SUPERIOR, Wis. --- Crown College Baseball split with the UW-Superior Yellowjackets on Saturday afternoon on a beautiful day as May began. The Storm lost game one in a high-scoring affair 15-14 in ten innings and won the second in a less intense experience, 11-0.
Senior Seth Betts was the star of the show, with a home run, a triple, three doubles, a single, three steals, seven runs, two RBIs offensively during two games. In addition, he pitched a shutout in the second contest, going nine innings with 12 Ks and only four hits and one walk allowed.
The Storm started game one with a two-run lead after Seth Betts scored first-year Mason Brock on a double and then stole third and forced an error to end up home. The Knights countered with three runs in the bottom part of the inning to take the lead.
In the second inning, Nick Schroedle, following in his brother's footsteps, hit his first of two homers to knot the game back up. Then Bailey Sarto hit a single to score Seth Betts to put the Storm back in front. That didn't last long, with the Knights retaking the game 5-4 in the bottom of the second.
In the third inning, sophomore Rhys Dewick hit a ground-rule double to score first-year Aaron Clogston. Nick Schroedle followed that up with his second home run of the game (and the season) to score Rhys Dewick. Later in the inning, Bailey Sarto hit a single to score Mason Brock, ending the inning with the Storm up 8-5. The Storm scored their ninth run in the fourth when Rhys Dewick doubled once again to score Aaron Clogston, a combination that was working for Crown. At the bottom of the fourth inning, the Yellowjackets scored six runs and took an 11-9 lead, an incredibly high score for only four innings gone.
The game then quieted for a bit, with neither team scoring until the top of the seventh when the Storm tied it up as Chad Herrera scored two singling with the bases loaded. Seth Betts and Tristan Shoemaker scored on the play, backfiring the previous play when Superior intentionally walked Kyle Schroedle. However, UWS added another run and took a 12-11 lead going into the eighth.
Seth Betts homered to tie the game at 12 apiece in the top of the ninth inning, and then Rhys Dewick doubled to score Kyle Schroedle and Aaron Clogston (for the third time) to take a 14-12 lead. That lead didn't hold in the bottom of the inning, with the Yellowjackets forcing extra innings. In the tenth, they found their hero with a two-out solo home run to win.
Crown's starting pitcher was Tyler VanCise, who went 3.1 innings and allowed six runs. Sophomore Gavin Boots relieved Tyler VanCise and struggled to get through the rest of the inning, eventually closing it out with five earned runs credited to his name. A bright spot in the Storm reliever's was first-year Kevin Golden, who went the next three innings with only one earned run, striking out six along the way. Jacob Van Dam relieved Kevin Golden, pitching an inning and not allowing a base runner. Senior Eric Newman pitched the next two innings, allowing two earned runs, and Seth Betts closed the last two outs, allowing the walk-off as his only hit.
Game two featured much less anxiety. It started when Sarto hit a home run in the first inning, scoring Seth Betts and giving the Storm a lead they would never give up. Bailey Sarto added another RBI in the third inning when a ball in play scored Mason Brock. Seth Betts added another run as he scored on a wild pitch. Chad Herrera scored Bailey Sarto to end the inning, the Storm up to a 5-0 lead.
In the fifth, a Chad Herrera single brought home Bailey Sarto once again, and his sixth-inning Bailey Sarto doubled to score Nick Schroedle. Seth Betts and Kyle Schroedle completed a double steal in the seventh, forcing an error that scored Seth Betts and advanced Kyle Schroedle to third. Next, Chad Herrera singled to score Kyle Schroedle. The Storm's last two runs happened in the ninth inning when Mason Brock and Tristan Shoemaker scored on an error.
Seth Betts went all nine innings for the Storm, shutting out the Yellowjackets and striking out twelve in only 105 pitches, slicing through the Superior lineup with ease, avenging the walk-off he gave up in the first contest.
Winning one against UWS, the Storm will have a chance to clinch a UMAC regular-season championship and being host to the conference championship by sweeping both Northwestern and North Central. The Storm face Northwestern on Tuesday at Woody Swanson Field in Carver, and all that have Crown IDs will be admitted, as well as a small pass list.
