STORY CITY, Ia. — The Roland-Story Norsemen baseball team returned to action on Friday evening, as they hosted the Martensdale-St. Marys Blue Devils in non-conference action at Norsemen Field. Roland-Story entered at 2-0 and ranked #3 in Class 2A, while Martensdale-St. Marys entered at 3-0 and ranked in #1 in Class 1A.
Martensdale was first on the board in Game 1 with an RBI single, followed by Roland-Story responding with a run scoring on an error to tie the game at 1-1. A scoreless 2nd saw Martensdale add a run on a wild pitch in the 3rd, before a Norsemen error in the 4th put the Blue Devils up 3-1. Roland-Story answered in the 4th with a Chance Georgius 2-run RBI double to tie the game at 3-3, before Hudson McLatchie scored on a passed ball to give the Norsemen a 4-3 lead. Martensdale responded in the 5th with 2 runs to take a 5-4 lead, before putting up 3 more runs in the 7th to take an 8-4 lead. However, Roland-Story put together a monster 7th-inning rally, scoring on a bases loaded walk drawn by Jake Knoll, before Derek Acevedo scored on a passed ball. Junior Braden Wallace then cleared the bases with 3-run RBI double to walk things off in Game 1 to give Roland-Story a 9-8 win.
Chance Georgius picked up the win in relief, pitching 0.2 innings and allowed 0 runs on 1 hit, as Wyatt Ramus pitched 6.1 innings, allowing 8 runs (5 earned) on 10 hits and striking out 7. Braden Wallace went 1-for-3 with a double and 3 RBI, as Chance Georgius was 1-for-3 with a double and 2 RBI.
Game 2 saw Roland-Story take control early, scoring 2 runs in the 1st off RBI singles from Colin Willis and Jake Knoll, before Cael Faber drove in a run on an RBI single in the 2nd as the Norsemen led 3-0. Martensdale would answer with 2 runs in the 3rd to make it 3-2, but Roland-Story would add onto their lead in the 5th with a Jake Knoll 2-run RBI double, an error and 2 runs scoring on back-to-back passed balls to put the Norsemen up 8-2. Both sides traded a run in the 6th, as Martensdale put up one more run in the 7th, but it would not be enough in a 9-4 Norsemen victory.
Reece Blaisdell was the winning pitcher, allowing 3 runs (2 earned) on 3 hits and striking out 11. Jake Knoll went 2-for-4 with a double and 4 RBI, while Colin Willis went 1-for-2 with an RBI.
Roland-Story baseball returns to action on Tuesday, when they host the Southeast Valley Jaguars for a non-conference doubleheader at Norsemen Field, with first pitch at 5:30 PM.