DES MOINES — Madrid avenged a loss earlier this season with a 3-1 win Tuesday afternoon over No. 5 Woodward-Granger at Principal Park.
W-G (9-4-1, 3-1-1) has designs on a return to the Iowa Cubs home diamond for state tournament action and likely has the pedigree to do so, but the team has struggled at times to put runs on the board and has occasionally failed to back up solid pitching with the best defense.
Madrid (5-2, 5-2) scored twice in the bottom of the second for a 2-0 lead, a margin trimmed to 2-1 when W-G scored in the third. A Tiger run in the sixth provided the final margin.
The Hawks committed four errors, but those could largely be excused by players playing in unfamiliar positions, which was by design.
Head coach Eric Evans — with an eye on a possible return to the venue — wanted to have as many pitchers toe the rubber as possible. He therefore sent seven seniors to the mound, creating some odd defensive positioning, which was, in Evans’ eyes, clearly an acceptable trade off.
Caden Easter, Jay Dorenkamp, Brandon Worley and Justin Wheeler tossed the first four frames and Reese Jamison the fifth. Nate Rosen was used to retire two batters in the sixth, with Alex Bice pitching the final out and being prepared to toss the seventh should the Hawks tie the game or take the lead, which they failed to do.
Offensive statistics from W-G were not available.
Jacob Loew three three innings for Madrid and Luke Owensby the final four. Loew allowed a run on three hits, a walk and a hit batsman, with Owensby allowing one hit and one walk. The former finished with three strikeouts.
Owensby had a double and a RBI, with Kody Carlson, Braden Gibbons, C.J. Dean and Connor Williams adding hits. Carlson and Harrison Bickham had RBIs, with Dean, Bickham and Loew scoring.
W-G hosts seventh-ranked Des Moines Christian for a critical WCAC twin bill Thursday and then visits Earlham Friday.
