They had a little extra motivation for this one. After a less than stellar performance against Wahoo in the April 14 Trailblazer Conference Tournament championship game, the Malcolm baseball team felt like it had something to prove when the Class B No. 4 Warriors came for an April 24 visit.
The Class C No. 1 Clippers came out on top this time in a 6-5 thriller.
As the game opened, it looked it could be a repeat of the last game when Trenton Barry hit a three-run blast off of Derek Erickson in the top of the first. Barry homered and doubled in the teams’ previous meeting.
“Coming in we knew Barry would do some damage, we just needed to limit what he did,” Malcolm Coach Zach Wehner said. “After the first inning we were able to contain him and throw different pitches at him to try and throw off his timing.”
A third inning solo shot from Aidan Logren extended the Warriors’ lead to 4-0 before the Malcolm bats started to come alive. Hayden Frank opened the bottom of the fourth with a solo home run – the fifth of the season for the senior slugger – before Luke Schmidt drove in Carson Frank on a two-out single.
An RBI double from the elder Frank set the stage for a two-run blast off the bat of Mason Wisnieski in the bottom of the fifth. It was the fourth round-tripper of the season for the sophomore. Garrett England drove in the game-winning run with a single up the middle.
“The top of our lineup came back alive this week,” Wehner said. “It was a good week for them to gain their confidence back. Like I have been saying all year, our hitting is contagious.”
Wisnieski came on in relief of Erickson for the final inning-and-two-thirds to earn his second save.
“Mason did a great job coming in to close,” Wehner said. “I think of him and Derek being similar style pitchers, but there’s enough difference that it can throw off batters.”
The Clippers made a short trip to Valparaiso the next day to face some old friends in the “Battle for the Buck.” For four seasons, Malcolm and Raymond Central were a baseball co-op known as the Branched Oak Bucks. Malcolm retained the traveling trophy with an 11-7 win.
“I was a little concerned coming into the game with it being a rivalry, and us coming off a big win over Wahoo,” Wehner said. “Raymond Central played well. They were aggressive at the plate and found gaps. Luckily we were able to do what we needed to do to get the win.”
Nearly everything went right for Malcolm in its 16-1 home win over Falls City on April 29. Not only did Maddox Meyer open the game by pitching an immaculate inning – three strikeouts on just nine pitches – the junior threw 24 strikes out of 25 pitches while facing the minimum over three innings.
“Maddox said after warm-ups that he was on and he wasn’t joking,” Wehner said. “I don’t think I have ever seen a performance like that. To throw nine strikes for three outs in one inning is incredible. He was able to keep up that pace, and it helped give us the boost we needed.”
Meyer got plenty of run support as the Clippers had 17 hits on the day. With the help of strong winds, Hayden Frank, Elliott Robotham and Wisnieski each hit two-run home runs in the bottom of the second.
Malcolm (20-2) was scheduled to close out the regular season Monday at Wayne (12-6). The Blue Devils are winners of six straight.
The Clippers begin postseason play as the overall No. 1 seed in Class C. Malcolm will host the C-1 district and face the winner of St. Paul/Palmer (7-7) and Concordia/Brownell-Talbot/Omaha Christian Academy (9-11) in a Thursday, May 4, district final.
“We met our first goal of being the number one seed for districts,” Wehner said. “Our next couple goals are to make state and be the top seed. We need to come out firing this week. Both games will be tough and we need to make sure we’re focused.”
