Centerville, IA – The Indian Hills Baseball team opened its Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) campaign with a split Monday afternoon against Ellsworth Community College. The Warriors took game one 11-9 before falling in the nightcap at Pat Daugherty Field 10.
The Warriors continued an impressive stretch of offense with 17 runs and 22 hits on the day, but the Panthers were equally as solid at the plate to earn the split with Indian Hills. Over the team's last five contests, the Warriors are averaging 10.2 runs per ballgame while going 4-1 along the way.
The two league foes opened up their conference slates on Monday with a back-and-forth battle. Ellsworth jumped on the board immediately with four runs in the top half of the first before the Warriors responded with four runs of their own in the bottom half. Freshman Jose Lopez (Las Tablas, Panama/Springfield Commonwealth) put the Warriors on the board with an RBI double while an AJ Marchetti (Wheeling, IL/Wheeling) run-scoring single and an errant throw allowed the Warriors to even the game at four.
Ellsworth regained the lead in the second with a single run, but the Warriors pounded out four more runs in the bottom of the frame to jump on top for the first time. Lopez delivered another run-scoring double before freshman Kevin Ramos (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Springfield Commonwealth) delivered a three-run home run to left, his first longball of the year.
The Panthers battled back and eventually tied the game at nine-all in the top of the sixth before a line drive single from freshman Diego Mendez (Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico/ESCAED) scored two to give the Warriors an 11-9 lead. Sophomore reliver Aiden Ennis (Scarborough, Ontario/Mary Ward Catholic) retired the final three batters of the game to secure the win on the mound, his first of the year.
Lopez finished the game 3-3 at the dish with three runs scored while Ramos and Mendez both added a pair of hits in the victory. Freshman hurler Jonah Mayoral (Littleton, CO/Heritage) got the start on the mound in game one and struck out four batters in four innings of work.
The Warriors matched their hit total in game two with 11 knocks, including six extra base hits, but the run total fell short. Ellsworth built a 5-1 lead through three before tacking on three more runs in the fifth and two in the seventh to pull away. The Warriors chipped away with a run in each of the final three innings, but proved to be too little down the stretch.
Lopez added two more hits in the nightcap, including another double. Cale Clarke (Marionville, MO/Marionville) added a pair of doubles to go along with two runs scored.
A platoon of pitchers on the mound resulted in a number of strong outings, including scoreless appearances from Evan Peterson (Longmont, CO/Mead), JJ Reynolds (Burlington, Ontario/Corpus Christi), and Ramos.
The Warriors return to action this weekend with an ICCAC series at Northeast Community College (NE) in Norfolk, NE. Action gets underway at 1:00 PM on Saturday from Veterans Memorial Field.
HOW TO WATCH
As always, GoHillsTV provides free live broadcasts of all Indian Hills home baseball games. Fans can tune in a number of ways all season long:
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