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Trojans rally back
Bates’ arm, bat leads Fairfield past Mt. Pleasant in SEC clash
FAIRFIELD — Mt. Pleasant had Fairfield’s back against the wall on Thursday night, up 3-0 with the bases loaded and nobody out in the top of the fourth. Just 20 minutes later, the Trojans were in full control.
Fairfield flipped the entire game around in the fourth frame, halting Mt. Pleasant’s rush in the top half and rallying for nine in the bottom of a 9-3 victory.
“That was a total team effort,” said Fairfield head coach Josh Allison. “They were focused.”
The Panthers, who split at home with the Trojans on Monday night, had it all working through three-and-a-half frames. Ben Newton was dominating on the mound, and the Mt. Pleasant lineup was flirting with a huge inning with the meat of the order due up with the bases full.
Fairfield turned to relief pitcher Tallon Bates, who started in center field. Bates came in to try to turn things around after the departure of starter Aidan Kreuter, and turn things around Bates did.
“I wanted to come in, because I felt like I could help,” Bates said. “I worked all offseason on putting myself into cruise control for these situations.”
Bates forced two straight bouncers to get fielder’s choices at home plate, and then finished the inning with a strikeout to escape the jam trailing just 3-0.
“I'm a ground ball pitcher. That's what I go for,” Bates said. “When I came in, I knew that we would get them.”
Dain Burkhart led off the ninth with a single, and that would be the first of seven hits in the inning.
Aiden Westercamp knocked in the first Fairfield run with an RBI double. Kreuter cut the lead to one with an RBI single. Tate Allen walked with the bases loaded to tie it, and Landon Nodurft made it 4-3 with a walk of his own.
With two outs, Burkhart and Caden Allison each knocked in a run with RBI singles. Bates delivered the biggest blow, a two-out double to center field.
“They did exactly what we needed to do,” said Mt. Pleasant head coach Brent Broeker. “We had bases loaded, and we get zero out of it. They get bases loaded, and they get nine out of it.”
Mt. Pleasant did have a quality chance to come back in the sixth inning. The Panthers loaded the bases with one out, but Bates earned a double-play ball, and the Trojans escaped.
“We've been working a ton on the mental side of the game, and it’s working,” Allison said. “Obviously we had a couple of hiccups, but we got past them.”
At the plate, Bates went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. Burkhart finished 2-for-4 with an RBI.
On the mound, Bates gave up just one hit over four innings of work, and struck out five Panthers to earn the win.
Mt. Pleasant’s J.C. Sitar was 2-for-4 with a double. Payson Coleman was 1-for-2 with a double. Newton went 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI, and Zerek Venghaus finished 1-for-2 with an RBI.
Newton gave up nine runs, with just two of them being earned. He struck out one Trojan over five innings. Zachary Newton threw shutout two innings in relief, striking out two batters along the way.
Fairfield went 2-1 over the weekend, beating Albia 9-4 and Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont 7-1 before falling to Central Dewitt, 6-2.
The Trojans are now 12-17 overall and 6-6 in conference play. They’ll host Keokuk (8-12, 5-7) in Monday’s SEC doubleheader.
Mt. Pleasant is 10-10 overall and 6-6 in the SEC, tied with Fairfield for second place. The Panthers will travel to Fort Madison (8-14, 4-7) on Monday for their final conference doubleheader.
Fairfield will play at Keokuk on Thursday, while Mt. Pleasant hosts Fort Madison. This week’s games will decide who earns second place in the conference.
