Baseball roundup: Keota walks off, Highland rallies

There was plenty of excitement at the baseball field on Wednesday, as a handful of area teams were in action. Among the highlights was a thrilling win for the Keota Eagles, and a battle between a pair of area teams, Highland and Cardinal.

Sieren sends Keota past Montezuma

KEOTA — The latest edition of the Keota-Montezuma rivalry went the Eagles’ way as Sam Sieren’s walk-off single pushed Keota to a 4-3 win.

Montezuma had rallied from a 3-1 deficit to tie the game with two in the sixth. Carson Sprouse led off with a double, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on Sieren’s walk-off.

Sieren went 2-for-3 with two RBIs in the win. Colten Clarahan was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs, and Sprouse finished 1-for-4 with a double.

Clarahan started the game on the mound and threw 6⅓ innings, giving up three runs (one earned) on four hits and two walks, while striking out 15 batters. Luke Hammen came in for the final two outs of the seventh to earn the win.

Highland rallies past Cardinal

ELDON — The hosting Comets scored the first four runs of the game before the Huskies found their groove at the plate in a Southeast Iowa Super Conference crossover game. Highland scored one in the third and three in the fourth to tie the game and then ran away with three runs in the sixth.

Brenton Bonebrake was red-hot at the plate, going 3-for-3 with three RBIs to lead the Huskies. Bryce Thompson and Connor Grinstead each knocked in one run.

Logan Bonebrake picked up the win on the mound, throwing two shutout innings in relief. Grinstead started the game for the Huskies and gave up four runs (three earned).

Wolf’s hot start leads VBC to win

KEOSAUQUA — Van Buren County’s Ryan Wolf had a shutout going through six innings against Louisa-Muscatine, and although the Falcons rallied for four in the seventh, the Warriors had done enough for a 7-4 win.

Wolf gave up two earned runs on one hit and six walks, while striking out seven batters over 1⅓ innings. Lukas McEntee came in for the final two outs of the game.

Wolf got it done at the plate as well, going 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Jackson Manning, Treyton Bainbridge, Bailey Roen and Lucas Fett knocked in one run apiece.

Pekin’s bats silenced at Notre Dame

BURLINGTON — Chase Stansberry pitched a gem for the Panthers in a road game at Notre Dame, but the bats couldn’t get going in a 2-0 loss.

Stansberry gave up just two runs (one earned) on three hits and one walk, while striking out 13 Nikes, but the Panthers collected just one hit on the offensive side.

Brady Millikin had the lone knock for Pekin, going 1-for-3 with a double.

Notre Dame’s Josh Smith won the pitcher’s dual with a one-hit, 10-strikeout shut out performance.

Hillcrest loses back-and-forth battle

WEST BURLINGTON — Hillcrest and West Burlington traded blows all night in a SEISC crossover game, but it was the Falcons who flew a little higher than the Ravens, knocking Hillcrest off 9-6.

Hillcrest started the game off hot scoring three runs over the first two innings to take a 3-0 lead. West Burlington scored five in the second, and Hillcrest answered with two more in the third to knot the game up at 5-5.

West Burlington scored three in the fourth and one in the fifth to lead 9-4, and the Ravens never tied it back up.

Luke Schrock had a big game for the Ravens, going 3-for-4 with a solo home run. London Schrock had the team’s only other RBI.

Columbus shut out in Danville

DANVILLE — The Columbus defense held Danville to seven runs, a season low for the Wildcats, but Columbus couldn’t find a run at the plate.

Danville scored one run in every frame to slowly pull away from Columbus, handing the Wildcats their sixth-straight loss.

Early Central Lee offense sinks Wolves

DONNELLSON — Winfield-Mount Union had its third-highest offensive output of the season, but it wasn’t enough to keep pace with an explosive Central Lee offense in a 16-7 loss.

The Wolves led 1-0 after the top of the first, but Central Lee scored the next 14 runs of the game. A six-run WMU third cut the Hawks’ lead to 14-7, but the Wolves never scored again.

Jacob Ford was 3-for-4 with two RBIs to lead the Wolves. Jackson Woods went 1-for-2 with two RBIs, and Cole Milks knocked one run in.