CEDAR RAPIDS — The Central College baseball team's much anticipated return to the American Rivers Conference tournament ended Thursday after a pair of extra-inning losses.
Entering as the No. 5 seed, Central took on No. 4 Wartburg College in the quarterfinal. Trailing 3-1 entering the top of the fourth, designated hitter Dom DeLaPaz (senior, Davenport, West HS) started a four-run rally with a run-scoring triple. Consecutive singles by Stephen Stufflebeam (junior, Macomb, Ill.) and Brayden Sawyer (senior, Grundy Center) drove in a combined three runs to give the Dutch 4-3 lead.
Wartburg once again lead 6-5 going into the top of the eighth when Sawyer connected for a two-out, two-RBI single. A bases loaded walk in the bottom half for Wartburg tied at the score at 7-7.
The Knights had three singles in the bottom of the 10th, walking the Dutch off for an 8-7 win.
In an elimination game against Loras College immediately after the Wartburg loss, the Dutch took an early 3-0 lead in the third inning after Bryer Wiley's (sophomore, Urbana, Center Point-Urbana HS) two-RBI single.
Loras tallied four unearned runs in the top of the fifth before DeLaPaz drove in two on a single in the bottom half of the inning. The Duhawks had a 7-5 advantage going into the ninth but the Dutch rallied. Dylan Williams (senior, Woods Cross, Utah) took a bases loaded walk and then Stufflebeam's sacrifice fly tied the game at 7-7.
Neither team scored in the 10th but the Duhawks tallied the go-ahead in the top of the 11th and the Dutch were unable to answer.
Bryce Haessig (senior, Huxley, Ballard HS) was saddled with the pitching loss in game one after allowing one run on three hits in 1.1 innings. Jackson Torbit (sophomore, St. Louis, Mo., Webster Groves HS) yielded three earned runs in 4.0 innings as the starter. Turner Williams (junior, Newton) threw 4.0 innings of relief, allowing two earned on seven hits.
Drew Sabatino (sophomore, Waukee) was the losing pitcher, allowing one run on one hit in 2.0 innings. Sawyer, the starting pitcher, was charged with four unearned runs in 5.0 innings. Wiley and Max Steinlage (senior, Cedar Falls) each tossed two innings of relief.
Dylan Williams showed off his defensive versatility, playing five different positions over the course of the day. He played all nine of game one at first base. In game two, he started at third base before moving to second base, center field and shortstop in connection with the team's pitching changes.
The Dutch close out the season with a record of 17-23.
