Peterson, Ia (Northwest Iowa Now) – There was no shortage of baserunners Thursday night in Peterson as Sioux Central hosted Emmetsburg and South O’Brien for a baseball double-header.

The first contest featured a big game at the top of the Twin Lakes Conference standings, with only a half game separating Emmetsburg and Sioux Central in the 2nd and 3rd spots. The game had actuall started on Monday and gotten suspended due to weather. The two teams picked up the action in the bottom of the 1st inning with Emmetsburg leading 1-0.

Sioux Central began tracking the ball pretty well early on. Both Owen Mills and Boden Bright scored runs in the bottom of the second inning, driven in via singles from Hunter Cooper and Remington McGregor. That gave the Rebels a 2-1 lead going into the 3rd.

The E-Hawks tied the game at 2 when Cameron Madden drove in Brennan Hasbrouk with 2 outs in the top of the 3rd.

Sioux Central had been able to get some runners on in the bottom half of the 3rd but couldn’t cash in despite loading up the bases.

Sioux Central’s Connor Brown talked about what the Rebels were seeing at the plate early from Emmetsburg starter Cooper Chizek.

The E-Hawks would quickly make Sioux Central pay for their inability to drive in runs in the bottom of the 3rd, striking for 9 runs on 7 hits in the top of the 4th to take a 11-2 lead.

Emmetsburg added another run in the 5th, and 7 more in the 6th as they racked up the base runners and RBI.

On the mound, Chizek really settled in after the 2nd inning, only allowing 1 hit after that and striking out 9 over his 6 innings of work.

With Sioux Central unable to plate any more runs, Emmetsburg rolled to an 18-2 victory, ending the game in 6 innings.

The win now moves Emmetsburg into a tie for 1st in the Twin Lakes Conference standings with Pocahontas Area. The E-Hawks are now 8-4 on the season and 6-0 in Twin Lakes Conference play. Up next for Emmetsburg is a home game against conference foe and rival West bend-Mallard.

The nights originally scheduled game between Sioux Central and South O’Brien picked up afterword. South O’Brien’s pitching struggled with control early and often. 16 Sioux Central batters reached base via the walk or hit-by-pitch.

The Rebels looked like they were well on their way to a 15-run mercy rule win in the fourth, but Austin Negas came in for his first pitching outing of the season and began to cut down on the baserunners.

The Wolverines were able to score 3 runs in the 4th to keep the game rolling in to the 5th after a shutout bottom half.

Sioux Central eventually would end the game early with two runs in the bottom of the 5th to win 14-4. Connor Brown talked about the Rebels patience at the plate against South O’Brien.

The loss drops South O’Brien to 1-13 on the year. They will try to claim their first conference victory on Friday at home against George-Little Rock.

Sioux Central evens their record at 8-8 after Thursday’s two games. They are now 5-2 in the Twin Lakes Conference, with an opportunity on Friday to make things really interesting heading down the stretch as they hit the road to play the League’s best record in Pocahontas Area.