North Mahaska took advantage of our errors by Iowa Valley then used solid defense to score a 5-3 victory over the Tigers. The victory kept the Warhawks in third place in South Iowa Cedar League race.
North Mahaska got the ball rolling in the bottom of the first inning with two outs. Ben Johannes singled and Charlie Goemaat came into run. Nash Smith stepped into the box and drove a ball over the left-centerfield fence for a 2-0 lead. NM added three more runs in the second inning taking advantage of four Tiger errors.
Iowa Valley scored two in the top of the third inning and added another in the fifth, but the NM defense stiffened the rest of the way.
“We got the hits early,” said NM coach Kevin Kelderman. “Our defense was tough, and we made the plays. Drake (Hall) had a couple great catches in the outfield and Nate (Sampson) made some good plays and then did on a nice job pitching.”
Sampson came into the game in the bottom of the sixth inning and struck out two of the four batters he faced. He fanned half of the batters he faced. Jack Kelderman worked the first five innings and yielded three runs on five hist with three walks and three strikeouts. Sampson gave up a hit, struck out four and walked one.
Smith hit a homer and single with two RBIs. Nolan Andersen hit a double and Johannes singled.
Beau Long hit two singles for Iowa Valley. Owen Bral took the loss allowing five runs on four hits, struck out four and walked one.
North Mahaska closes out the week with a game at Belle Plaine Friday.