GARWIN — Down to its last strike, the Baxter baseball team rallied past GMG on Friday night.
The Bolts scored first but needed a late rally to down the Wolverines on the road. Baxter plated six runs in the seventh inning and won the Iowa Star Conference South Division game 13-8.
Baxter led 3-2 after one inning, trailed 5-3 after two and 6-3 after four but rallied with two runs in the fourth, two more in the fifth and six in the seventh. The Wolverines added two in the sixth, but it wasn’t enough.
The Bolts, who out-hit GMG 13-8, committed three errors in the win.
They are 8-8 against the Wolverines since 2018 but have won three straight in the series. Baxter registered its first season sweep of GMG since 2020.
Liam Trent led Baxter (12-6, 9-6 in the conference) with three hits, one double, three runs, three RBIs and one steal.
Cael Wishman added two hits, one double, two runs, three RBIs and one walk. He leads the Bolts with a .400 batting average and a team-most 18 RBIs, 19 runs, five doubles and 42 total bases.
Hayden Burdess, Colton Moffit and James Esqueda all had two hits. Burdess scored two runs and walked once, Moffit scored one run and tallied three RBIs and Esqueda chipped in one run and one RBI.
Cody Spurgeon totaled one hit and two runs and was hit by two pitches. He leads the Bolts with 10 hit by pitches.
Colten Damman doubled and had two RBIs, Aiden Johnson posted one hit, one run and one walk, Jace Bottorff walked once and was hit by one pitch and Derek Rominger scored one run.
Wishman started on the mound but wasn’t involved in the decision. He allowed eight runs — four earned — on seven hits, four walks and one hit batter. He struck out five and used the maximum number of pitches allowed.
Nolan Hill (3-0) earned the win after getting the final out in the sixth inning. He allowed one hit and used nine pitches.
Damman struck out one and allowed no hits and no runs in the bottom of the seventh.
Rider Kupka walked twice and scored three runs to lead GMG (7-12, 6-7), while Colin Teske scored two runs and was the losing pitcher.
The Bolts extended their school record with their 12th win this summer. Wishman and Teske both registered 111 pitches.
Baxter’s non-conference road game against BGM on Tuesday and non-conference home game against Lynnville-Sully on Thursday were canceled due to heavy rains and storms.
BCLUW 8, Baxter 5
BAXTER — A season-high 10 errors plagued the Bolts during a home conference game against BCLUW on Wednesday.
Baxter scored all five of its runs in the first two innings, but the Comets rallied for an 8-5 victory on the road in Iowa Star Conference South Division action.
Wishman and Damman had two hits each to lead the Bolts, but BCLUW out-hit Baxter 8-5 and had only two errors.
The game was tied at 2-all after one, and Baxter led 5-4 after three. BCLUW tied the game in the fourth, scored the go-ahead runs in the sixth and added one in the seventh.
Wishman doubled, scored one run, had two RBIs and stole one base and Damman contributed one RBI. Wishman leads Baxter 11 stolen bases.
Trent doubled, scored one run and had one RBI, Spurgeon walked twice, Burdess totaled one RBI and Moffit, Johnson, Rominger and Esqueda all walked once. Spurgeon leads the Bolts with 14 walks.
Johnson, Rominger and Esqueda also each scored one run.
Moffit (6-1) lost for the first time this season and ran out of pitches in the sixth. He allowed seven runs — one earned — on six hits, one walk and one hit batter in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out eight and used 113 pitches.
Damman surrendered one unearned run on two hits and fanned two in 1 1/3 innings.
Moffit’s earned run average is 1.02 and his six wins rank tied for fourth in Class 1A. His 81 strikeouts in 48 innings rank third in the state and second in 1A.
Daniel Zoske led BCLUW (9-5, 9-4) with three hits and three RBIs and got the pitching save. Ryan Busch tallied two hits.
North Tama 3, Baxter 2
TRAER — The Bolts lost a shortened game on Monday after North Tama scored the winning run in the bottom of the fifth.
Baxter tied the game at 2-all in the top of the fifth and had runners on first and second base with one out in the sixth when the game was called due to heavy rain.
The Redhawks out-hit Baxter 6-5, and the Bolts committed two of the game’s three errors.
Wishman had three hits, homered, doubled and tallied two RBIs, Burdess collected two hits and Esqueda was hit by two pitches.
Wishman leads the Bolts with 22 hits and his five homers rank tied for second in 1A.
Bottorff walked and was hit by a pitch, Moffit drew one walk, Trent scored one run and stole one base and Damman registered one steal.
Wishman (2-5) tossed all five innings for the Bolts and took the loss after allowing two earned runs on five hits and one walk with six strikeouts.
North Tama (10-7, 8-6) got two hits, one run and one steal from Kayler Morris and Josh Dostal tossed a complete game on the mound.
