Fairfield baseball eliminated

PELLA — Through six-and-a-half innings, the Fairfield baseball team was hanging right with the top-seeded Pella Dutch in the Class 3A Substate semifinals.

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Five quality innings by starting pitcher Voss Richardson had the Trojans within one run heading into the bottom of the sixth inning, but Pella’s bats finally got things going in what would become a 6-0 Dutch victory.

Pella scored its first run in the bottom of the third, and the Trojans had all kinds of trouble getting the run back.

Fairfield had just one hit in the game up to that point, and didn’t get its second until the top of the second, when Dain Burkhart doubled to left field with two outs, for his second knock of the game.

Burkhart was stranded on second, keeping Fairfield down 1-0, and The Dutch would finally get more runs across in the bottom of the sixth frame.

Pella loaded the bases on a hit-by-pitch, an error and a walk, and would parlay that into a five-run inning to go up 6-0.

Cason Miller would reach base on a walk to give Fairfield a little life in the top of the seventh, but three-straight strikeouts by Pella starter Teagan Hoekstra would end it, giving him a complete-game victory.

Burkhart went 2-for-3 with a double in the loss. Luke Konczal had the only other base hit for Fairfield.

Richardson threw five innings on the mound, giving up just two runs (one earned) on one hit, four walks and three hit batters. He struck out five in the loss.

Also seeing time on the mound were juniors Dayson Workman and Carson Elmore.

The loss finished off a year that saw Fairfield go 21-11 overall and 13-2 in conference play, winning its second-straight conference title. The Trojans lose just two seniors, but both key players, in Miller and Konczal.