JUCO baseball: Warriors split at home with NIACC
Mar. 28—CENTERVILLE — It didn't take long for Zachari Pace to make an impact.
The Indian Hills freshman needed just three trips to the plate over two innings to drive in seven of IHCC's 24 runs on Wednesday against NIACC. Pace went from coming from a productive pinch-hitting performance that nearly rallied the Warriors in the opening game of the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference doubleheader to a start that led to the biggest hit in a big opening-inning rally in game two for Indian Hills.
Pace connected on his first collegiate grand slam on Wednesday, driving in five runs in a 17-2 victory for Indian Hills in the second game against the Trojans. The home run came less than an hour after coming off the bench to deliver a two-run pinch-hit single in the bottom of the seventh, giving the Warriors a chance to rally from a four-run deficit against NIACC in their final at-bat.
Pace, however, was stranded at first base representing the potential tying run for the Warriors in game one. Jack Gonse struck out another IHCC pinch-hitter, A.J. Marchetti, looking for the final out to clinch NIACC's 8-7 win in game one of the doubleheader at Pat Daugherty Field.
"When you don't manage the little things, you're going to get beat in close baseball games," Indian Hills head coach Matthew Torrez said. "We needed to jump back on the horse and get back at it in the second game. That was really nice to see."
Indian Hills responded after dropping a back-and-forth battle with NIACC, scoring 10 runs in the bottom of the first to take control of the nightcap. J.J. Dutton continued to swing a hot bat after driving in a run and scoring twice in game one, putting the Warriors ahead in game two by legging out a two-run double into left-center field in the bottom of the first, the first of three consecutive hits that led to runs in the opening two innings of game two for the IHCC sophomore.
"I just tried to make the right decisions and be selective at the plate," Dutton said. "I like to use my speed as a weapon. We came out in the second game with a fire in our belly. We came out kind of slow in the first game. (Sophomore pitcher) Nate Smithburg really fired us up in the dugout before the second game and got us going."
Indian Hills put the first five batters of game two on base with Dutton driving in the first two base runners. Pace, the sixth man to bat in the inning, made it six for six in Warrior batters opening the nightcap reaching and scoring as the freshman sent a pitch into the wind and over the fence in right for a grand slam that gave IHCC a sudden 6-1 lead.
"Having that hit at the end of the first game gave me a little bit of extra confidence. When I came up in that spot, I was just trying to do my job," Pace said. "When I came up the first time in the second game, I really just wanted to put a ball in play with the bases loaded to keep it going. It was all about giving us a chance to win each time I came up to the plate."
Indian Hills kept the opening inning of game two going as NIACC (10-17) went to the bullpen twice as the Warriors continued to put runners on base. Dutton connected on a pair of hits in the 10-run rally, scoring twice being driven in both times by Pace.
After hitting a grand slam earlier in the inning, Pace came up for a second time with the bases loaded giving the freshman a chance at the rare feat of hitting two grand slams in one inning. Instead, Pace worked a walk to drive in Dutton, giving the IHCC freshman five RBI in the opening frame.
"Midway through that second at-bat, I did start to think about how cool it would be to hit two grand slams," Pace said. "It wasn't something I was shooting for. It's all about being patient and making sure you swing at the right pitch if it's delivered. Otherwise, taking the walk in that situation works just as well for the team."
Dutton added an RBI double in the second inning, driving in Raul Torres following an RBI single by the Warrior shortstop. Torres later added a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning, countering a solo home run by NIACC infielder Will Couchman, before run-scoring hits by Jed Kirkpatrick and Ciro Benavides in the fifth helped the Warriors clinch their 20th win of the season.
"It was good for us to bounce back after that tough opening loss. It keeps us in the hunt for the regional title," Torres said. "You can't afford too many losses in a row. It really hurts you in this league. You have to come out ready to play every day. I'm not sure we were in the first game. It took us getting beat and not executing properly to get back in the game do what we needed to in the second game."
Indian Hills (20-5) will be back home for a three-game series that was originally scheduled to be played in Estherville against Iowa Lakes. With the Lakers' home diamond not currently in playable condition, the Warriors will host the series at Pat Daugherty Field with a doubleheader on Friday starting at 2 p.m. Game three of the series will be played on Saturday afternoon in Centerville at 1 p.m.
— Scott Jackson can be reached at sjackson@ottumwacourier.com. Follow him on Twitter@CourierScott.
