Mustangs suffer baseball game defeat

By Morgan Guyer

North Nodaway baseball fell to 0-2 on the season after a 14-4 loss against Osborn-Stewartsville on March 28.

The Mustangs got behind early after a 3-0 first inning for the WildCards, but North Nodaway bounced back with two runs of their own in the bottom half. The teams went back and forth, as Osborn led 5-4 at the end of the fourth inning. The floodgates opened, however, as the WildCards erupted for nine runs in the fifth inning to put the game away.

North Nodaway opened the season against Gilman City on March 25, losing 14-0. Even with this loss, Mustangs Head Coach Cody Jenkins saw some improvement from last week.

“We’ve been improving really well. Our bats are starting to come around,” Jenkins said. “It takes time to get the mechanics back, to get the timing back and everything else.”

Sophomore Ethan Fry pitched four innings for the Mustangs, striking out a batter and only walking one.

“Ethan did a really good job for us tonight. He pounded the strike zone, got some hitters off balance,” Jenkins said. “He pitched a really good game.”

Jenkins thinks more experience and practice for his young team can help both offensively and defensively.

“We’re starting two juniors, and the rest of them are sophomores and freshmen,” Jenkins said. “We just gotta have practice time and putting the ball in the glove and throwing it to first.”

Sophomore catcher Aydan Blackford led the way in hitting for the Mustangs, going 2-2 at the plate with two singles while also adding a run.

Jenkins would like to see more improvement on that side of the ball as the season progresses.

“I definitely think we could fix our batting. We’re watching a lot of good pitches at the present time,” Jenkins said. “Knowing what a good pitch is to hit and then attacking that with a good swing and putting the bat on the ball.”

North Nodaway hosts South Holt on March 31 looking for the first win of the season.