Stone Records 100th Career Hit in Loss to Northwestern
(Hastings, NE) – On a cold and rainy Saturday afternoon, the Hastings Broncos lost 13-6 in game three of the four-game series, then routed the Broncos in the second game, 18-5. In the second game, junior Jaden Stone recorded his 100th career hit at Hastings.
(Hastings, NE) – On a cold and rainy Saturday afternoon, the Hastings Broncos lost 13-6 in game three of the four-game series, then routed the Broncos in the second game, 18-5. In the second game, junior Jaden Stone recorded his 100th career hit at Hastings.
The Red Raiders got on the board first in the second inning after a leadoff triple scored on an RBI single to take a 1-0 lead. Hastings evened it up in the bottom half of the inning, as sophomore Jared Delgado reached first on a passed ball following a strikeout to start the inning. Junior Ben Richter ran for him and scored on a Northwestern error following a double by senior Elijah Merritt, making it 1-1.
Northwestern came right back with a run in the third coming off of an RBI double, then scored five runs on three hits in the fourth to take a 7-1 lead.
In the bottom of the fifth, Stone tripled to lead off the inning and senior Mason Masur drove him home on an RBI groundout. With two outs, Delgado singled and Merritt walked to bring up junior Tristan Martinez, who drove in one with a hit to center. Senior Caleb Duinink trimmed the deficit to one on a two-run RBI single up the middle, as Northwestern clung to a 7-6 lead after five.
The Red Raiders put the game away in the next half inning, scoring six runs on five hits to take a 13-6 lead, as the score held for the next two innings.
Northwestern took a 1-0 lead in game two with two outs in the first on a grounder up the middle.
Hastings answered in the first with Stone hitting a leadoff single and freshman Eddie Henchek ripping an RBI triple to the right center gap. Stone scored easily on the play and the throw by the right fielder to the cutoff man was off the mark, allowing Henchek to slide into home for a little league home run and give the Broncos a 2-1 lead after one.
The Red Raiders retook the lead in the second after they scored on a wild pitch following a one-out triple. They scored their second run on a base hit that was set up by a walk and a failed pickoff attempt error to make it 3-2. Northwestern tacked on a fourth run in the fourth to go up 4-2.
Henchek put a charge into one that cleared the left centerfield wall for his first home run of his Hastings career in the bottom of the fourth to bring the Broncos back within one at 4-3. The Red Raiders broke the game open in the fifth however, scoring nine runs to go up 13-3. They added five runs in the seventh to go up 18-3.
Hastings got two in the bottom of the seventh with a two-out rally as senior Tyler Welsh and senior Matt Lucero singled, then Stone drove in both with a double, marking the 100th hit of his career to make it an 18-5 final.
Up next, Hastings will play in Seward, NE, taking on the Concordia Bulldogs in a doubleheader starting at 3pm on April 4.
