Fairfield tallies fifth straight to begin busy week

WELLMAN ? Fairfield head coach Josh Allison acknowledged that his team didn?t play great baseball in Tuesday?s non-conference game at Mid-Prairie. But his Trojans were still able to pull out a 12-10 win at Paul N. Bailey Field.

Fairfield committed five errors in the field and only had six hits in the game, but the Trojans scored six runs in the last two innings to come up with the win.

?Hopefully you go through a game where you play great baseball and you don?t have to have big innings late in the game,? Allison said. ?We were forced into that situation because we booted a couple of balls, but we had some guys come up big for us.?

Sophomore Josh Dimmitt came up huge for Fairfield. The score was tied 8-8 heading into the seventh inning, but the Trojans drew four walks off of Mid-Prairie reliever Dylan Wertz in the frame. Fairfield junior Corbin Harwood drew a bases-loaded walk to score the go-ahead run, and then Dimmitt followed with a bases-clearing double that gave the Trojans a 12-8 lead.

?[Wertz] wasn?t throwing strikes, so I was like, ?If it?s not where I want it, I?m not going to swing,?? Dimmitt said. ?I got to a 3-2 count, and at that point I knew that he had to bring it. It was on the middle half and I just hit it right back up the middle.?

Wertz got the loss in his first appearance on the mound after missing two weeks with tendonitis in his right elbow. After walking just nine batters in 41 1/3 innings this season, he uncharacteristically walked five batters in two innings.

?We had the lead, and if there was anybody I wanted out there, it was him,? Mid-Prairie head coach Ryan Koller said. ?I thought he?d shut them out and we?d get the win. He walks one to two guys per game, so that was really unusual.?

Mid-Prairie (7-22) scored a pair of runs on a pair of Fairfield errors in the bottom of the seventh, but the Trojans hung on to get the win. Fairfield (11-21) won its fifth-straight game, while the Golden Hawks dropped their seventh game in a row.

?This has been the story of our season,? Koller said. ?We?ve had a lot of games like that that were woulda, coulda, shoulda.?

Fairfield jumped out to a 5-0 lead early in the game. The Trojans scored two runs on wild pitches and passed balls in the first inning, and another run on a passed ball in the second inning before Dimmitt hit a two-run home run over the left-field fence.

?I just saw the ball, and it was right where I wanted it,? said Dimmitt, who went 3-for-3 and drove in five runs in the game.

Dimmitt?s home run, coupled with a walk issued to Fairfield?s Brandon Veirs, chased Mid-Prairie starting pitcher Nick Stimson from the game after just 1 1/3 innings. Stimson gave up five runs and walked five batters while only getting four outs.

Stimson was replaced by sophomore Jonas Coblentz, who allowed just one run on two hits over the next 3 2/3 innings.

After Fairfield took a 5-0 lead in the top of the third inning, the Golden Hawks scored six in the bottom of the frame to take the lead. Wertz and seniors Tyler Clark, Jason Schrock and Brandon Aggson each drove in a run in the inning, and two more runs scored on a wild pitch and an error.

Fairfield junior Brent Buch?s RBI triple down the left-field line tied the game in the top of the third, but the Golden Hawks scored two in the bottom of the inning on a stolen base play and senior Jordan Yotty?s RBI single.

Mid-Prairie held that lead until the sixth inning. But Fairfield scored six runs in the final two frames to get the win. The Trojans tied the game in the sixth when Harwood scored on a wild pitch and Veirs drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.

?We kept our heads up, and that?s pretty much the key,? Dimmitt said. ?If you keep your head up and keep yourself in the game, you?re going to have a chance to win.?

Fairfield hosts Pella tonight and then has conference doubleheaders at Washington on Thursday and at home against Keokuk on Friday. Mid-Prairie hosts West Branch for its regular-season finale tonight, and then takes on Pekin in district play in Eddyville on Saturday.

Fairfield vs. Mid-Prairie

Fairfield ? 2 3 1 0 0 2 4 ? 12 6 3

Mid-Prairie ? 0 6 2 0 0 0 2 ? 10 9 1

FAIRFIELD ? Harwood 2-4, BB, 2B, RBI, 3R; J. Dimmitt 3-3, BB, 2B, HR, 5RBI, R; Veirs 0-1, 2BB, HP, RBI, R; Haines 0-5; Davisson 0-3, BB; Dahlstrom 0-2, 2BB; Cooksey 0-1, BB, R; Ellis 0-2, BB, R; Buch 1-2, 2BB, 3B, 2R; Fitch 0-1; Hietpas 0-1, R; Whitney R; Peterman BB, R

Pitching ? Haines 2.1 INN, 8H, 2BB, 3K, 5ER; Harwood 2.2 INN, 0H, 2BB, 4K, 0ER; Hietpas (W) 2 INN, 1H, 3BB, 2K, 2ER