Bulldogs Split with Sedgwick County

PEETZ--Peetz's Bulldog Baseball team hosted the Sedgwick County Cougars on Wednesday, April 24, and after a dominant performance by sophomore Rhyder Bayne on the mound in the first game led to a big win, the Cougars were able to turn the tables in the second game with an offensive explosion that earned the visitors a split on the day.

In the first game, after Bayne shut down the Cougars in the top of the first inning, Peetz tallied their first two runs in the bottom of the frame. Sedgwick County was able to break through for a run against Bayne in the third inning, but Peetz fired back in their half of the inning and put up five runs. The Bulldogs tacked on another run in the fourth inning, and then three more in the fifth while shutting out the Cougars t0 take the 11-to-1 victory.

Bayne went five full innings, giving up five hits and one earned run. He had 11 strikeouts and only walked two batters. The Bulldog offense was not fooled by Sedgwick starter Tate Renquist, who gave up eight runs on four hits over four innings. He was able to strike out nine batters and only gave up one walk. He was relieved by Josh Kler, who gave up three runs on two hits and a walk. Errors were the big difference in this contest, as the Cougars stumbled their way through the game with six errors, while the Bulldogs sharp fielding had them go the entire game without an error. Bayne was also the standout at the plate, going 3-for-3 and scoring two runs. Senior Aiden Hill went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and freshman Conner Schumacher went 2-for-3 and scored a run and had an RBI in the victory.

The second game was the Cougar's turn to have a big offensive performance while silencing the Bulldog's bats. Sophomore Roman Kirk kept the Bulldogs hitters off-balance through five innings, giving up just one hit and one run. He struck out six and walked three. Freshman Conner Schumacher did not fare nearly as well as Bayne did in the first game, giving up eight hits and 12 runs over three innings. He did strike out eight batters and walked five. After the game was knotted at 1-to-1 after two innings, the Cougars rallied for a big 11-run inning in the third, putting the game out of reach for the home team. Peetz could only manage one run in the first inning, and fell by a final score of 14-to-1. Schumacher did have a double and scored the lone Bulldog run in the first inning.