Underwood BB Gets Up Big Early, Holds On to Beat St. Albert, 9-5

Underwood's Owen Fletcher (6-10-26)

Underwood BB Gets Up Big Early, Holds On to Beat St. Albert, 9-5 -

(6-10-26) – Looked like it could be a short night for the Eagles, but the Falcons would try to protect their nest and made a game of it.

After scoring in each of the first 3 innings, Underwood would hang on to get a 9-5 over St. Albert in an interconference baseball match-up Wednesday.

Owen Fletcher says the approach for him and his Eagles teammates is simple.

“Just coming in, trying to hit line drives. Regular swings, trying to pound the ball and get on base any way possible.”

Underwood did that early and often against St. Albert starter Lance Betts as they sent 11 batters to plate in the 1st, scoring 5 runs on 3 hits and 4 walks. Betts would leave the game after the inning with an arm issue.

His replacement, Cole Noon, was greeted rudely, giving up 2 runs in both the 2nd and 3rd innings as the Eagles increased their lead to 9-0 over the Falcons, including a 2-run single by Fletcher in the 2nd.

“(I) just try and see the ball out of the hand and do the best I can to make my best contact,” said Fletcher of his 2-4, 3 RBI day. “Just swinging, not out of my shoes and just trying to hit line drives.

Despite being down, St. Albert was able to make so offensive strides in the 5th, when they took advantage of a couple of errors and got two runs on a steal of home by Wade Beck and an RBI single by Patrick McGill. The Falcons would then get three more on the board in the 6th that included RBI hits for Cole Noon and Wade Beck and fielder’s choice by Avery Beck to bring a run.

The Falcons would get 8 of their 11 hits over the final three innings.

Noon was most valuable to St. Albert on the mound. Originally starting the game at 1st base, he finished out the game and recovered nicely from the rough start to shutdown Underwood, allowing just four base runners over the final four innings, allowing the Falcons a chance to get back in the game.

The Eagles got a solid outing from Coltin Johnson, who pitched 4 shutout innings, giving up 3 hits while walking 2 and striking out 4. He finished the game strong, getting out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the 4th. Meanwhile, Ryker Adair had three more hits to increase his team-leading total to 15.

Sitting at 10-1 on the season, Fletcher knows that Underwood’s goal of returning to the state tournament is attainable, despite having a young team.

“We are playing with a lot of confidence. We're young, we have a bright future, we have a bright present, and we're just here to be the best team we can. We make plays, we work hard every week in practice, and we try to become the best team we can day in, day out.”

For St. Albert, the comeback was encouraging, despite falling to 4-15 on the season.

View past scores by visiting the Iowa High School Athletic Association's website, Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union website,
or Iowa Quik Stats