By: Joe Blystone
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
METAMORA (April 1, 2025) – A somewhat wise old man once said, “you can’t get anything for free.” I wiser young replied, “oh yes you can, if you take advantage of what’s free.”
Evergreen made the most of no less than 13 free base runners, some big two-out hitting, and a stellar relief performance on the mound, to post an 11-4 win over Delta.
“It was just a great team effort,” first year Viking coach Chris Owens expressed. “We want to pride ourselves on small ball and we got base runners on so we could execute.”
“We had senior leaders like Layne Vance who laid down just a great bunt to extend an inning, scoring a run. We did a good job moving runners all day to keep them in scoring position.”
The Vikings took advantage of a pair of walks, two more hit batsmen and a big two-strike swing to notch four second inning runs.
John Herdman walked, stole second and continued to third on an errant throw, then rode home when Blake Boucher lined an 0-2 pitch into left for a run-scoring single.
JJ Johnson’s bunt single and a walk loaded the bases and ended the day for Panther starter Jacob Walter.
Gary Valentine came in and got the next two Viking hitters on strikes but then hit the next two Evergreen hitters and walked a third to force in three more runs and give the Vikes a 4-0 lead.
Troy Manz coasted through the first two innings against Delta hitters, but the Panthers got to the junior righty in the third to tie the game.
A walk, Walter’s base hit, another base on balls, and Carlos DeSantos’s booming double to left slice the lead in half, then Lane Lopez followed with a solid two-run single to knot the game 4-4.
Evergreen reclaimed the lead for good in the bottom of the inning. Boucher began the rally with his second hit, then a one-out walk and Colton Robertson’s double to deep right put Evergreen ahead for good.
An error on Chris Shrader’s grounder brought home the second run and the Viking bullpen took over from that point.
Bryce Bolger went three solid innings of one-hit ball and Robertson worked a scoreless seventh to keep the Panthers off the board the rest of the night.
“That’s kind of what we will have to do this year,” Owens explained of the Vikings group effort on the mound. “Everyone played their role well today. Troy kept us in the game, he threw strikes and worked ahead for the most part.”
“Then Bryce threw strikes for three innings, the defense made the plays behind him, and he had a couple big strikeouts and Colton closed the door. That’s what it’s going to take for us to win this year and we believe everyone is owning their role.”
Meanwhile the Vikings scored every inning the remainder of the game. A walk, an error, Boucher’s sac fly, and a wild pitch put across two more runs without a hit in the fourth to double the margin at 8-4.
Vance laid down a perfect RBI bunt, and Herdman’s two-out run producing single knocked home two more in the fifth and Shrader’s base hit knocked in Johnson who singled and stole second in the sixth.
Shrader had three hits while Boucher and Johnson each had two hits, as the Vikings had ten for the game.
“We had timely hitting all day,” Owens said. “Blake Boucher stepped up big with a couple two-strike hits and knocked in a couple runs showing some good leadership there.”
However, Evergreen put eight more on base via walks, three more who were hit by pitches and two fielding errors.
The Vikings host the Otsego Knights on Thursday, while Delta hosts the Knights on Friday.
DHS 004 000 0 – 4 5 2
EHS 042 221 x – 11 10 0
Records: DHS 0-3, EHS 1-1
WINNING PITCHER: Bolger (3 innings, 1 hit, 0 runs, 1walk, 4 strikeouts) Other: Manz, Robertson
LOSING PITCHER: Valentine (2 innings, 5 hits, 6 runs, 6 earned, 4 walks, 4 strikeouts) Other: Walter, Elton, Friess
LEADING HITTERS: (Delta) DeSantos – double, 2 RBIs; Lopez – 2 singles, 2 RBIs (Evergreen) Robertson – double, RBI; Shrader – 3 singles, 2 RBIs; Vance – 2 RBIs; Herdman – 2 singles, RBI, 2 runs; Boucher – 2 singles, 2 RBIs, 2 runs; Johnson – 2 singles, 2 runs