The Roland-Story Norsemen baseball team returned to action on Thursday night, as they hosted the Des Moines Lincoln Railsplitters in a non-conference doubleheader at Norsemen Field in Story City. Roland-Story entered at 7-4, while Lincoln entered at 1-7.
Game 1 would have some early fireworks, as Roland-Story put up 3 runs in the 1st off an Aiden Frey 2-run RBI single and Frey scoring on an error soon following to put the Norsemen up 3-0. Lincoln answered with 4 runs in the top of the 2nd to take a 4-3 lead, but Roland-Story scored 2 more runs off a 2-run RBI single by Colin Willis in the 2nd to regain a 5-4 lead. Lincoln would grab the lead in the 4th off a home run and passed ball at 6-5, but Roland-Story answered in the 6th with a 2-run RBI double from William Zamzow and Hudson McLatchie scoring on a passed ball to clinch an 8-6 victory.
Zamzow, Colin Willis and Aiden Frey would each drive in 2 runs in Game 1, while Jake Knoll went 2-for-3 with 2 runs scored. Wyatt Ramus was the winning pitcher in relief, allowing 0 runs on 1 hit and striking out 3.
Game 2 would see a much slower start, with the game scoreless after 2.5 innings, Roland-Story got on the board off a Braden Wallace RBI single to take a 1-0 lead. Lincoln rallied for 2 runs in the top of the 4th, but the Norsemen knotted things back up in the bottom half as Aiden Frey scored on an error to make it 2-2. Roland-Story would take the lead in the 5th off a William Zamzow 2-run RBI single, followed by Braden Wallace stealing home to make the score 5-2. Lincoln brought the score with in 1 in the top of the 6th at 5-4, while Roland-Story answered in the bottom half with a Gavin Jeter RBI double and a William Zamzow 2-run RBI single to help secure and 8-4 win.
Zamzow would finish Game 2 at 2-for-4 with 4 RBI, while Aiden Frey went 2-for-3 with a run scored. The winning pitcher was 8th grader Ryan Kepley, who allowed 4 runs (3 earned) on 5 hits and struck out 7 in 6 innings of work.
Roland-Story baseball returns to action on Friday, when they travel to Prairie City to take on PCM in Heart of Iowa Conference action at 7:30 PM.