Fort Dodge, IA—A season-high 24 hits led to a breakout performance for the Marshalltown Community College baseball team on Tuesday afternoon as the Tigers rolled past the Iowa Central Community College Tritons 16-8. Eight players had at least two hits, led by four knocks from Colin Schroeder (Grimes, IA/Dallas Center-Grimes) and Anderson Villarroel (Caracas, Venezuela/U.E. Santisima Caridad).
In the team's previous four games, the Tigers managed just six runs. Tuesday's nine-inning contest showed a completely different attack as MCC scored in seven different innings to reach the 16-run mark for the fourth time this season.
Villarroel finished the day 4-6 at the plate with three RBI and three runs scored while Schroeder went 4-5 at the dish with three RBI. Logan Holtz (Urbana, IA/Center Point-Urbana) added three hits and three RBI in the win. Engel Rosario (Santo Domingo, DR/Cenapec), and Bryan Ventura (Carolina, PR/Next Level America) all had three runs scored on the afternoon.
Bennett Lopez (Dorado, PR/PRBA) and Rosario both added three base hits in the offensive display.
MCC starting pitcher Jorge Michael (Caracas, Venezuela/Claret) allowed just two runs in four innings on the mound. Wyatt Stark (Mt. Pleasant, IA/Fairfield) struck out two batters in two innings of relief to earn the win.
Holtz's day got started in the first inning as the freshman smacked a double and later scored on a single from Lopez. Michael held the Tritons scoreless for the first two frames thanks to solid defense from the Tigers. MCC rolled a double play in the first inning and freshman catcher Hunter Embray (Knoxville, IA/Twin Cedars) threw a runner out attempting to steal in the second.
The Tiger offense came to fruition in the third inning as MCC put five runs on the board. A sacrifice fly from Holtz scored Ventura to open the scoring. With two outs, Pedro Lopez (Naples, FL/Naples) and Engel Rosario (Santo Domingo, DR/Cenapec) produced back-to-back RBI-singles. Schroeder drilled a two-run double to centerfield to give MCC a 6-0 lead.
After two runs from the Tritons in the bottom of the third, Holtz collected his second RBI on a single in the fourth to score Villarroel. Michael tossed a 1-2-3 fourth inning to maintain a comfortable advantage for the Tigers.
Following an RBI-single from Ventura and a run-scoring double from Villarroel in the fifth, Holtz added an RBI-double to his stat line to extend MCC's lead to 10-2. Iowa Central cut into the deficit with three runs in the bottom of the fifth, but the Tiger offense was unfazed as MCC produced four more runs in the sixth. Villarroel provided the big hit of the inning, a two-run single.
Alexis Melendez (Trujillo Alto, PR/IBAHS) connected on his third home run of the year, a solo shot in the seventh. Schroeder completed his day with a sacrifice fly in the ninth to put a lid on the Tritons. Chris Thompson (Sioux Falls, SD/Papillion-La Vista South) pitched a perfect ninth inning, striking out two batters as MCC snapped a four-game losing streak.
The Tigers return to Shawn Williams Field on Wednesday afternoon for the team's regular season home finale, a single nine-inning game vs. nonconference foe Southwestern Community College at 3:00 PM.
