The Aplington-Parkersburg summer sports teams were each defeated by South Hardin in NICL crossover action Wednesday. As aired on 99 The Wave, South Hardin won the baseball game 10-8. The Tigers won 13-6 in four innings in the softball game.
In the baseball game, the Falcons struck quickly when Jaxson Kleespies singled to drive in two runs in the top of the first inning. But an offensive onslaught by South Hardin ensued shortly after. They scored eight runs in the first three innings, including four in the first. Garrett Anderson drove in two runs with no outs, followed by an RBI single by Casey Williamson and a bases-loaded walk by Braden Weig. Trailing 8-2 in the fourth inning, the Falcons finally generated a response. Preston Janssen and Sully Janssen each batted in runs, and Wes Shirk was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, cutting the deficit to 8-5. AP got to within two runs, but Anderson drove in two runs in the fifth to put the Tigers in front 10-6. AP scored two on an outfield error in the seventh, but could get no closer. Having committed five errors, Head Coach Brett Kleespies says the defense was less crisp than usual.
“Defensively, just were kind of off tonight,” Kleespies says. “You hate to blame it, we had a good game last night against West Marshall and got that, so coming off a high. I think we were kind of sitting back and just kind of nonchalant a little bit and we didn’t have a great infield. And so it kind of spilled over into the first couple innings and yeah, just untimely errors and they had some hits and I think they had three or four right up the middle right away. And then two kind of stuck between Preston and Jaxson there at short. And the lead off guy had two little bloops over over Jaxson’s head at short and it was one of those things that just kind of snowballed, there and they were hitting velo off of Wes, and so that kind of put us in a situation where we’re trying to conserve guys. Taylor Huddle came in and pitched really well for us tonight. He’s been one of those guys that kind of has been thrown into some untimely situations and games, and has done really well. Tonight, we defensively didn’t do what we needed to do tonight.”
Luke Jacobson led offensively with three hits. AP will close the regular season Thursday at Alburnett at 7:00.
“I’ll be honest, I always expect Aplington-Parkersburg to be a team that’s in it for all seven innings,” South Hardin coach Nathan Weig says. “And I told the guys that when we got up early, I knew it was gonna still be a battle. And it was about facing that adversity and battling back. And like I told them after the game, that’s big to see a team bounce back like that, kind of have us on the edge and be able to finish the game going into the postseason. That’s a big deal for us.”
Garrett Anderson, Peyton Welch and Joshua Spindler each had three hits.
In the softball game, South Hardin scored seven runs in the fourth inning to gain separation. Due to starting pitcher Aubrey Williamson sustaining an injury, Ellie Reints reached 120 pitches and the Falcons decided to forfeit due to shorthandedness.
AP will close the season Thursday at Hudson and South Hardin has reached the end of its regular season.
