Ending the regular season with their second shutout game, the varsity baseball team defeated the Waverly Vikings 6-0 Monday night as three pitchers combined to win the game, closing out the season 17-9, earning them the No. 2 seed for the B-5 district.
Before the game, the Vikings were 15-9 on the season, until juniors Chase Neneman, Carter Woodson and Colton Kuhl each pitched for the Griffins to combine for a dominant shutout performance, silencing the Vikings’ offense and securing a statement win heading into postseason play.
In a three-up, three-down style, the first inning closed out quickly with neither team scoring. In the bottom of the second inning, a groundout by center fielder Jensen Albers put the Griffins on the board.
“I was thinking in the moment, ‘Just put the ball on the right side of the field and just be confident in the box,’” Albers said.
Neneman opened the game for the Griffins, giving up two hits and zero runs over three innings. The righty struck out five and walked one. Both the third and fourth innings were actionless until designated hitter senior Koby Modrell singled on a line drive to Waverly’s left fielder Caleb Jueneman, allowing second baseman junior Colton Sillman to score in the bottom of the fifth. Following Sillman, Kuhl singled on a line drive to Jueneman, bringing courtesy runner junior Mason Hayduk home to end the inning, 3-0.
Relieving Neneman in the fourth inning, Kuhl gave up zero hits, zero runs and struck out two batters in the span of three innings. Following Kuhl, Woodson stepped on the mound for the final inning to shut down the Vikings.
“Against Waverly, I was very change-up heavy,” Kuhl said. “I throw what’s called a kick change, so it moves a little bit more like a splitter, and with the wind blowing to my glove side, it wasn’t able to move armside a lot, so it was dropping more than usual, making it tough to hit. The slider was also working well, going the same way as the wind.”
Collecting nine hits throughout the game, the Griffins piled up their runs against the Vikings. Catcher senior Carson Herrmann, Modrell, Sillman, and Kuhl each collected two hits for East. Scoring five runs from those hits, third baseman senior Kasen Brown, Hermann, Modrell, Albers and Kuhl each drove in one run to finish out the game.
After the victory against the Vikings, the Griffins head into districts with their first game against the No. 3 seed Plattsmouth tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. at Plum Creek Baseball Field in Seward.
“After fighting through one of the toughest schedules in the state all season long, ending with a shutout like that shows we’re peaking at the right time,” senior pitcher Gavin Hovermale said. “All year, everyone has thrown everything they have at us, and will continue to do so. We’re ready for whatever comes our way.”
