Quiet Bats And Late 'Squatch Homers Doom Moo
Sasquatch- 4, Moo- 1
Spearfish (R-H-E): 4-10-1; Fremont (R-H-E): 1-2-1
Win: Noah McCandless (2-2); Loss: Teron Williams (0-1); Save: Dylan Richey (1)
HR: Spearfish: DJ Van Atten (4th, 1 on base in eighth inning); Parker Bleggi (1st, 0 on base in eighth inning). HR: Fremont: None
Fremont, Nebraska- Excellent pitching and two eighth inning home runs prevented the Moo from a series sweep, as the Spearfish Sasquatch defeated Fremont 4-1, Thursday night, in Independence League Baseball Association action at Historic Moller Field.
The Sasquatch scored first, in the bottom of the second inning. Daniel Thiessen reached on a one-out walk and Parker Bleggi followed with a single. Two batters later, Bryson Hoier delivered a rbi single, scoring Thiessen to make it 1-0, Spearfish.
In the bottom of the third, the Moo would tie the game. Sammy Contacos led off with a base on balls, then was forced out at second base on Braden Sweet's fielder's choice. Sweet stole second before Neil Jansen struck out. With Josh Blount at the plate, Spearfish starter Noah McCandless delivered an 0-1 pitch that ricocheted off the shinguards of catcher Keegan Weston. The Spearfish catcher could not find the ball, which ended up at the Fremont Moo on-deck circle. Sweet motored all the way home, from second, to tie the score at one.
The game remained tied until the top of the eighth. After Moo starter Kai Taylor worked six strong innings, Teron Williams pitched a quick seventh, and came out for the eighth. Luis Reyes led off the inning with a single before DJ Van Atten would hit a Williams 0-1 pitch over the wall in left field for a two-run home run, to make it 3-1. Two batters later, Bleggi went after the first pitch from Williams and also homered over the left field wall, to make it 4-1, Spearfish.
Fremont went scoreless in the eighth, and in the ninth, the Sasquatch brought in Dylan Richey to close it out. After suffering the loss in Fremont's walk-off win, Tuesday night, Richey got revenge as he struck out Neil Jansen looking and Josh Blount and Tyler Harrington swinging, to end the game.
Noah McCandless (2-2) earned the win. He pitched 8.0 innings, giving up two hits, one run, walked one and struck out eight. Dylan Richey (1) earned the save. He pitched the ninth, and struck out the three batters he faced.
Kai Taylor started, making his season debut for Fremont. The Phoenix, Arizona native at Augustana University, pitched 6.0 innings, giving up six hits, one run, walked two, struck out nine and hit one batter. Teron Williams (0-1) took the loss. The Baldwin, Missouri native at Bellevue University pitched 2.0 innings, giving up four hits, three runs, walked one, struck out two and gave up two home runs. Kadyn Van Hill worked the ninth. The Omaha native at Iowa Western Community College struck out one and hit one batter.
Offensively, Spearfish was led by Bryson Hoier. The leadoff batter was 3-for-5 with a rbi. DJ Van Atten was 1-for-4 with a two-run home run. Parker Bleggi was 3-for-4 with a solo home run.
Fremont was limited to two hits as Andrew Kirchener and Tyler Harrington recorded singles.
More Information: The Sasquatch snapped its five-game losing streak with the victory, while Fremont's win stretch paused at two games. Spearfish hit seven home runs in the three game series at Historic Moller Field. With Fremont's loss and Badlands getting rained out, Thursday, the Moo fell into second place in the Independence League Baseball Association standings, one-half game behind the first place Big Sticks.
Up Next: Spearfish (5-10) will play a three-game, weekend wrap-around series at the Badlands Big Sticks, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, June 17-19. Fremont (15-6) will have seven days off before they wrap up the first half of the ILB schedule in a key three-game series with the Badlands Big Sticks, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, June 23-25. The Friday and Saturday games will be at 7:05pm and the Sunday game is a 6:05pm start. For ticket and more information, go to www.fremontmoo.com/tickets, or call (402)-660-1217.
On the Air: All Moo home and road games are broadcast on radio on Big Dog Country, 98.9 FM and 1340 AM, KHUB. Games can be heard on smartphones, iPads, and other mobile devices at www.fremontmoo.com/mixlr. All Moo home games also stream video live at www.fremontmoo.com and on YouTube at: BSDN Live.



