Nighthawks split with Roadrunners

National Park freshman pitcher Bradley Bearden releases a pitch as State Fair’s Kole Ficken (23) leads off from second in Sunday’s game at Trojan Field. - Photo by James Leigh of The Sentinel-Record
National Park freshman pitcher Bradley Bearden releases a pitch as State Fair’s Kole Ficken (23) leads off from second in Sunday’s game at Trojan Field. - Photo by James Leigh of The Sentinel-Record

National Park continued its trend of splitting doubleheaders as the Nighthawks took a 3-2 win over State Fair Community College out of Sedalia, Mo., before dropping the second game 7-6.

The NJCAA Division I Roadrunners were playing their third straight doubleheader of the weekend, and head coach Jud Kindle was not expecting the quality team that took the field Sunday afternoon.

First game

State Fair;100 100 0—2 8 2

National Park;000 101 1—3 7 0

Escano, Pudenz (5) and Morrow (7); Weems and Anderson (6). W-Anderson. L-Pudenz. HR-State Fair, Strickert 1; NPC, Minjarez 1 (4). 2B-State Fair, Ruether 2, Ficken 1; NPC, Sellers 1.

Second game

State Fair:020 032 0—7 12 1

National Park;001 113 0—6 10 1

Rokusek, Ward (5), O’Malley (6) and Lufft (6); Bearden and Herron (6). W-Escano. L-Bearden. HR-State Fair, Pannier 1; NPC, Jimerson 1, Sellers 1 (2). 2B-State Fair, Ficken 2, Ruether 1; NPC, H-Mendez 1, Hackney 1.

"I gotta commend them," he said. "For a startup program to be able to put something on the field that [is] that quality is very impressive. Four years ago, when we started our program we definitely didn't have the talent that these guys have.

"I thought they were well-coached, disciplined at the plate. They threw the ball well; they didn't make mistakes. ... It was it was a battle. It was definitely a rollercoaster of a battle, but it was two great games, honestly."

The Nighthawks got down early in both games with the Roadrunners taking a 2-0 lead after a run in the top of the first and home run by Brady Strickert in the fourth, but NPC cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the fourth as Mason Sellers hit a double and eventually scored on an RBI single by Nathan Kirkpatrick, a freshman from Sheridan. Lakeside grad Jesus Minjarez hit his fourth home run of the season over the left field fence to knot the score.

"The first game bats were hot," said NPC head coach Dillon Hargrove. "I feel like we had a good energy level in the dugout. Weems threw really well, and then big Ken-dog coming in to close. That's kind of our guy. [We] played really well in the field. Felt good in the dugout. It was a big win for us, for sure."

After allowing just one Roadrunner on base in the top of the seventh, the Nighthawks were looking at a walk-off situation. With the bases loaded and two outs, Sellers stepped to the plate, and on the 1-1 pitch, he hit the ball to the shortstop, whose throw to second was mishandled, allowing Panama H-Mendez to score the walk-off run.

"We had some quality at-bats the first game, but we weren't able to produce anything the first game," Kindle said. "The pitching did a phenomenal job. They played great defense behind him, and they had a couple big hits that we didn't have. That was the difference in the first game."

National Park sophomore catcher Mason Sellers (30) makes his way toward the plate after hitting a home run in the second game of a doubleheader against State Fair. - Photo by James Leigh of The Sentinel-Record
National Park sophomore catcher Mason Sellers (30) makes his way toward the plate after hitting a home run in the second game of a doubleheader against State Fair. - Photo by James Leigh of The Sentinel-Record

The Roadrunners got things going early in the second game, scoring two in the top of the second before NPC tied the game with runs in the third and fourth. Three runners crossed the plate for State Fair in the top of the fifth while just one scored for the Nighthawks in the bottom of the inning to leave the host team trailing 5-3.

"We learned a lesson in that second game," Hargrove noted. "That was communication in the field. We made a couple of errors there, and we're going to learn from them and get better from it. ... I'm proud of them. They competed today in a tough game, and they were successful the first time. We battled back that second game and made it a game for them."

Brice Pannier hit a two-run shot over the right field fence for a four-run lead over the Nighthawks. With runners on second and third after a double by Jack Hackney, Malvern grad Demias Jimerson sent the ball sailing over the center fielder who had scrambled up the fence to try and make the save. Unfortunately for the Nighthawks, they could not get another runner on base as the next six batters were retired in order.

"The second game was just a battle all the way around," Kindle said. "We go ahead; they respond. We go ahead; they respond. Then at the end, we came up with a chance to win the game, and we just we just finally executed and got a couple of key outs."

Hargrove said that he was please to see how the team battled from behind in both games and was successful.

"That's what it's going to take when we get into conference -- games like that and good opponents like them," he said. "They're really well-coached, and they're a really good squad. I'm glad we got to play them, and I'm just happy we were successful with them."

The Nighthawks will host Crowley's Ridge College Tuesday at noon after the Pioneers had to push back the game to make up one that was rained out last week. They will host Hinds Community College on Friday starting at 1 p.m.

Sports on 02/17/2020

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