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Fremont Walks Off Spearfish In Slugfest
Moo- 11, Sasquatch- 10
Fremont (R-H-E): 11-11-1; Spearfish (R-H-E): 10-14-2
Win: Darius Blasingane (3-0); Loss: Dylan Richey (0-1); Save: None
HR: Fremont: Tyler Harrington (2nd, 2 on base in first inning); Neil Jansen (1st, 3 on base in fourth inning); Andrew Kirchener (1st, 1 on base in sixth inning). HR: Spearfish: Chazz Crook (2nd, 1 on base in second inning); DJ Van Atten (2), (2nd, 0 on base in eighth inning; 3rd, 0 on base in ninth inning); Bryson Hoier (1st, 2 on base in ninth inning); Luis Reyes (3rd, 0 on base in ninth inning);
Fremont, Nebraska- In a game that saw both teams combine for eight home runs, the Fremont Moo defeated the Spearfish Sasquatch, 11-10, via a wild pitch, Tuesday night at Historic Moller Field.
The Moo plated three runs in the bottom of the first. Christian Hobbs got hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. Two batters later, Andrew Kirchener did the same. Then, Tyler Harrington hit a 3-1 pitch off Spearfish starter Lance Schaaf over the fence in left-center field for a three run home run, to make it 3-0, Fremont.
The Sasquatch would score three of their own, however, in the top of the second. DJ Van Atten reached on a one-out single. Next, Chazz Crook swung at the first pitch from Moo starter Marco Ibarra, and hit it over the "Moller Monster", in left field, to make it 3-2. Seth Nelson followed up with a single and Gage Kracht did the same, two batters later. Then, leadoff batter Bryson Hoier delivered a rbi single, scoring Nelson, to tie the score at three.
Fremont recaptured the lead in the bottom of the fourth. Henry Hayman led off with a single, then Sammy Contacos reached on a walk. Two batters later, Christian Hobbs singled, to load the bases. Then, Neil Jansen stepped to the plate. Making his Fremont Moo debut, Tuesday night, Jansen swung at a Schaaf 1-1 pitch, and hit it deep, over the center field fence for a grand slam home run, putting Fremont ahead, 7-3.
Spearfish got a run back in the top of the fifth. With two outs, Jack Nehler singled, then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Luis Reyes, then, singled, driving in Nehler, to make it 7-4.
The Moo added three more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Blake Tablazon led off with a double, then Christian Hobbs doubled, driving in Tablazon, to make it 8-4. Two batters later, another Moo player making his season debut, homered. Andrew Kirchener hit a two-run shot off reliever Cobey Gorrell, to right field, making it 10-4.
At that point, the game looked out of reach for Spearfish, however the Sasquatch kept swinging the bats, in the late innings. In the eighth, Van Atten homered to left field off Moo newcomer Carson Jasa, to make it 10-5.
In the ninth, Fremont went to Trey Nichols to close it out, but the Sasquatch had different intentions. Ben Seminara led off with a single and pinch hitter Daniel Thiessen doubled, to put runners on second and third. Next, Hoier hit a three-run homer off Nichols, to make it 10-8. Nichols got Ryan Bachman to strikeout swinging and Jack Nehler to fly out to right for the second out. However, Reyes hit a solo home run to left, making it 10-9. The next batter, Van Atten, swung at the first pitch and hit his second home run of the night, to left field, to tie the score at ten. Then, Darius Blasingane came out of the bullpen and got Crook to swing and miss at a 2-2 pitch, to end the inning.
Spearfish went to Dylan Richey to shut down Fremont in the ninth. However, the "Comeback Cows" manufactured a walk-off win for the third time this season. Richey got Josh Blount to ground out to second for the first out. Next, Ben Swails reached first base on an errant throw by third baseman Crook. Swails, the top base-stealer in the Independence League Baseball Association, swiped second, and took third when Seminara's throw to second bounced into shallow center field. Richey battled back and got Henry Hayman to swing and miss at a 2-2 pitch for the second out. With Sammy Contacos at the plate, Richey's first pitch landed in the dirt and popped in the air off the equipment of Seminara. The Sasquatch catcher looked for the ball over his left shoulder, but the ball landed five feet to his right. Swails sprinted for home, Seminara found the ball, grabbed it with his bare hand and reached out to tag Swails at the plate, but the speedy Swails. slid in, just under the tag, to win the game.
"My job was just to get on base," Swails said. "I wasn't having the best hitting performance tonight but I found a way to get on base and once I was on base I was running from there to get in scoring position."
Marco Ibarra started on the mound for Fremont. The Carson, California native, at Cal-State Chico, pitched six innings, giving up eight hits, four runs, one walk, struck out seven, gave up one home run and had two wild pitches. Carson Jasa, making his Fremont Moo debut, pitched 2.0 innings. The Arvada, Colorado native who is headed to the University of Nebraska, gave up one hit, one run, struck out three and yielded a home run. Trey Nichols pitched 0.2 innings. The Bowling Green, Missouri native, at Midland University, gave up five hits, five runs, struck out one, but got tagged for three home runs. Darius Blasingane (3-0) earned the win. The St. Petersburg, Florida native at Edward Waters University pitched 0.1 innings and got a strikeout.
Lance Schaaf started for Spearfish. He went 3.2 innings, giving up five hits, seven runs, one walk, struck out six, gave up two home runs, had two wild pitches, one balk, and hit two batters. Cobey Gorrell worked 2.1 innings, giving up four hits, three runs, struck out two and gave up a home run. Aiden Bennett pitched 2.0 innings. He gave up one hit and struck out four. Dylan Richey (0-1) took the loss. He pitched 0.2 innings, allowing one unearned run while striking out one and allowed the wild pitch which turned out to be the game winner, for the Moo.
Offensively, Fremont was led by Christian Hobbs. The Omaha native at Black Hawk Community College went 3-for-4 with a rbi. Neil Jansen, the Cypress, California product at San Jose State, was 1-for-4 with a grand slam home run. Andrew Kirchener, the Lakewood, California native at UNLV, was 1-for-4 with a two-run home run. Tyler Harrington, the Lakeland, Tennessee native, headed to University of Alabama-Birmingham, was 3-for-5 with a three-run home run.
"First game with the Moo. It feels good to come in on a good note," Kirchener said.
Spearfish was led by Bryson Hoier, going 2-for-5 with a three-run home run, and four rbi's, total. Luis Reyes was 2-for-5 with a home run and two rbi's. DJ Van Atten was 3-for-5 with two home runs, both solo shots. Chazz Crook was 2-for-4 with a two-run home run.
More Information: With the win, Fremont snapped its first two-game losing streak of the season. In addition, the walk-off win was the third for the Moo this year, all at Historic Moller Field. It was also the second time Fremont won this season via a wild pitch. With Christian Hobbs fourth inning single, he now has a six game hitting streak. It was the third time this season Darius Blasingane entered the game on the mound with Fremont trailing or tied, and he kept the Moo in position to win, which they did. He's worked 4.2 innings this season, and is 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA. With Fremont and Badlands both winning, Tuesday night, the two teams remain atop the ILB standings, however, the Big Sticks have a slight edge over the Moo in winning percentage, plus the head-to-head tie breaker. Both Fremont and Badlands will meet in a pivotal three-game series, June 23-25 at Historic Moller Field, that may determine the ILB's first half winner. Over the weekend, Fremont corner infielder Tyler Harrington received national recognition. After a stellar spring season at Southwestern Tennessee, Harrington was named a NJCAA Division I, third-team All-American. Harrington is headed to the University of Alabama-Birmingham, to play for the Blazers, in the spring. The Sasquatch dropped their fourth straight game.
Up Next: Fremont (14-5) will host Spearfish (4-9) in game two of the three game series, Wednesday night at Historic Moller Field, at 7:05pm. Wednesday is "Winning Wednesday" at the ballpark. There will be $3 alcohol on spirits such as White Claw, Vizzy, or Cayman Jack. (excluding beer). Plus there will be $2 hot dogs. Tommy's Express will be giving away "Works Washes". Also, there will be "9 Innings of Winning" giveaways. In addition, it's "Moo Win You Win". All who had tickets for the June 7th victory over Oahe can redeem that ticket at the gate for a free general admission ticket to this Wednesday night's game. If the Moo win this Wednesday night, fans need to keep their ticket to get a free general admission ticket to the Wednesday, June 28th home game, versus the Nebraska Prospects. For tickets, and more game information, go to www.fremontmoo.com/tickets, or call (402)-660-1217.
On the Air: All Moo home and road games are broadcast on radio on Big Dog Country, 98.9 FM and 1340 AM, KHUB. Games can be heard on smartphones, iPads, and other mobile devices via the Moo website:
www.fremontmoo.com/mixlr. All Moo home games also have live video streamed at: www.fremontmoo.com and on YouTube at: BSDN Live.
