Warrior baseball team splits with Nickerson, Hoisington

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN TOM STOPPEL
The Marion baseball team split a pair of home games with Hoisington on Friday, winning the first game, 9-2, then losing the second one, 8-3.

In the opener, Warrior ace Bryan Swenson (2-1, 2.21 earned-run average) threw a complete game four-hitter.

“Bryan had great pitch selection and a lot better placement,” coach Sean Spoonts said. “He really seemed to have a lot of confidence in his fastball as well as his curveball.”

Swenson has walked only two batters in 192/3 innings.

“Anytime you can keep people off base by unaccountable at-bats like walks or hit batters, you’re going to have a much better chance to win,” Spoonts said.

The Warriors jumped on top 1-0 in the second inning when David Deforest singled and later scored on a wild pitch.

After Hoisington answered with a pair of runs in the top of the second, the Warriors countered with a one run in the bottom of the inning on a run-scoring single by Swenson.

The flood gates opened in the bottom of the sixth inning, when the Warriors scored six runs.

Run-scoring singles from Tyson Heidebrecht and Cody Weerts made the score 4-2. A Todd Woodruff double down the left field line drove in both Heidebrecht and Weerts home to make the score 6-2 .

After Woodruff scored on a wild pitch, Clayton Garnica belted a home run over the right-center field fence to put the Warriors on top 8-2.

The Warriors added a run in the fifth when Weerts singled to drive in Aaron Burnett.

The Warriors belted out 14 hits, with three coming from Swenson and two each from Woodruff, Garnica, Deforest and Burnett.

“Overall our batting average is as high as it’s ever been,” Spoonts said. “We have eight of the starting nine hitting over .300 and four hitters hitting over .400, so hitting isn’t a problem for us.”

In the second game, Hoisington led 5-3 after six innings but a three-run seventh inning provided the winning margin of 8-3.

Marion scored once in the second inning and twice in the fifth. The Warriors had just five hits, with two from Weerts and Deforest with the only run batted in.

Weerts (0-2) took the loss, throwing 22/3 innings while allowing five hits and two earned runs.

“We’re doing a good job of making contact with the ball, but we need to work on hitting the ball where it’s pitched,” Spoonts said. “We need to try a little harder to hit to the opposite field but that’s something we can work on in practice and that’s just what we’ll do.”

With the split, the Warriors record stands at 2-4 for the season.

Nickerson- The Warriors split a pair of games with Nickerson last Tuesday, losing the opener 15-9 and winning the second game 6-3 .

In the opener, the Warriors used three pitchers. Starter Cody Weerts lasted only 12/3 innings, allowing four runs on four hits and two walks. Todd Woodruff threw four innings and gave up 11 hits and 10 runs, nine of them earned. Tyson Heidebrecht threw 1/3 inning and gave up a hit and a walk.

Marion led 7-5 after three innings and the game was tied at 8 after four innings. But Nickerson put up seven runs over innings 5 and 6 for the 15-9 win.

The Panthers scored 15 runs on 16 hits and committed two errors while the Warriors scored nine runs on 14 hits and committed three errors.

Derek Benson and Clayton Garnica both had three hits while David Deforest and Heidebrecht both collected two. Heidebrecht drove in three runs.

In the second game, the Warriors picked up their first win of the season behind the pitching of Bryan Swenson. Swenson allowed only five hits and no earned runs in seven innings while striking out nine Panthers.

The Warriors led 5-1 after two innings and cruised home.

Marion collected 11 hits, including two each by Benson, Deforest, Swenson and Weerts. Swenson drove in two runs.

With the split, the Warriors are 1-3 for the season.

Coming- Marion was scheduled to host Hillsboro on Tuesday before traveling to Halstead on Friday for a pair of games beginning at 4:30 p.m.

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