Area Roundup: Ottawa baseball falls in extra innings; Pirates softball rolls by Hubs

At King Field, the host Ottawa Pirates (13-10) baseball team fell in an extra inning after leading by two runs through five frames of their Interstate Eight Conference home game Wednesday, with Morris scoring one run in each of the final four innings to steal the 5-4 victory in eight innings.

Luke Cushing singled, homered and drove home two runs for Ottawa. Daniel Bruner and Payton Knoll also provided two hits each in support of starting pitcher Jack Olson (no-decision, 6 IP, 2 ER, 4 K) and reliever Aiden Mucci (loss, 2 IP, 2 ER, 2 K).

Newark 7, Serena 0: At Newark, a four-run first inning was all Norsemen pitcher Joe Martin (7.0 IP, 3 H, 11 k 1 BB) needed to get the win. Backing him at the plater were Lucas Pasakarnis (3B) and Mitch Kruser (2B), each with two hits and two RBIs.

Taking the loss for the Huskers was Hudson Stafford (2.1 IP, 1 ER, 1 K, 2 W) in relief of starter Dylan Cartwright (3.0 IP, 6 ER, 6 H, 4 K, 1 BB). Carson Baker finished the final inning. Cartwright has one of the three Serena hits, along with Todd Smith and Cole Shannon.

Mendota 9, Somonauk 4: At Somonauk, five runs in the third inning and four in the fourth were enough to send the Trojans past the Bobcats. In the loss, the ‘Cats had just a single each from Noah Brandt, Parker Wasson and Brock Zimmerman in support of losing pitcher Jaylen Dion, on in relief of starter Broc Slais. Brandt and Coleton Eade also threw for Somonauk (15-6).

Sycamore 12, Sandwich 1 (5 inn.): At Sycamore, the Indians managed just one hit apiece from Austin Marks (2B), Dino Barbonente and losing pitcher Tyler Lissman (11 ER, 12 H, 2 k, 4 W) in the loss.

Softball

Ottawa 7, Rochelle 1: At Ottawa, the Pirates erased a 1-0 deficit with four runs in the fourth inning to control the win over the Hubs.

McKenzie Oslanzi went the distance in the circle, fanning 11 while walking one and surrendering only four hits. She added two hits to her own cause, while Rileigh Stehl and Brynne Sember also collected a pair of hits.

Morris 6, Sandwich 3: At Morris, the Redskins used a three-run sixth inning to take the ICE victory from the Indians and pitchers Margaret Knepper (5.0 IP, 3 K) and Hailey Hoffman (2 IP, 1 K). Emily Gomez had two of the four hits by SHS in the loss.

Girls track and field

Marquette, Earlville, Serena shut out at sectionals: At the 1A Bureau Valley Sectional, Marquette’s Maggie Jewett was part of two third-place runs to lead the Crusaders. She took third in the 800 (2:30.90), then teamed with Lilly Craig, Morgan Nelson and Mary Jo Lechtenberg to finish third in the 4x800 (11:47.57).

Neither Marquette, Serena nor Earlville advanced any participants to state next week.

While it wasn’t the end to the season she wanted, Jewett was proud of the way she and her teammates competed.

“I tried my hardest and gave everything I had out there. All you can do is try,” she said. “You just have to run hard all the way. The worst thing you can do is regret after a race, knowing you could’ve gone out there and done better.”