Playoff Baseball Results Tuesday, July 20th
Coon Rapids Bayard Vs Grundy Center- Class 1A Sub-State 6 Final
Grundy Center 5
Coon Rapids Bayard 4
Coon Rapids Bayard rally came up just short in the Class 1A Sub-State 6 final on Tuesday night at Nevada. The Crusaders looked in trouble early as Grundy Center scored 4 times in the 1st inning and held Coon Rapids Bayard scoreless through the first two innings. The Crusaders settled down in the 2nd inning and got their bats going in the 3rd to cut it to a one run deficit then tied the game in the 4th inning. The Crusaders had two more runners in scoring position the rest of the game including having a runner on 2nd and the winning run on 1st in the bottom 7th. Grundy Center threatened in the 3rd inning with runners on 2nd and 3rd and had a runner on 3rd in the 5th but couldn’t score. They did in the 7th, helped by the first Crusader mistake of the game. The one run in the 7th turned out to be the game winner as the Crusaders left two on in the bottom 7th. Coon Rapids Bayard left nine guys on base for the game while Grundy Center left eight guys on base.
Grundy Center only had one hard hit ball in the 1st inning but they picked up four base hits including a 3-run double by Colin Gordon who was their hero at the plate. Gordon doubled following singles by Logan Knaack and Brayden Sawyer and a hit-by-pitch from Patrick Brown III to load the bases. Gordon scored the fourth run later in the inning on a single by Tate Jirovsky. Quentin Culbertson got a big strikeout to get out of the inning with runners on 1st and 2nd base. Aaron McAlister singled for Coon Rapids Bayard in the 1st but they weren’t able to score and trailed 4-0.
Culbertson settled in and found his curveball and changeup in the 2nd inning and only gave up eight baserunners the rest of the game. Coon Rapids Bayard had a chance in the 2nd inning to cut into the deficit, with runners on 2nd and 3rd and one out but didn’t score. Dayne Zinkula struck out the final two batters to keep the Spartans ahead 4-0. Grundy Center nearly scored in the 3rd, but left runners on 2nd and 3rd, helping to spark the Crusaders. You could see the energy as they came to the dugout to bat. Easton Hays tripled to deep right field to start the inning, Kobly Culbertson walked and Aaron McAlister got the Crusaders on the board with a groundout that scored Hays. Lance Clayburg singled to score Culbertson and then scored on a base hit by Gabe Obert. Coon Rapids Bayard trailed 4-3 after 3 innings but had changed the momentum. Hays reached in the 4th inning on a fielders choice and stole 2nd base with 2 outs. He scored on a ground ball that Grundy Center missed at 2nd base and the Crusaders had fought all the way back to tie the game at 4.
Grundy Center nearly took the lead again in the 5th, with a double by Gordon who finished 3-4 with 3 doubles and single. He moved to 3rd on a ground out to 2nd base but didn’t score and the Spartans left runners on 2nd and 3rd. Josh Ramirez singled for the Crusaders bottom 5th but was left at 1st base. Easton Hays singled again in the bottom 6th and stole 2nd base with 2 outs but couldn’t score, setting up a 7th inning where both teams would have the top to middle part of their orders coming up. Patrick Brown III reached on an error with 1 out in the 7th and moved to 2nd base on ball in the dirt. Colin Gordon clinched the Spartans game MVP with a double (his 4th RBI) to deep left scoring Brown III giving the Spartans a 5-4 advantage. Gordon was left at 2nd when the inning ended.
Aaron McAlister led off the bottom 7th with a walk and moved to 2nd base when Josh Ramirez walked with 1 out. The Crusaders had the tying run on 2nd and the winning run on 1st with 1 out but weren’t able to score as Dayne Zinkula worked a infield fly rule for the 2nd out and induced a ground ball to shortstop for a bang-bang force out at 2nd base to end the game on an extremely close play.
Easton Hays led the Crusaders with a pair of hits, including a triple and scored twice. That earned him Motor Inn Player of the Game honors. The Crusaders finished with 7 hits overall with Aaron McAlister, Lance Clayburg, Josh Ramirez, Gabe Obert and Preston McAlister all singling. Dayne Zinkla had only walked 6 batters this season but the Crusaders worked 4 walks from him, along with a hit-by-pitch by Obert. They only struck out 5 times. Quentin Culbertson went 6 2/3 innings, but suffered the loss, giving up 10 hits and 5 runs with 4 of those earned. He walked 2 batters and hit one batter. He struck out 1. Josh Ramirez went 1/3 inning in relief in the 7th and struck out the only batter he faced. Zinkula went the distance for Grundy Center allowing 7 hits, 4 runs with 3 earned while striking out 5. He did walk 4 and hit one batter.
Coon Rapids Bayard finishes the season at 24-9.
Coon Rapids Bayard Stats
Easton Hays 2-4, 3B, 2 RS, 2 SB
Kolby Culbertson 1 RS, BB, SB
Aaron McAlister 1-3, RBI, BB
Lance Clayburg 1-4, RBI, RS, SB
Josh Ramirez 1-3, BB- Pitching 1/3 IP, K
Gabe Obert 1-3, RBI, SB
Preston McAlister 1-4, SB
Tanner Oswald 1 BB
Quentin Culbertson LP, 6 2/3 IP, 10 Hits, 5 RA, 4 ER, K, 2 BB, HBP
Box Score
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Final
Grundy 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 5
CRB 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 4
