Crusaders rally late to hand Exira-EHK 5-4 defeat

 ELK HORN (June 14) -- Ninety-nine times out of 100, Josh Pettepier’s 110th and final pitch Friday night would have resulted in the 21st out and an Exira-Elk Horn-Kimballton win over Coon Rapids-Bayard.
 Instead, the Spartans’ sixth error of the ball game allowed the tying and go-ahead runs to score and led to a frustrating 5-4 loss to the rival Crusaders.
 Exira-EHK, which scored all four of its runs and had three of its four hits in the third inning, dropped to 3-7 overall and 2-6 in Rolling Valley Conference play, missing an opportunity to hand CR-B (14-3, 9-0) its first RVC defeat.
 Clinging to a 4-3 lead in the top of the seventh, the Spartans appeared poised to hold on despite back-to-back one-out singles by CR-B’s Aaron McAlister and Christian Cook as Pettepier neared the state-mandated pitch count limit of 110.
 Pettepier struck out Josh Ramirez looking for the second out, then got Quentin Culbertson to chase a two-strike pitch in the dirt on pitch number 110. Catcher Cole Burmeister recovered the ball quickly, but his throw to first to complete the strikeout sailed high and down the right field line, allowing two runs to score.
 Burmeister relieved Pettepier on the mound and got the third out, but Exira-EHK was unable to answer in the bottom of the seventh as Cook worked around a two-out walk to cap his 97-pitch complete game.
 Pettepier (0-2) pitched very well in defeat, allowing five hits and no earned runs. He walked none, hit two batters and struck out 10.
 “Baseball is a cruel sport sometimes,” said Exira-EHK head coach Trevor Miller, acknowledging that Burmeister is one of the team’s most dependable players. “Josh has thrown well his last two games [and] he’s got a loss and a no-decision."
 The bottom of the Spartan lineup got them going in the third as Hunter Andersen hit a leadoff single and Tony Kingery walked. Burmeister then drove an RBI double to right-center and Pettepier followed with an RBI single. Tyler Petersen’s sacrifice fly with an 0-2 count brought in Burmeister and Pettepier dashed home on a wild pitch to make it 4-3.