Marion drops two at Chase County

Peyton Heidebrecht applies the tag at third for the second out of the bottom of the first inning of Game 2 with Chase County Tuesday. Marion lost both games of its season-opener.The Marion baseball team opened the season with a pair of losses at Chase County Tuesday.

?What Tuesday really showed me was that we didn?t prepare well enough as a team in all aspects of the game, both defensively, offensively, on the mound, running the bases,??coach Roger Schroeder said. ?We, unfortunately, went through the motions for the last four weeks and then tried to flip the switch on game day.?

Marion gave up the lead late in what became a 4-3 walk-off win for Chase County in Game 1.

The Warriors scored one run in the first inning when Cole Srajer worked a leadoff walk and scored on Peyton Heidebrecht?s sacrifice fly.

Marion added two more in the fourth thanks to Mason Pedersen?s two-run single to stake a 3-0 lead, which held through five innings.

Chase County, however, closed the gap with a two-run sixth inning and drove in the winning two runs with a double to walk off in the seventh.

?We had a chance to really break that game open that really would?ve changed the complexion of the sixth and seventh innings on the defensive side if we would’ve just scratched across a couple more runs that were really there for us,??Schroeder said. ?They were giving it to us. We weren?t able to execute.?

Pedersen was 2-for-3 at-bat and had two RBIs.

Dylan Pippin went the distance on the mound and absorbed the pitching loss, giving up five hits and four runs (one earned) in 62?3 innings of work. He walked one batter and struck out five.

Marion lost Game 2, 16-12.

Although the Warriors got on the board with a run in the opening inning, Chase County made noise early by scoring seven in the frame. The Bulldogs worked a bases-loaded walk to tie the game, and used four hits in the frame to build a 7-1 lead.

The Warriors responded by scoring four runs in the second. Dylan Deines and Dylan Pippin worked back-to-back walks to lead-off the half-inning. Deines scored on an error, then Mason Pedersen hit a two-out RBI single. Nathan Baldwin later drove in a run, and when the half-inning ended, Marion was within 7-5.

Chase County added two in the frame, though, thanks in part to a bases-loaded hit by pitch.

Marion added two in the third, highlighted by Pedersen?s RBI single, and the Warriors took the lead by scoring three runs off three hits in the fourth. Remington Putter highlighted the frame with a two-run single.

Just as quickly, though, Chase County regained the lead with a four-run fourth inning.

Following a scoreless fifth inning, the Bulldogs added three in the sixth.

Marion managed two in the final half-inning, but couldn?t make up the difference.

?A lot of the things that really reared its ugly head in the sixth and seventh inning of Game 1 snowballed, and nobody could stop it until we were down by six after the first inning,??Schroeder said. ?A lot of it was self-inflicted. Chase County did a great job of putting the ball in play, making us make plays on defense, and we weren?t able to rise to the occasion.?

Pedersen was 3-for-4 at-bat and had two RBIs.

Corbin Wheeler (0-1)?sustained the pitching loss. He gave up four hits and four runs (none earned) in three innings of work. He walked two batters and struck out two.

Coming?Marion (0-2)?was scheduled to play at Sedgwick Tuesday and will travel to Bennington Friday. Game 1 is scheduled for 3 p.m.

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