Spencer, Ia (Northwest Iowa Now) – Spencer took on Western Christian of Hull at home to open up a 4-game week at Andy McGaffin Field Monday.

Shelton Bendlin got the start for Spencer with Tayjen DeJong throwing for the Wolfpack.

Western Christian got on the scoreboard first when Ryker Kooima advanced home out of a 1st and 3rd situation when the throw went through to 2nd, giving the Wolfpack a 1-0 lead.

George Lawson tripled for the Tigers in the bottom of the 1st, and he would be knocked in by Trenton Hallett on an RBI ground out to tie the game at 1.

The Spencer offense would be held in check for the next 3 innings, while the Western Christian bats widdled their way to a multi-run lead.

Josh Van De Stroet made it 2-1 when he advanced home on a first and third situation when the throw down didn’t get cut off cleanly in the top of the 3rd inning.

In the 3rd, Western Christian scored two more to extend their lead to 3 when Colten Rozeboom scored on an error and Ryker Kooima, who reached base on that error, was driven in by Gavin Feenstra.

As the Spencer offense continued to struggle against Tayjen DeJong, The Wolfpack grew their lead to 4 in the top of the 5th inning as Carson Smith scored on a base hit by Tate Hall, making it 5-1.

There was finally a charge from the Tiger bats in the bottom of the 5th when Western Christian opted to pull starter Tayjen DeJong for their Freshman Ryker Kooima. With one out, Jace McCormick doubled and Geoerge Lawson singled him in to make it 5-2. Shelton Bendlin cut the Wolfpack lead down to 2 when he knocked in Lawson.

Shelton Bendlin would hit Colten Rozenboom with a pitch to begin his 6th inning of work but responded by getting back to background outs. Bendlin walked the next two batters though to load the bases, and Spencer would bring in Ayden O’Toole to relieve the Tiger starter. O’Toole, who hadn’t pitched in a varsity game since June 6th, got Tayjen DeJong to fly out for out number 3, keeping the deficit at 2 for Spencer.

After both teams were held in check for the 6th inning, Spencer entered the bottom of the 7th needing 2 runs to tie. Shelton Bendlin would get them those two runs with Trenton Hallett on base.

 

It took 3 extra innings to decide this non-conference matchup. Despite putting 4 runners on base, including 2 of those in scoring position over that time, Western Christian was unable to score over extras as Ayden O’Toole continued his good outing in relief.

Spencer was in a similar boat in the 8th and 9th, getting 5 combined runners on base but never getting any across the plate. It took till the bottom of the 10th, when Trenton Hallett came to the plate with the bases loaded.

The walk off hit was Hallet’s 2nd RBI on the game as he finished with a strong 2-4 night with a double and two walks.

Ayden O’Toole got the win in relief, throwing 4.1 innings, allowing only 2 hits, walking 2 with 5 strikeouts and no runs allowed.

Josh Van DeStroet is tagged with the loss for Western Christian despite not allowing any earned runs in 1.1 innings of work.

Western Christian falls to 10-11 on the year and gets ready for a July 1st matchup at home against Cherokee.

Spencer is now 15-7 and will be back in action Tuesday at home against Sioux Central.

Box Score                           R   H   E LOB

Western Christian (Hl)   5   12   1   14

Spencer                              6    9    3  11

WP: Ayden O’Toole (Spn) 4.1IP 2H 0R 2BB 3K

LP: Josh Van De Stroet (WC) 1.1IP 1H 1R(0ER) 2K

Shelton Bendlin (Spn) 2-4 HR 1R 3RBI SAC

George Lawson (Spn) 2-5 3B 2R HBP

Trenton Hallett (Spn) 2-4 2B 2RBI 2BB