Reivers Run-Rule Johnson County in Doubleheader Split

COUNCIL BLUFFS - NJCAA No. 13 Iowa Western Baseball nearly no-hit NJCAA No. 4 Johnson County in game two of the afternoon doubleheader to split the home series.  

The Cavaliers (16-2) took game one 4-3.  Ashton Hartwig gave JCCC an early 1-0 lead on a solo shot to left field. The Reivers (9-4) answered back with two runs in the 5th inning on a 2-run bloop single from Justin Rompré that fell into no-man's land in right field.  JCCC took a 3-2 lead in the top of the 6th on an RBI double from Isaac Pamaran and a wild pitch, scoring a run from third base, and added one more in the 7th to make it 4-2.  

Iowa Western Centerfielder Nolan Geislinger looped an RBI single to score Dyland England with two outs in the bottom of the frame, but the comeback came up short as Johnson County Pitcher Braylon Brooks got the final out and emphatically tossed his glove to the dugout in celebration.

The Cavaliers led off game two, scoring a run after starting pitcher Adam Lieser hit the first batter of the game and Colin Coonradt drew a two-out walk to put a runner in scoring position. A pick-off attempt that went into center field put runners on 2nd and 3rd.  Two pitches later, a wild pitch led to a run for the visitors, despite not finding a hit in the inning.

From there on out, it was all Reivers.  Iowa Western tied the game in the bottom half of the inning, then scored four runs in the 2nd, three runs in the 3rd, another in the 4th, and a solo shot to right field from Rompré made it 11-1 after five innings.  Leiser kept dealing for the remainder of his outing, giving up no runs after the first and not allowing a hit.

The Cavaliers finally got in the hit column in the 6th inning on an infield single from Logan Groh as he beat out the throw from deep in the hole at shortstop.  Ethan Roth kept the visitors off the scoreboard, getting out of a 2-out jam, striking out the final batter of the game.

Iowa Western will now head to Overland Park, KS, tomorrow afternoon for two more games against Johnson County, starting at noon.