Council Bluffs, IA—The Marshalltown Community College Baseball team ended a 19-game losing streak to Iowa Western Community College with a 6-3 game one win over the No. 3 Reivers at Doc Ross Field on Saturday. The Tigers fell in game two 15-1.
The Tigers, who had not beaten the Reivers since a 12-11 win at home on April 21, 2013, never trailed in the opening game as a pair of sophomores carried the team to the victory. Logan Holtz (Urbana, IA/Center Point-Urbana) connected on two home runs in the win while Kolton Gonnerman (Centerville, IA/Centerville) improved to 5-0 on the mound this year after tossing five innings in the win.
With Saturday's split, both teams improve to 4-2 in Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) play. MCC sits at 19-9 overall while Iowa Western, ranked No. 3 in the only NJCAA Division I Baseball poll to be released to this point, is 25-10.
Holtz opened up the scoring on Saturday with a solo home run to left-center field in the top of the second inning. Diogen Ceballos (La Vega, Dominican Republic/Liceo la Romana) then doubled and later scored on a Joel Rosauer (Elk Run Heights, IA/Waterloo East) double to extend the lead to 2-0 in the frame.
After an Iowa Western run in the second, Holtz responded in the fourth with his second round-tripper of the game after clearing the left field wall on a 0-1 count. Sophomore Bryan Ventura (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Continental) added his fourth home run of the season in the fifth, a solo shot to increase the lead to 4-1. Hunter Embray (Knoxville, IA/Twin Cedars) scored Ceballos on a double in the sixth and Christian Jaworski (Bloomfield Hills, MI/Bloomfield Hills) tripled to lead off the seventh and scored on a single from Ventura to cap the scoring.
Gonnerman struck out four batters in five innings to earn the win while sophomore JD Barr (South Sioux City, NE/Bishop Heelan Catholic) added two innings of relief, retiring all five batters he faced, including three by way of strikeout to earn his ICCAC-leading third save of the season. Over his last 7.2 innings of relief work, spanning five appearances, Barr has allowed just one earned run.
Along with Holtz's two home runs, Ventura and Ceballos each added three hits in the win.
After ending the two-year losing streak to the Reivers in game one, MCC came out flat in game two after Iowa Western scored multiple runs in all four innings it came to bat, including eight through the first two frames. Holtz provided the team's only run in the nightcap as the Tigers mustered just three hits.
Both sides resume play tomorrow afternoon with a conference-doubleheader set to open up at 12:00 PM.
