COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. --- Crown College Baseball battled with the Saint John's Johnnies on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon to open outdoor baseball for the season. The game was high-scoring, with both teams eclipsing ten runs as Crown fell 13-10 to the top-ranked NCAA Division III program in Minnesota.
The game was rife with controversy, with several close calls on deciding plays. The most consequential dispute was when Mason Brock had a triple turned out due to an alleged skipping over first base in the top of the eighth inning. The Storm, down a single run at that moment, would have been in prime position to tie up the game with All-Conference slugger Seth Betts stepping up to the plate and a runner on third. Instead, the inning was over with the Storm down one run.
The scoring started early and often as the Storm took a two-run lead when Brock and Betts scored on a wild pitch. In the second inning, three RBI singles from Chad Herrera, Kyle Schroedle, and Rhys Dewick scored Miguel Bonilla, Betts, and Herrera to take an early 5-1 lead. The Johnnies countered quickly, hitting four of their school-record six home runs in the second and third innings, taking a 9-5 lead, forcing the Storm to pull their starter.
Gavin Boots' relief pitching kept the Storm in the game, with the sophomore going three innings with no earned runs.
However, after Brock and Betts filled the bases once again, Kyle Schroedle hit a lofting home run to pull the Storm back within a run. Betts put the ball in play the following sixth inning to score Bailey Sarto and knot the game up. Saint John's pulled ahead with an RBI single in the sixth, but sophomore designated hitter Rhys Dewick hit a solo home run to once again even the score. Unfortunately, the Johnnies came back with a homer of their own, and after the controversy with Brock's triple, took the game 13-10.
The Storm started lefty Nicholas Schroedle on the mound, who lasted three innings and struck out two in the contest. Sophomore Gavin Boots took over after Schroedle and had an incredible outing, going three innings in long relief, allowing no earned runs, allowing only two hits, and striking out one as he fought to keep the game close. Kyle Schroedle relieved Boots and finished out the game with two innings pitched and two strikeouts.
The Storm have a set of five games in three days as they continue their U.S. Bank Stadium series tomorrow with a doubleheader against the Bethel Royals. After that, Crown takes on Hamline University on Tuesday.
