Neosho, Missouri

'Team 47' started off their 2021 season with a four-game bout on the road with the NJCAA's #8 squad, the Crowder Roughriders. 

The Reivers sent Peyton Zabel to the hill to start the series and the Reivers gave the freshman early, striking for three in the first.  Shortstop Henry Zipay scored on a wild pitch, while corner infielders Noah Hull and Drew Grindahl followed with RBI groundouts.  Three run was all that Zabel would need, striking out six Roughriders over four innings of work, while only allowing one hit.  Outfielder Tommy Bean added an RBI in the fourth on a two-strike single to right field, scoring catcher Brady Prewitt.  Hull added two more insurance runs in the sixth with a bases-loaded double to the right-center gap.  Reliever Caleb Reidel came in and earned the save for IWCC in the opener, he scattered four hits and a run over three innings, striking out four.

Game two started off a mirror image as game one, with Head Coach Marc Rardin's squad jumping to a three-run lead in the first on a bases-loaded triple by shortstop Ben Palmer to the right-center gap.  Crowder answered back loudly two innings later, plating eight in the bottom half of the third, adding to their lead in the fourth and fifth.  Reivers' starter Harrison Cook struck out six in 2.2 innings pitched.  Bean and second-baseman Dylan Robertson each had two hits for the Reivers to highlight the offense in the nightcap, a 13-3 Crowder victory.

Saturday afternoon, IWCC's offense was ready once more, attacking Roughrider pitching early.  Leftfielder Aaron Staehley was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to plate the first run of the game in the first and the Reivers added more in the second.  Second baseman Dylan Robertson singled home catcher Carter Wright to make it 2-0.  Crowder bounced back to take the lead against sophomore Evan O'Toole, scoring three runs in their half of the second.  The Reivers would even things up a half an inning later, when designated hitter Jaden Brown answered with an RBI single and Trenton Harris followed with an RBI ground out to give IW the lead at 4-3.  Rightfielder Evan Martin added an RBI in the 4th and the 6th as well to push the lead to 6-3.  Hull later scored Martin on an RBI single, then came in to score himself on a wild pitch.  Crowder fought back, adding three runs to cut the deficit to a pair of runs before freshman Noah Manning came in and shut the door on the Roughrider rally, striking out two in two-thirds of an inning of work.  O'Toole earned his first win of the season in the Reiver comeback, striking out four in 5.1 innings of work.

In the series finale, Conner Mackay started on the mound.  The sophomore struck out five in four innings in his first outing of the year.  Offensively the Reivers answered back to an early Crowder lead in the third with an RBI double by designated hitter Auggie Rasmussen to tie the game at one apiece.  However, Crowder extended their lead with single runs in the third, fourth, and three in the sixth.  The Reivers finally got to Crowder after the Roughriders lifted starter James Hicks after seven tough innings of work.  The Reivers' led off with Henry Zipay getting hit with an inside fastball to start the line.  Game four second baseman Trenton Harris followed with a single before scoring on a three-run homer by Ben Palmer to cut the lead to 6-4.  Crowder answered back with one in the bottom of the eighth off of reliever Will Stevens, who struck out three after the Roughriders scored.

"It's always good to finally get outside and start the season against good competition.  It was a good first weekend, all things considered, I was pleased with how we handled the movement of scheduling (the games were bumped up a day due to weather concerns) and competed well for our first time out," said Coach Rardin, now in his 19th season, "Room to improve in all aspects, and we're excited to get back to work this week and prepare for the rest of the spring."

The Reivers 2-2 will startup a fourteen-game stretch at Doc Ross Field next Saturday and Sunday against Dakota County Technical College.  The first pitch on Saturday, March 6th will be at 12:00 pm and can be seen on the Reiver Sports Network.

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