Spartan season ends against Don Bosco

With an eighth grader who hadn’t thrown all year on the mound facing a school widely considered a state tournament contender, Grundy Center’s district opener against Don Bosco last Tuesday night fit the bill of “David and Goliath” as well as any matchup possibly could. Nevertheless, the Spartans fought hard and stayed competitive before ultimately falling 10-0 in five innings to wrap up coach Pat Brown Jr.’s first season at the helm.
           
“Even though this is our last game and maybe not so much of a moral victory, (I’m optimistic) just knowing that this group of guys—minus two guys—are going to be back,” Brown said. “Unfortunately, when you play a team like Don Bosco, they just put it to you and keep the gas down.”
           
The Dons (22-8), who played as the home team despite the location of the contest, struck first in the bottom of the opening frame thanks to a Trevor Brown triple and a Cael Frost single to bring him home. Starting pitcher Braden Sawyer then rebounded, forcing a fielder’s choice and then catching Logan Lutgen looking to escape the jam.
           
Grundy Center (2-20) couldn’t get anyone on base in the second inning after Sawyer Bowen got all the way to third in the first, and Don Bosco loaded the bases with nobody out in its next at-bat. The Spartans made perhaps their best play of the night with a 5-2-3 double play on a grounder to third baseman Garrett Weldon, preventing a score, but Frost then struck again with a two-out, two-run single on a 3-1 count to make the score 3-0.
           
Weldon landed his team’s first hit of the night on an infield single in the third, but the momentum stopped there. The Dons added another run in the bottom of the inning on a Bryce Schares RBI single, and Dayne Zinkula, another eighth grader, came in to replace Sawyer. After an extended rundown between third and home that ended with Dillon Welter being tagged out, Zinkula struck out Brown to retire the side. 
 
For the full story, see this week's Grundy Register. Subscribe by calling (319) 824-6958 or clicking here.