The Roland-Story Norsemen baseball team held doubleheader action on Friday night, as they welcomed in the Nevada Cubs to Norsemen Field in Story City for the Norsemen’s Heart of Iowa Conference Opener. Nevada entered at 2-2, while Roland-Story entered at 1-3.
The Norsemen got on the board early in Game 1 of the doubleheader, plating 3 runs to take a 3-0 lead after the first. Roland-Story would scratch across another run in the 2nd to take a 4-0 advantage, before a Connor Schnettgoecke RBI double cut the score to 4-1. From there, Norsemen starter Alex Berends would lock things down, as the Norse picked up 3 more runs in the 6th to take home a 7-1 win. Roland-Story saw RBI hits from Matthew Phelan, Brett Schmitz, Alex Berends, Jackson Anthony and Hesston Johnson. Berends pitched the complete game win, with 5 strikeouts and throwing just 86 pitches.
Game 2 of the doubleheader saw the Norsemen offense open up more, as a 2-run first inning from Roland-Story snowballed into a 3-run second inning. A run in the 3rd inning saw the Norsemen jump out to a 6-0 lead over the Cubs. Nevada would plate runs in the 4th, 5th and 6th, but Roland-Story would add 2 runs in the 4th, a run in the 4th and 4 runs in the 6th to walk-off a 13-3, 6 inning victory to sweep the doubleheader against Nevada. RBI hits in Game 2 were courtesy of Brett Schmitz, Thomas Matthes, Alex Berends, Jackson Anthony and Cooper Loof. Matthes pitched 4 2/3 innings, striking out 8 and allowing 2 unearned runs, picking up the win.
Roland-Story returns to action on Tuesday night, as they host Heart of Iowa Conference foe PCM at Norsemen Field in Story City with first pitch at 7:30 PM.