Bulldogs get past Panthers

By KELLY TERPSTRA, Courier sports writer

July 01, 2009 06:46 pm

— OTTUMWA — Stop, then start.
Mount Pleasant’s Blake Heitmeier might need a refresher course on his mechanics.
The Panther star standout’s consecutive balks in the last half of the sixth inning overshadowed a fine outing from freshman hurler Cameron Enberg.
Mount Pleasant’s loss — Ottumwa’s gain.
Those balks were critical in a three-run sixth as the Ottumwa baseball team rallied for a 6-5 win over the ninth-ranked Panthers at Legion Field on Tuesday.
The fateful sixth inning for Mount Pleasant didn’t start well as Weston Mitchell reached base after an error at second. He would score to tie the game at 4-4 after Kyle Ward was hit with the bases loaded.
All the runs for Ottumwa came with two outs.
Ward ripped a RBI single in the first inning, followed by Seth Jones’ run-scoring hit a batter later.
Ottumwa head coach Ryan Woods talked about Ward’s at bat in the sixth.
“That’s a great at bat right there. We’ll take that run,” said Woods.
Woods commented that he had never seen the two balks issued in a row in his career — especially given the circumstance.
He did discuss the unfortunate gaffes with Mount Pleasant’s head coach Brent Broeker.
“I will say this and their coach agrees — he was balking. He wasn’t pausing. He was basically bouncin’,” said Woods, in his final year as head coach of Ottumwa.
Mount Pleasant (16-7, 8-0) touched Bulldog sophomore starter Zach Throckmorton for three runs in the first — highlighted by Blake Heitmeier’s two-run double.
Throckmorton would settle and give Woods five quality innings. Ward relieved Throckmorton and earned the win. OHS soph Brandon Enloe registered the game’s final out with runners on first and second for the save.
Woods was happy about the win over the 3A squad from Henry County, especially after Monday’s sweep of Des Moines Lincoln.
“We had to come in and play a good game. They’re every bit as good if not better than Lincoln,” said Woods. “Anytime we can beat a ranked team, I don’t care what class they’re in, it’s a quality win for us.”
The win was also important as Class 4A teams are still jockeying for postseason seeding. Ottumwa can get as high as a three seed and should get no lower than a four according to Woods.
Ottumwa’s Chris Cordray walked three times and reached base in every at bat. Ben Lott tripled and went 3-4 on the night. The Bulldog shortstop is batting near .500 on the season.
Enberg, just a freshman, allowed just one earned run and struck out five in five innings on the hill.
Ottumwa (12-9, 9-5) plays at Des Moines Roosevelt Thursday.
Ottumwa 6, Mount Pleasant 5
MP 300 001 1 — 5 6 4
OTT 210 003 x — 6 6 2
Mount Pleasant battery — Cameron Enberg (5IP, 6H, 3R, 1ER, 5K, 2BB), Tyler Spenner (2/3 IP, 3R, 2ER, 2BB), Blake Heitmeier (1/3 IP, 1K), Eric Rose catching.
2B — Heitmeier.
Hits — Henry Krieger-Coble 2-4, Heitmeier 1-2, Brayton Meeker 1-4, Drake Koontz 1-2, Rose 1-1.
RBI — Krieger-Coble, Heitmeier 2, Meeker, Koontz. Runs — Cody Vaughn, Krieger-Coble, Heitmeier 2, Rose.
Ottumwa battery — Zach Throckmorton (5IP, 3H, 3R, 3ER, 4K, 3BB), Kyle Ward (W, 1-0) (1 2/3 IP, 3H, 1R, 1ER, 1K, 1BB), Brandon Enloe (SV, 1) (1/3IP), Adam Goodvin catching.
3B — Ben Lott.
Hits — Lott 3-4, Ward 1-3, Seth Jones 1-4, Throckmorton 1-3.
RBI — Ward 2, Jones. Runs — Lott 2, Chris Cordray 2, Jake Steinbach, Weston Mitchell.