By Joey Hudson
The second game of the double header started off with senior Spencer Mellgren on the mound for the Raiders. On the other end, senior Aiden Terpstra started for the Rochester John Marshall Rockets. The Raiders were the away team this game with the Rockets becoming the home team. The Raiders started off the scoring in the top of the second scoring four runs off of RBIs from Tegan Mellgren, Kamden Kaiser, and two from junior left fielder Austin Keop on a line drive triple.
The Raiders bats struck again in the top of the third with Oliver Hollerung knocking in senior third baseman Nolan Thompson on an RBI groundout. The John Marshall Rockets got on the board in the bottom of the third scoring two on RBI singles from Ethan Loos and Garrett Hermanson. The Raiders increased their lead to 7-2 in the top of the fourth with Austin Keop driving in Sophmore Seth Thompson, and catcher Aaron Reisetter knocking in Kamden Kaiser on a fielder’s choice.
The Rockets bats struck back taking the lead in the bottom of the fourth scoring six runs making the game 8-7 in their favor. A big part of the huge inning for JM was the Raiders committing three errors, only two of the six runs scored were earned. Kamden Kaiser came into pitch in relief in the fifth, where John Marshall added four more runs giving them a 12-7 lead. The Raiders committed yet another error in the inning, where yet again only half the runs allowed were earned.
The Raiders struck back in the top of the sixth with RBIs from Keop, Eschen, and two RBIs from Kaiser, along with two more runs scoring on an error. After the six run inning the Raiders went into the bottom of the sixth where Kamden Kaiser shut down the Rockets bats. The bottom half of the inning included a highlight real play from junior catcher Aaron Reisetter with a throw from about 160 feet away to throw a runner out at second. The Raiders took a 13-12 lead into the seventh where they looked to score some insurance runs. The Raiders bats pulled through scoring eight runs, starting off the big inning with an Austin Keop RBI double. The Raiders last three runs came from a bases clearing three RBI triple from Kamden Kaiser for his seventh RBI between the two games.
After being down five runs just two runs earlier, the Raiders took a nine run lead into the bottom of the seventh where the John Marshall Rockets attempted to make an impossible comeback. All the Rockets could get on the board was two runs off Raiders closer Isaiah Stiner with RBIs from Ethan Loos and Garrett Hermanson. The double header ended after over five hours with Ben Satre striking out looking on a Stiner fastball on the inner half of the plate. With the two wins the Raiders move to 5-2 in conference play, and 6-4 overall on the season.
The Raiders scored twenty-one runs in the second game off of just twelve hits and eleven JM errors. The John Marshall Rockets scored fourteen off fourteen hits and six Raiders errors. The Raiders scored thirty runs on the day off twenty-four hits and fifteen Rockets errors. Austin Keop had four extra base hits with two doubles and two triples for the Raiders between the two games, with both triples and one double coming in the second game. The Raiders had four players take their first varsity plate appearance today with sophomore Seth Thompson, junior Gavin Novatny, and seniors Andy Block and Grant Malacha. The Raiders baseball team plays again Thursday may 4th, we are scheduled to stream it but that may change so be sure to keep up with us on social media and at northfieldlive.com