The Roland-Story Norsemen baseball team kicked off their 2022 season on Monday night, as they made the short trip west to face off with an old Heart of Iowa Conference rival in the Gilbert Tigers. The Tigers enter 2022 following a 23-9 record in 2021 and a Raccoon River Conference title, the Norsemen were 30-6 a year ago with a Heart of Iowa Conference title.
For a game that lasted an hour and forty minutes, offense was essentially non-existent until the final 10 minutes, as pitchers dominated the day. Gilbert starter Eli Eldred pitched 5 innings, allowing no runs off of 2 hits and struck out 10 batters. Roland-Story starter Alex Berends went the distance with 6 innings pitched with 2 hits allowed and 9 strikeouts
However, Berends allowed a leadoff double to center fielder Alec Bell to begin the bottom of the 7th. Following an intentional walk, Coal Myers stepped up to the plate. The man who relieved Eli Eldred in the 6th inning laid a bunt down on the 3rd base line, fielded by Berends, whose throw was wide of first base, allowing Bell to score the winning run for a 1-0 victory.
Roland-Story returns to action on Tuesday night, as they host their home-opener with Hampton-Dumont-CAL in Story City.