GILMAN, Ia. — The Roland-Story Norsemen baseball team returned to action on Friday evening, as they made the trip to Marshall County to take on the East Marshall Mustangs in non-conference action at East Marshall Middle School. Roland-Story entered at 17-1 and ranked #2 in Class 2A, while East Marshall entered at 3-8.
Roland-Story started the scoring early, as they put up 3 in the first off a Colin Willis RBI ground out, an error and a Jake Knoll RBI single to take a 3-0 lead. The Norsemen added 2 more runs in the 2nd on a Cooper Triggs steal of home and a Chance Georgius RBI single to make it 5-0. East Marshall would scratch across a pair of runs in the 3rd, as Roland-Story then added onto the lead in the 6th with an error that allowed 2 runs, and a Colin Willis RBI double to put the Norse ahead 8-2. East Marshall added a run in the 6th, before Roland-Story got one back on a Jake Knoll RBI ground out to take a 9-3 lead, as the Norsemen closed out the game for a 9-4 win.
Reece Blaisdell picked up the win, pitching 3 innings and allowing 2 runs (1 earned) on 2 hits and striking out 4. Chance Georgius went 2-for-4 with a 2 RBI, as Colin Willis went 1-for-3 with a double and 2 RBI.
Game 2 started off scoreless in the first, as Roland-Story scored in the 2nd on an error, before East Marshall put up 2 runs in the 2nd to lead 2-1 after 2 innings. Roland-Story responded in the 3rd with a Chance Georgius RBI single and a Braden Wallace RBI single, as East Marshall rallied with a run in the 3rd to tie the game at 3-3. Roland-Story the got the upper hand in the 4th with a Gavin Jeter RBI single and a wild pitch, before 3 more runs in the 6th off a Jake Knoll solo home run, a wild pitch and an Aiden Frey RBI fielder’s choice to put the Norsemen up 8-3. East Marshall put up 2 runs in the 6th, but Roland-Story would shut them down for an 8-5 victory.
Gavin Griffith picked up the win in the circle, pitching 6 innings and allowing 5 runs (2 earned) off 3 hits and striking out 12. Jake Knoll would go 3-for-4 with a solo home run, as Gavin Jeter went 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI.
Roland-Story baseball returns to action on Monday, when they travel to Nevada for a Heart of Iowa Conference doubleheader at the SCORE Athletic Complex, with Game 1 at 5:15 PM on 95.7 KQWC or streaming online at kqradio.com.