Cyclones defeat Tigers on Senior Night
In the bottom of the 1st inning at Jim Goeser Field, Sophomore Cyclone Hayden Soma connected at the plate for a 2-run double off Tigers starter Linkin Weitl, followed by an RBI single by Junior Cyclone Matthew Sorfonden and a sacrifice fly by Weston Reisz that put them up 4-0, and set the tone for the night en route to a 10-2 victory.
“[Hayden] Soma has been working on a couple of adjustments and it paid off tonight,” said Cyclones Head Coach Heath Stein. “He got two really good swings off and the good thing about these guys is that they’re continuing to work. They don’t think that we have it figured out and they know that we’re not where we want to be yet and they continue to work and it’s a good group to have.”
For the Cyclones, it was their 10th victory in a row and 11th in their previous 12 games, including scoring 10 or more run in six of their previous seven games.
“Even when things weren’t going that well, everybody was hungry to keep working, keep grinding,” Stein said. “The season itself is an absolute grind. We have six games this week.”
Before the game, Cael Goshorn and Stephen Leinen got honored during senior night as they got to take center stage on the field with their parents.
“Stephen has been a 3-year starter,” Stein said. “Cael pitched quite a bit as a sophomore. Couldn’t be prouder of both of them and the leadership they provide and just everything about them that they provide.”
Junior Caleb Schleis took the mound to start the game for the Cyclones, pitching five innings, striking out four Tiger batters, while giving up two runs on four hits before being removed for Weston Reisz.
“He did a great job again,” Stein added. “He had a good outing last time. You want to take about another guy who deserves what he’s getting is him. He’s pitched a lot of JV the last couple of years and made some adjustments with his arm slot and throwing more strikes out of that three quarters arm slot and he’s doing a great job for us adding to our depth.”
In the top of the 3rd inning, the Tigers got on the board when Carter Essick drove in their first run with two outs. They later added another run in the top of the 6th inning when Cooper Ludwig knocked in a run.
The Cyclones added four more runs in the bottom of the 5th and two in the bottom of the 6th, which included contributions from Cade Sears, Soma, Leinen, Sorfonden, Jozef Reisz and Quinn Koesters.
Weston Reisz got the final sixs out for the Cyclones, only giving up three hits to ultimately secure the victory.
The Cyclones have Wednesday off, but will head on the road for a Thursday doubleheader against the 13-8 Clarinda Cardinals. The Cardinals offensively are led by Cole Baumgart with 21 hits and 18 runs batted in with a .467 batting average. On the mound, James McCall leads with four wins and 45 strikes in 38 1/3 innings pitched.
“They’re a good team and are well coached,” Stein said. “They have a lot of guys that have been starting varsity for quite a while and they’ll battle us. Hopefully we see their better arms, so we can get tested pretty good. We’ll go in and compete how we have been.”