Mistakes, quiet offense costs Dixon against North Boone

DIXON — Playing North Boone for the second day in a row, the results were unfortunately the same for Dixon.

The Dukes fell 5-2 at Borden Field on Tuesday in a Big Northern Conference matchup between two teams toward the top of the standings.

The final score matched Monday’s final at North Boone.

Dixon (12-6, 9-4 BNC) rallied for two runs in the seventh inning, but a picked off runner at first to derail the momentum was emblematic of how the game went. Dixon had at least four errors and left multiple runners stranded in scoring position.

“It was really sad making all these errors,” Brady Feit said. “We’re better than this.”

Feit’s RBI double with one out scored Dixon’s first run in the seventh. He finished with two doubles and scored a run on a Jagger Kemp single.

Feit started the game and pitched four innings with three strikeouts, two walks, four hits and one earned run allowed. He was saddled with the loss after the Vikings (22-4, 11-2) scored four unearned runs, taking a 3-0 lead in the second inning.

Things don’t get any easier for Dixon, which faces first-place Byron (21-4, 12-0) on Thursday and Monday.

On Tuesday, North Boone’s Gage Vermett got the win after striking out eight and walking one in 6 1/3 innings.

“[We’ve] just got to put the ball in play more, make their defense work more,” Feit said.

A Jack Redell single was Dixon’s only time reaching base against Vermett the first time through the order.

Dixon hopes to have some help later in the season from Brady Lawrence, who is recovering from a torn ACL. He was an all-conference second-team selection last season and hopes to be back for the postseason.

“They’re a good team,” Feit said of North Boone. “The players are good, the coach is good, and they hit the ball. Pitching is good, fielding is good. They just do everything.”

North Boone’s JJ Ford pitched six innings and allowed just one unearned run on Monday against Dixon.

“Our starting pitching has gotten really comfortable with going long,” Vermett said. “Throughout the season, we’ve been able to kind of bump it up and go longer and longer. And it’s really helped us, because we only have to use one pitcher and we’ll have guys later on in the week that can still throw.”

Dixon had two on in the seventh with one out before a runner was picked off at first. North Boone’s Owen Meredith then hit a batter, but a flyout ended the game the following batter.

Offensively, the Vikings took what Dixon gave them, out-hitting the Dukes 7-6. Meredith had two hits and scored two runs, while Margarito Espaina had two hits and an RBI leading off.

“You’ve just got to take advantage of that and try to put it the other way, get balls down,” Vermett said, “get us more runs.”

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