Eagles Baseball Rallies Back For First Win

The Eagles (1-1) soared above the jaws of defeat for their first victory of the season. They erased a five-run deficit to beat Veritas Christian 9-8 on Mar. 21. 

Sullivan lost grip of its one-score lead in the top of the fourth. They surrendered six runs and trailed 8-3 when returning to the plate. 

The Eagles were feeling déjà vu from the day before. In their opener against Borgia, Sullivan started ahead 2-0 but fell behind later. They came up short against the Knights, losing 4-3 on a triple play.

In their return home, the Eagles found themselves at an even greater deficit. Head Coach Ian Whitson told his boys that by “staying in the game and chipping away,” they could climb back on the board. He said, “There’s still four innings left… Just put the ball in play, put pressure on their defense and then come up with a timely hit every now and then.”

Sullivan began its comeback against Veritas in the bottom of the fifth. 

Chase Blue and Mitchell Garner ignited their rally with grounders. Alex Toews later bunted in an RBI, allowing Blue to break the drought. Then Landen Doza drove Garner in for a score, and Raiden Redd followed by walking home. 

Drake Gawer capped off the inning with a two-run single. Doza and Toews crossed the plate to tie up the scoreboard at 8-8.

The Eagles soared back in front when they returned to bat. Garner first smoked a ground ball, then barely reached first base. Sullivan gave up two outs, but Toews came to the rescue. He ripped a go-ahead RBI, and Kaden Smith cashed it in for the victory.

Whitson handed the Most Valuable Player belt to Garner and Toews. He credited Garner for his “really clutch hit” and thanked Toews for playing “a good game behind the plate” as a catcher.

Garner led the Eagles with three hits. He batted 4-for-4 and punched it home twice. 

Toews went 2-for-4, hitting two RBIs and scoring a run. 

Smith and Mahlon Foster each crossed the plate once. 

Doza racked up two hits, an RBI and a run.

D. Gawer powered 2 RBIs on his hits.

Blue dominated with two runs and a hit.

Ulrich and Seth Valley tallied an RBI and a walk.

Brody Gawer logged an RBI and a hit.

Redd recorded a run and a walk.

Nate McReynolds landed a hit.

The Eagles swung 12 hits and 8 RBIs at bat while taking three walks. 

Coach Whitson praised his pitchers for holding Veritas Christian down. He stated, “Lucas [Parsons] came out, threw a good first three innings… [We also had] some really good pitching performances there as far as our relief core today. So, I’m very proud of them as well.”

Parsons struck out four Veritas batters while surrendering two walks and two hits.

Redd took the mound to start the top of the fourth. The sophomore gave up six earned runs, four hits and two walks.

Wyatt Henricks finished out the inning for Redd. He hurled a strikeout and allowed two hits.

Grant Halmick came in for relief during the top of the fifth. He threw a strikeout while giving up a hit and a walk.

Isaiah ‘Dirty Dan’ Skaggs was Sullivan’s final pitcher on the hill. He shut the door on Veritas, preventing any batter from reaching first base.

With week one in the books, the Eagles look to continue growing stronger for the competition ahead. Whitson hopes they took away the importance of executing when the moment arises. He shared, “Towards the middle of the [Veritas] game, we really kind of struggled there as far as being able to execute, especially whenever we have runners in scoring position… But you know, again, whenever push came to shove, we were able to execute and win the game whenever we absolutely had to.”