SOLON — Bases loaded, no outs, and Solon baseball down one in the bottom of the eighth. A dream scenario for the Spartans. The inning prior they forced the game to go to extra innings and now it looked as if the Spartans were going to make the comeback.
It was small ball that got the Spartans in this moment. An error by the Grinnell shortstop to start the inning, then back-to-back bunt singles by Tyson Wheeler and Cole Farnsworth filled the bases.
The momentum gained from getting the bases loaded slowly dissipated with each subsequent at bat. An infield fly and a strikeout left the Spartans to their final out. Gehrig Turner hit a sharp grounder down the third base line and sent a prayer that it would get into the outfield for a base hit.
It was fielded cleanly by Grinnell and they stepped on third for the final out, suffocating the life out of the comeback that nearly was.
The Spartans dropped both games to Grinnell, losing game one in an extra inning thriller 4-3, and game two 3-1. The offense was unable to back up a great start from the starting pitcher Ty Bell. Bell completed six and two-thirds innings, only allowing three earned runs. Coach Keith McSweeney said, “I thought we pitched well enough to win both games. We did make enough defensive plays, it wasn’t perfect, but we can win with that defense, but not that offense.”
Solon took advantage of Grinnell’s weak bunt defense, using bunts and walks to get on base. The Spartans loaded the bases in the fourth in what was a scoreless ball game at that point. With only one out they had a great chance at scoring, but just missed putting the ball in the no man’s land in the outfield. The two popups to end the inning were shallow enough for the Grinnell infielders to make the out. Coach McSweeney said, “We did a good job getting to that situation. We had good at bats to move runners, and then we didn’t.”
The Spartans faced a similar scenario in the bottom of the fifth. Bases loaded, no outs, down 1-2. This time it was a couple of flyouts that wasted the prime scoring opportunity. McSweeney said, “Our approach was very poor. We work in practice a lot scoring guys from third and tonight we just had guys trying to hit the ball out of the ballpark and swinging at bad pitches.”
However, they were able to escape with one run this time. Vince Steinbrech drove a run in on a sacrifice fly to tie the game.
After Grinnell scored one in the top of the seventh, it was Steinbrech once again delivering with a runner on third as he hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game and send it to extras.
In game two the Spartans offense continued their slump on offense, failing to back up a stellar start from Tyson Wheeler. Wheeler threw six and two thirds innings and only allowed three earned runs with four strikeouts.
Brett White provided nearly all of the Spartan offense. In the bottom of the fifth the Spartans were down two runs with a runner on third. White sat in on a 2-2 count. The next pitch he fouled the ball off his knee. White tumbled to the ground, grimacing in pain. After a pause, he was able to walk off the initial sting and retook his stance in the box. White fouled off four consecutive pitches and then took ball three.
On the next pitch he sent to deep right center field in a shot off the bat. The ball fell just short of a home run, but it was too tough of a fly ball for the Grinnell center fielder to field. The error allowed Jackson Link to score from third, the only run of the game for Solon. “We want to get him [Brett White] up as much as possible. In a normal lineup, he would probably be the two or three hitter, but we like him in the leadoff spot because he might get five at bats when others only have four,” said McSweeney.
It was a disappointing night for the Solon baseball team that is eyeing a deep run in the postseason. After the hot start to the year, Solon is now facing adversity. These two in-conference losses could prove to be very important at the season’s end. Said McSweeney, “I don’t know if the better team won, they definitely are good, but the tougher team won tonight.”
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Gallery • 2 Photos

Joel Kellar

Nolan Seagren drops a ball into the outfield for a base hit. Seagren loaded the bases with the single in the bottom of the fifth during game one of the doubleheader against Grinnell last Thursday.