Red Oak baseball sweeps Shen
The Red Oak baseball team has accomplished a lot in a short amount of time this year, including a sweep against a long time rival.
Red Oak (3-6 overall, 2-5 conference) completed a regular season sweep of the Shenandoah Mustangs last Tuesday with their 3-1 win at Sportsman Park. It’s the first time that the Tigers have swept a conference team since they did it to Clarinda in 2013 and the first time they swept Shenandoah since 2005.
Carlos Guerra was a big reason for the Tigers’ success. The sophomore tossed a complete game, allowing one unearned run on four hits and striking out 11.
“We’d love to get one or two more hits here, to put some distance between ourselves and the other team, but with Carlos on the mound doing what he was doing, luckily we didn’t need it tonight,” Red Oak baseball coach Mark Erickson said.
The 11 strikeouts for Guerra is a career-best for him. Guerra credits his breaking ball for a lot of the success.
“My fast ball has always been pretty decent, I can get it over the plate consistently,” Guerra said. “Tonight, my slider was pretty deadly.”
Guerra noticed before the game that his slider was working well, which allowed him a different option from his fast ball and change-up.
“In his bullpen session before the game, he had talked about that. He came up and told me that he was feeling his slider tonight,” Erickson said. “I think he definitely had that going, as well as being more efficient with his pitches today, compared with his outing against Clarinda.”
The lone run was given up in the third inning, cutting the Tiger lead to 2-1. From there, Guerra kept the Mustangs down. Guerra has been a thorn in Shenandoah’s side this season. He’s given up just five hits and one unearned in 9 2/3 innings pitched, striking out 14 in two games versus Shenandoah this season.
“You’re seeing a maturation process. He’s slowing down and I think that’s good for all of our pitchers,” Erickson said about Guerra. “We have a lot of young guys on the team that want to pitch and I think they’re able to see that out there. We’re able to talk to the other guys about Carlos’ performance and what he does when things don’t go well.”
Guerra has noticed the progression. He currently sits tied for sixth in the Hawkeye 10 for strikeouts with 28.
“From last year to this year, I’ve made a big improvement,” he said. “Last year, I kind of rushed into things. This year, I’m taking my time out on the mound.”
Guerra also stepped up offensively, scoring a run in the fifth, thanks to an RBI single by Jesse Taylor. Guerra was 0-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base. Taylor meanwhile was 1-for-2.
Connor Johnson was 1-for-2, while Ryker Connell and Will West both went 1-for-3. Ryan Lundgren scored the other two runs for Red Oak as he was 0-for-2 with two walks.
The Tigers scored their other win of the week Saturday afternoon at Legion Park when they defeated Clarinda Academy 19-7 in five innings.
Red Oak went to pitchers Dylin Keat and Carter Bruce for the game in anticipation for the upcoming loaded schedule. Keat got the win, but Bruce stepped up in relief, striking out seven in 2 2/3 innings pitched.
The Clarinda Academy game was the conclusion of four games in less than 48 hours.
Red Oak versus Atlantic
The Tigers lost both their varsity doubleheader games to the Trojans Friday.
Red Oak lost the first game 12-1 in five innings. The lone run for the Tigers came in the bottom of the third when West scored on an RBI double by Lundgren. West, Isaac Bower and Guerra went 1-for-2, while Lundgren was 1-for-3.
Game two was much closer as the Tigers lost 3-2 against the Trojans. Atlantic played as the home team for the second game.
Red Oak found itself down 3-0 through four innings. The comeback began in the fifth when West blasted a two-out double to the warning track to keep the inning alive. Mario Lepe followed up with an RBI single that scored West. Red Oak was down 3-1 through five.
Guerra scored the second run for the Tigers in the sixth inning when he ran home on a passed ball. The Tigers missed out on bringing home the tying run.
Tristen Benn was able to retire the Red Oak side in the top of the seventh to get the win.
West, Lepe, Taylor and Guerra were all 1-for-3, while Lundgren went 1-for-4.
Kuemper Catholic 11,
Red Oak 1
The Tigers made up the second game of their doubleheader from earlier in the month as they lost Thursday to the Knights.
Kuemper Catholic scored three runs in the fourth inning, which made the difference
Red Oak’s lone run was scored in the fourth inning by Lundgren, who was knocked in on a hit by West. Lundgren was 1-for-2 in the ball game.
Red Oak played Glenwood Monday night. Results weren’t available as of press time.
Thursday night, it’s back on the road for Red Oak as they face Denison-Schleswig in a doubleheader. The first game starts at 5:30 p.m.
Red Oak is home again Friday night for a doubleheader with Lewis Central. The first game kicks off at 5:30 p.m.
The week wraps up Saturday as the Tigers make up a triangular scheduled for June 6 when they host Missouri Valley and Southwest Valley. The first game starts at noon at Legion Park.