The Oskaloosa Indians won a wild Class 3A District 11 Final, 10-6, by defeating Williamsburg at home on Monday night.
The game was back-and-forth throughout, with the momentum swinging to both teams in big ways.
Oskaloosa scored three runs in the top of the second to take a 3-1 lead following RBI hits by Tucker Nunnikhoven, Rian Yates, and Joe Sterner at the bottom of the Indian order. Osky was the visiting team despite hosting the game at the Lacey Recreation Complex due to Williamsburg having the higher seed at the end of the season. The game was at Lacey due to standing water on the infield of the high school diamond.
In the bottom of the 3rd inning, Oskaloosa Head Coach Clint Gingerich lifted starter Rian Yates to bring in Bennett Spry in relief. That inning was rough for Yates and Spry, as a batter reached on an error, five Raider batters drew walks, and five runs scored on just one hit in the inning.
After the tough sequence, Oskaloosa found themselves behind 6-3 with all the momentum in the Raider dugout.
That all changed in the 4th, however, as the Indians came right back. Again, Nunnikhoven and Yates came through with RBI hits to tie the game at 6, and Spry drove in the run that would put the Indians up for good on a single up the middle.
Osky would plate three runs in the 7th on a double by Ethan Arnold.
While the Indians built their lead, Nick Harrington and Joe Sterner would combine for four and a third innings of relief. Harrington would allow two hits and one walk while striking out three in one and a third innings, while Sterner would pitch the final two and two thirds innings. The senior would allow no hits while striking out five and only allowing three walks.
The win puts Osky’s record at 24-10 on the season and they advance to the Substate 6 Final in Class 3A where they will face their archrival Pella. Winner of that contest will advance to the State Baseball Tournament at Principal Park in Des Moines.
That game is Wednesday at 7 PM. You can hear the action on 99.5 FM/740 AM KMZN, the KMZN mobile app, and radiokmzn.com with the pregame starting at 6:45 PM.
