BASEBALL INDIANS SUFFER FIVE LOSSES THIS WEEK

The Waukon Indian baseball team traveled a tough road this past week, dropping all five of its games enroute to a 3-22 record at this point of the season, 2-10 in Northeast Iowa Conference play. Offensive struggles left the Tribe on the short end of an 11-1 decision in six innings at home against Class 3A top-rated Oelwein Monday, June 26, and also put them in a 6-0 hole at Charles City Tuesday, June 27. The Tribe then fell to Central Elkader at home Wednesday, June 28 by a 16-10 final, and dropped both games of a doubleheader at Decorah Thursday, June 28 by 10-0 and 1-0 finals.
Due to an early print deadline for the Fourth of July holiday, results from the Independence Tournament played Saturday, July 1 will be published in next week's issue of The Waukon Standard.
The Indians will next play a varsity doubleheader at top-rated Oelwein Monday, July 3 and at Starmont Wednesday, July 5 before playing host to New Hampton in a varsity doubleheader Thursday, July 6. The Indians will then finish making up their Jeff Houg Tournament by playing Kee High in the championship game of the June 24 rained-out event this Saturday, July 8 at Lansing, beginning at 7:30 p.m.
The Tribe will then enter its final week of the regular season, playing host to Crestwood of Cresco in a varsity doubleheader Monday, July 10 and completing that regular season with a Wednesday, July 12 varsity doubleheader at Maquoketa. The Indians will then open postseason tournament play Saturday, July 15 at and against Decorah at 7:30 p.m.

vs. Oelwein ...
The Class 3A top-rated Oelwein Huskies backed up their high ranking with an 11-1 defeat of the host baseball Indians in six innings Monday, June 26. The Huskies were the third top-rated team the Indians have faced this season, the Tribe also having taken on Class 1A top-rated Kee High and Class 2A's number-one team, Cascade, already this season.
The Indians paid little attention to the Huskies' top ranking in taking an early lead over them in the opening frame. After retiring Oelwein's first three batters of the game in order, the Tribe used a two-out double from junior second baseman Chris Kamm and ensuing run-scoring single from junior first baseman Josh Johnson to grab a 1-0 early advantage.
That lead, and the Indians' offensive success, would be short-lived, however, as the visiting Huskies tied the game with a lead-off solo homer in the next inning and then proceeded to hold the Tribe to just a single hit in the remaining five innings.
That lone remaining Indian hit was a third-inning single from Kamm, the junior second baseman being the only other baserunner allowed by Oelwein, with the exception of freshman right fielder Kenny Hansmeier reaching on a Husky error in the second inning.
Following the solo homer that knotted the score in the top of the second frame, Oelwein proceeded to methodically add at least two runs to its total in each of the next four frames, hammering out three more round-trippers and eight other hits for a total of 12 in the contest. A three-run top of the sixth put the Huskies up by the necessary 10 runs to get the early, mercy-rule finish to the ballgame, the Tribe's three-up, three-down bottom of the sixth doing nothing to avoid the game's early end.
Indian junior pitcher Heath Hesse suffered the loss on the mound, allowing those 12 hits, hitting one batter and striking out three. Oelwein's Noel Wilbur picked up the pitching win, limiting the Tribe to just three hits, walking no one and striking out nine Indian batters.

Varsity reserve ...
Considering the fact that all but two of Oelwein's varsity reserve starters also started the Huskies' varsity contest, it should hold little surprise that the Indian varsity reserve also fell to Oelwein by an 11-0 final in five innings. The varsity reserve Indians were held to no hits in the contest, managing just three baserunners in the game on a hit batsman and two Husky errors.
Meanwhile, Oelwein's varsity/varsity reserve members bombed away for 12 hits in the contest, using a six-run fourth inning to help build a commanding, 10-0 lead.
Junior Chris Kamm suffered the pitching loss for the Indians, allowing 11 Oelwein hits, walking two batters and striking out two more in the game's first four innings. Fellow junior Bill Van Gorp came on in relief in the final frame, giving up one hit, walking one batter and striking out another. Oelwein's Eric Sanders recorded the win on the mound, striking out four and hitting another batter in pitching the no-hit shut-out.

at Charles City ...
For the second consecutive game, the baseball Indians were handcuffed on offense by a Northeast Iowa Conference opponent. The Tribe was held to just five hits in falling by a 6-0 final to Charles City at the home of the Comets Tuesday, June 27.
Even though the Tribe's offensive success was limited, the opportunities were there for the Indians in four of the game's seven innings. The Charles City defense retired the Indians in order in innings three, four and seven, but the remaining four frames saw the Tribe manage at least two baserunners in each, the Indians leaving the bases loaded in three of their four innings at the plate.
"It was frustrating," Waukon baseball coach Paul Norton said. "We had our chances to put runs on the board. It doesn't get much better than loading the bases with one out. We just couldn't take advantage of those opportunities."
Charles City got halfway to its final tally with a three-run opening frame, taking advantage of a walk and a pair of Indian errors with two singles to take a 3-0 lead. Another run was added in the fourth on two singles and a sacrifice fly, and the final two Comet tallies were posted on two singles, a sacrifice fly and a double.
Indian sophomore Seth Kelly absorbed the pitching loss, giving up eight hits, walking two Comets and striking out one. Charles City's Steve Domino picked up the win on the mound, allowing five Indian hits, walking five batters and striking out eight in five and two-thirds innings. Danny Mulford came on to get the final out of the sixth inning before Pat Shirley finished out the game for the Comets in striking out two of the three batters he faced in the bottom of the seventh.

Varsity reserve ...
The varsity reserve Indians couldn't overcome a steady dose of Charles City offense in falling by a 7-2 final result. The young Indians managed just two hits, both of those following walks and both scoring runs for the Tribe. Freshman shortstop Mitch Roe drove in the first Indian run with a two-out single in the second frame, while junior catcher Mike Searcy accounted for the other with a one-out single in the fifth frame.
Charles City tallied at least one run in each of their four innings at the plate, using a three-run third frame to pull away from the Tribe a bit.
Senior Jason Manning suffered the pitching loss for the Indians, giving up eight Comet hits and striking out two batters.

vs. Central Elkader ...
The offensive woes that had gripped the baseball Indians earlier in the week were somewhat absent in their Wednesday, June 28 non-conference home date with Central Elkader, but an overabundance of defensive problems did enough to leave the Tribe on the short end of a 16-10 final result. Eight Indian errors aided the Elkader squad to the win, about half of those coming in a decisive, seven-run sixth inning that catapulted the visitors to a lead they would never relinquish.
The Tribe played catch-up for the entire game, always seeming to have an answer for what Elkader put on its side of the board, but that answer never seeming to be enough. An exchange of runs in the first two frames made for a 1-1 knot through two complete innings, Elkader striking first with a run in the opening frame and the Indians finally answering with a run on a two-out triple by senior center fielder Craig Stott that scored junior third baseman Bill Van Gorp after he had drawn a two-out base on balls.
Elkader outdid the Tribe by a run in the third frame, tallying three runs on a walk, a double, a single and an Indian error. The Tribe's two-run answer began with back-to-back singles from sophomore shortstop Chad Bakkum and junior catcher Mike Searcy. The courtesy runners for both, senior Jason Manning for Bakkum and junior Andy Snitker for Searcy, proceeded to pull of a double steal, Manning swiping home to score on the throw down to second. Snitker was then knocked in by a two-out single from freshman pitcher Kenny Hansmeier, pulling the Tribe within a run of Elkader at 4-3.
Another one-run advantage in trading runs in the fourth and fifth innings boosted Elkader to an 8-6 advantage through five innings. Three more Indian defensive miscues, three walks, a single and a passed ball allowed four Elkader runs to come across in the top of the fourth frame. Again, the Indian answer waited an inning to emerge, but four Indian hits kept the Tribe within two runs of Elkader.
Searcy and junior second baseman Chris Kamm again started the inning with back-to-back singles, Snitker scoring as a courtesy runner on Kamm's single. A double by junior first baseman Josh Johnson and a walk issued to Hansmeier filled the bases with Indians. A fielder's choice forced Kamm out at home before Van Gorp ripped a two-out double to score both Johnson and Hansmeier for the 8-6 tally after five frames.
The aforementioned seven-run sixth inning for Elkader opened up the game a bit for the visitors, four consecutive singles to start the inning and four Indian errors accounting for the damage that boosted Elkader to a 15-6 advantage. After denying an Indian answer to that barrage in the bottom of the sixth, Elkader tacked on yet another run in top of the seventh, an Indian error in the lead-off at-bat being taken advantage of with back-to-back singles to improve the visitors' standing to 16-6.
The Tribe's final opportunity at the plate in the bottom of the seventh got some help from a one-out error followed by a base on balls that put both Hansmeier and junior designated hitter Jared Jones on base. A two-out double from Stott then scored Hansmeier before an ensuing triple from senior shortstop Eddie Frick drove both Jones and Stott in to make for a 16-9 tally.
A single from Bakkum brought Frick in from third, and Bakkum then put himself into position to score by taking second and third on consecutive wild pitches. A fly ball to center field brought the Indian comeback effort to an abrupt halt, however, the third out securing the Tribe's spot on the short end of the 16-10 final result.

Decorah doubleheader ...
The baseball Indians helped make history for Decorah veteran head baseball coach Dennis Olejniczak in dropping both ends of a doubleheader at Decorah Thursday, June 29. The two Indian losses, a 10-0 six-inning loss in game one and 1-0 thriller in the nightcap, were milestone wins number 999 and 1,000 for the Viking baseball head coaching fixture.
Viking pitching kept the Tribe well in check in both games, limiting the Indians to just three combined hits in the two games. Game one was just one hit shy of a perfect game for Viking hurler John Jaeger, a fifth-inning single by freshman right fielder Kenny Hansmeier accounting for the Tribe's lone offense in the contest.
Decorah got an abundance of help in tallying its 10 runs in the contest, capitalizing on a second-inning walk with a run-scoring double for an early, 1-0 lead and taking advantage of three hit batters and another walk with a sacrifice fly to boost that lead to 3-0.
The big blow came in a five-run fifth inning for the Vikings, back-to-back, one-out hits getting help from five Indian errors and a walk to more than double the Decorah advantage to 8-0. The game-ending pair of Viking tallies were tacked on in the sixth frame, the host squad loading the bases on a walk, a single and a hit batsman before a two-run single finalized the game's end result at 10-0 in six innings.
Indian senior Eddie Frick suffered the loss on the mound for the Tribe, giving up six hits, walking five batters, hitting four more and striking out two. In limiting the Tribe to just a single hit in his near-perfect pitching performance, Jaeger struck out eight Indian batters.

Game two was nearly equally as perfect from the Viking pitching perspective, as the Tribe was limited to just two hits in the contest, with just one other Indian baserunner being allowed in the third frame on a Viking error. Decorah hurler Zach Jevne tossed the gem, striking out 15 Indians.
Back-to-back singles from freshman right fielder Kenny Hansmeier and junior designated hitter Jared Jones were the only chinks in Jevne's armor, but a timely throw to third to deny a stolen base and back-to-back strikeouts left the Tribe empty in their only real scoring opportunity of the ballgame.
Indian sophomore right-hander Seth Kelly didn't fare all that badly against his Viking opponents, limiting Decorah to just three hits, hitting one batter and striking out another. It was one of those hits, a second-inning single, that capitalized on a lead-off hit batsman and ensuing Indian error to post the only run of the ballgame. Had it not been for that troublesome second frame, it may have taken extra innings to decide a victor in this contest, as Kelly and his Indian defensive counterparts did not allow more than a single baserunner in any of the other five Viking innings at the plate.