The Aplington-Parkersburg baseball team is picking up momentum as the second half of the regular season begins. The Falcons (9-5, 5-4 NICL-C) bounced back from a 2-3 start by going 7-2 so far in June.
Senior Devin Davis says the offensive pace has picked up over the last week. While they haven’t been a high-scoring team, the Falcons have been able to sustain momentum in clutch situations to win games.
“Believing in ourselves and as a team, just building off of each other’s success,” Davis says. “We got it rolling right now, so we’re gonna keep it going. I feel like we’re really a team that kind of goes off of the person ahead’s success, so when one of us gets a hit like that I feel like we all just start to do well and are much more successful when we’re all doing well as a team.”
The team tied a season-high with 10 hits in Monday’s 5-3 win over Dike-New Hartford. Tate Neymeyer bats .396. Preston Janssen has capitalized on his opportunities with a team-high in RBIs.
Defensively, the Falcons lead the Central and are third overall in the league with a 2.74 ERA. Davis leads in innings pitched with a 1.27 ERA and a team-high 47 strikeouts. Head Coach Brett Kleespies.
“It seems like we always play a little bit behind Devin, a little bit better than everybody else,” Kleespies says. “And so we just kind of have to change that mindset when everybody else is on the hill, but you know what Devin is going to bring us. He’s going to have the strikeouts and he’s going to be able to command what he needs to. And so we’re trying to get him to not nibble a whole lot and just go at those guys. But you know, he’s mentally always locked in ready go when he’s on the mound.”
Freshman Wes Shirk has been a notable addition to the pitching staff with three starts so far. He’s pitched 14.1 innings with a 4.88 ERA and 12 strikeouts.
The Falcons will look to bounce back from Thursday’s 6-3 loss at Waterloo Columbus when they return to action Tuesday by hosting Nashua-Plainfield in non-conference action.
