the third as Paxton Lingenfelter drove in his second RBI. CGD plated two unearned runs in the fourth for their first lead at 7-5. The Trojans scored the final three runs of the game including two in the fifth to hang on for a one run win.
In the final game, A-P soared out to a 8-0 lead, scoring four runs in each of the first two innings. The Cowboys scored twice in the third inning to make it an 8-2 ballgame. The Falcons responded with five more runs between the third and fourth innings to end the game early via mercy rule in the fifth. The Falcons allowed only one hit and one earned run by the Cowboys in the matchup. Jaxson Kleespies led the way with two RBI’s for A-P.
Cowboys Head Coach Ryan Nail on the chance to give back and finding their stride at the plate.
“This is always a good event. It started as a strikeout cancer event and now has evolved a little bit. It’s great to recognize former community members and bring some of their family back to see that honor. Tori’s Angels has been an organization that’s been very close to me for quite a few years now. Our ability to give back to them a little bit helps things too,” says Nail. “We’re seeing a lot of strikes and we need to put better swings on strikes. Game in, game out, we need to keep it clean on the field to keep the game close for us.”
The event raised around $1,000 for Tori’s Angels Foundation.
C-G-D (5-7) will host Hampton-Dumont-CAL for an NCC doubleheader on Monday. A-P (3-5) will host Hudson for an NICL-Central doubleheader on Monday.
