On the first day of July, the Eagle Grove baseball team trekked to Dayton for a non-conference contest against the Southeast Valley Jaguars. With temperatures in the high sixties, the boys improved to 14-9 and won their fifth in a row. The Jaguars made things difficult over the course of the two-hour, seven inning game, but strong performances from two Eagle seniors helped the purple and gold prevail.
Slugger Jake Jeske, hitting in the two hole, put the Eagles on the board with a solo moonshot over the left field fence in the top of the 1st. After Jeske smacked his conference leading fourth homer of the season, starting pitcher Nolan Krauss took the mound and fanned two Jaguars to set the tone for the rest of the night.
Two more Eagles crossed home plate after a critical SE Valley error in the top of the 2nd, and Syrus Willard’s RBI double over the left fielder’s head made it 4-0.
Krauss had a three up, three down frame in the bottom of the 2nd, but the Jaguars began to show signs of life in the following inning. Nolan walked a few batters and loaded the bases, and a grounder through Talon Carpenter’s legs allowed two runners to score. SE Valley took advantage of a wild pitch and made it 4-3, but Krauss got out of the inning with a strikeout before things got too out of control.
Nolan Krauss knuckled up and regained his composure in the bottom of the 4th, striking out three of the four Jaguars he faced.
In the 5th inning, Drake Canavan had an infield single that brought home Willard and gave the Eagles a two-run advantage. Krauss got back to business and finished the frame by striking out three consecutive batters with an array of pitches.
The Eagles scored three more runs in the top of the 6th, highlighted by RBI doubles from Jeske and Krauss.
SE Valley couldn’t muster any sort of late game rally, and the Eagles left town with a 9-3 win in their final game of the regular season.
Jaxon Morris had two singles on the night, and right fielder Brett Ascherl stole two bases.
