Baseball: Hot bats, strong defensive effort lead Sterling to five-inning victory over Alleman

STERLING – The Sterling baseball team put two runs on the board in the first inning and never relented, adding nine more runs over the next four frames to claim an 11-1 five-inning victory over Alleman in Game 1 of its Tuesday doubleheader at Gartner Park.

In the top of the first, the Golden Warriors’ defense set the tone, getting a groundout, flyout and putout in the first four at-bats.

In the bottom of the first, leadoff hitter Colt Adams drew a walk, then stole second and third while Daylen Stage was up to bat. Stage followed with a single past first base, scoring Adams, then Garrett Polson singled to center field, and Stage came home on a Braden Hartman fielder’s choice for a 2-0 Sterling lead.

[ Photos from Sterling vs. Alleman baseball ]

In the second inning, Sterling kept Alleman off the scoreboard again, as starting pitcher Gio Cantu threw a strikeout and induced two flyouts.

The Pioneers finally found a counterpunch in the top of the third when Caden Hanna singled, Jackson Praet drew a walk, Chance Carruthers singled, and Praet scored off a wild pitch. A Noah Brinkman flyout on the next at-bat ended the inning, as Alleman trailed 2-1.

In the bottom of the third, Sterling broke open the game with a four-run rally. With two outs in the inning, Trevor Dir hammered a two-run double deep into left field, glancing the ball off the glove of the left fielder and plating Cantu and Hartman for a 4-1 Warrior lead.

“I saw a fastball down the middle, and I just hit one to left field and got a double out of it,” Dir said.

In the next two at-bats, Blake Nettleton singled to center field to score Dir, and Dale Guerrieri singled to center field to score Nettleton, building the lead to 6-1.

“[Establishing a 6-1 lead early] was great,” Nettleton said. “We kind of struggled with the bats [in the first two innings], but we needed timely hits and we went and got them today. That’s what it’s about, stringing some hits together.”

In the top of the fourth, Sterling made a pitching change, as Nettleton came on for Cantu. In the first five at-bats, Alleman loaded the bases, drawing two walks and singling once with two outs in the inning.

For a moment, it looked like the Pioneers might cut into their five-run deficit, but Nettleton kept his composure on the mound, striking out Hanna to preserve the 6-1 lead for another inning.

“I just wanted to make things interesting,” Nettleton joked, referencing his approach when Alleman loaded the bases. “No, but on a serious note, I missed my spots from the next two guys, and I couldn’t walk a guy and I knew that, so I had to go right at this next guy.”

Sterling added three more runs in the bottom of the fourth, stretching its lead to 9-1.

Adams started the rally with a single to center field, scoring Ethan Janssen. After the Golden Warriors scored their seventh run, the Pioneers made a pitching change of their own, subbing Austin Winkelbauer for Quentin Fonseca.

Unfortunately for Alleman, the change in pitcher didn’t make much difference. In the next three at-bats, Stage drew a walk, and Polson and Hartman hammered back-to-back RBI triples, plating Stage and Polson for an eight-run lead.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Golden Warriors added two more runs to finish off the win. Adams grounded out at first to score Anthony Speers, the courtesy runner for Nettleton, then Stage singled to left field to score Janssen, ending the game by 10-run rule.

“I thought we competed,” Alleman coach Jerry Burkhead said. “We had guys on base every inning. We were just a hit away a couple times from making this a really tight game.”

Stage, Hartman, Nettleton, Polson and Janssen each went 2-for-3 to lead Sterling at the plate. Stage, Hartman, Adams and Dir drove in two runs each. Hartman and Polson both hit a triple.

Cantu threw two strikeouts and allowed three hits, one run and two walks over three innings. Nettleton pitched two innings of scoreless relief, striking out three and walking two.

“I think Trevor Dir’s two-out hit was really huge, it extends an inning. They had scored one to make it 2-1. Two outs, guys on second and third, Trevor gets a base hit, it extends that inning,” Sterling coach Darwin Nettleton said. “I can’t be happier for the guys. I tell them every day, we believe in them, we’re proud of them. The end results haven’t been what they’ve wanted, what any of us have wanted, but we’ve done a lot of good things. And tonight we got to see that in Game 1. Some really good things up and down.

“Gio threw well, and he didn’t have his best stuff, followed up by Blake. Defensively, we played OK, we have played OK, but offensively, to string the hits together was just great. For us, when we get guys on and we can steal bases and we can bunt, we can do those things, it just adds another element for our offense that we’ve been waiting to see.”

Hanna, Jason Bowker and Chance Carruthers had Alleman’s three hits.

Sterling won the nightcap 13-3 in six innings, as Nettleton singled, homered, drove in three runs and scored twice, and Polson and Hartman had two RBIs each; Polson scored two runs, and Hartman added another. Adams singled, doubled, scored twice and drove in a run, and Daylen Stage had a triple and an RBI, scoring twice. Janssen also had two runs and an RBI for the Warriors.

Hartman, Adams and Polson each pitched two innings, combining for six strikeouts and four walks, while allowing three earned runs and six hits.