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South Tama falls short in twinbill against Benton

South Tama second baseman Kyler Smith has the ball get away from him attempting to tag out Benton Community’s Evan Daugherty as he successfully steals during the first game of Tuesday’s doubleheader in Tama. Photo by Cyote Williams
South Tama starting pitcher Kian McBride delivers to the plate during his six-strikeout performance against Benton on Tuesday. Photo by Cyote Williams
Gavin Bridgewater makes contact on his two-run double that sprung South Tama back into the game against the Benton Bobcats. Photo by Cyote Williams

Game one of South Tamas double header against Benton had a little bit of everything in it, diving catches, solid pitching and a comeback, the only thing that was missing was the final product.

Coming off of two wins in their double header against Vinton-Shellsburg, South Tama was hoping to build off those victories against a 13-17 Benton side.

However before those wins, the Trojans had been on an eight game skid.

Benton was in a similar situation to the one that their opponents had experienced, losing their six before traveling to Tama.

Kian McBride started off on the mound for STC, and put in a great shift. Including six strikeouts and 99 total pitches.

The first inning saw McBride strike out two batters and get through the start of the ball game without allowing any runs.

McBride continued this trend striking out another two Benton bats in the second inning, helping get South Tama out of a jam with Bobcat runners in scoring position.

The offense started to come around for both teams in the third inning. Benton scored two runs, one coming off of a wild pitch to take the lead, luckily a foul tip directly into Trojan catcher Gavin Bridgewater’s glove helped get South Tama out of the inning before suffering anymore damage.

A bunt by Logan Schmidt advanced a runner into third, who would eventually be driven home by Daniel Wiese to get the Trojans on the board.

Unfortunately South Tama would end the third inning with the bases loaded, squandering a valuable opportunity to get back into the game.

A quiet fourth inning sent the contest quickly into the fifth where McBride struck out another two batters to end the inning.

Mcbrides day would end in the sixth after being pulled for Kyle Finch, who would give up one run before getting out of the inning.

Bridgewater laced a ball into deep left field for a double that would score two runs, exciting the South Tama crowd in attendance. The excitement didn’t end there for the inning, with relief pitcher Finch hitting an RBI single to tie the game 4-4 heading in the seventh and final inning.

Finch did give up another run, but his defense would keep the game close with diving catches on both sides of the outfield that kept the score within one run heading into the bottom of the seventh inning.

The first two South Tama bats struck out, leaving them down with two outs and one run to score. Singles by Smith, Wiese and Bly loaded the bases for the Trojans, but ultimately the game would end with a flyout to center field and a South Tama loss at 5-4.

Game two ended under the lights in an 11-4 loss for the Trojans.