Prep baseball: Dodgers deny Jaeger 300th win
OTTUMWA — Thursday night was a perfect example of what can happen when the Ottumwa baseball team plays flawless baseball.
It also provided what can happen when the Bulldogs are anything but flawless.
Ottumwa connected on timely hits early in the opening game of an Iowa Alliance doubleheader at John Hart Stadium before backing up Dawson Weller with errorless defense, putting away a 2-0 win over Fort Dodge to move head coach John Jaeger on the verge of earning a milestone victory. The Bulldogs could not complete the sweep, however, as multiple miscues helped the Dodgers put away a 14-3 win earning the split in Wapello County preventing Jaeger from earning his 300th career head coaching victory.
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"When we're focused, when we have a good mindset, we can play really well," Jaeger said. "As soon as we let our guard down and don't focus as well as we need to, we don't do things like we should. We had really good focus at the plate in the first game and hit the ball well. In the second game, we did not have the mental state. Baseball is hard because you have to stay in it for a long period of time."
Ottumwa jumped on top in the opening inning. Christian Allar, back at the top of the Bulldog batting line-up for the ninth time in the past 10 games, opened the doubleheader with a single back up the middle before stealing second base, setting up Cameron Manary for an RBI double to left giving Ottumwa a 1-0 lead.
"I like being able to see what the pitcher is throwing and kind of helping the guys batting behind me out," Allar said. "When I got that early hit, I didn't even know what I was doing, but once I got it I had confidence that I saw it once and I can just see what the pitcher is throwing and see if I can do the same thing as before."
Allar proved to be the toughest out on Thursday in the Ottumwa line-up, reaching base five times in the doubleheader including twice in game one. The Bulldogs doubled their 1-0 lead as Mason Gravett scored after opening the second inning with a double lined out to center before coming home on an RBI single off the bat of Matthew Mitchell, opening a two-run opening-game lead for Ottumwa.
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"It was just all flowing for us in the first game," Gravett said. "The team chemistry was all there. The dugout was loud. We were hyping each other up on the field. The hitting was all there, the defense was good and pitching was really good."
That pitching would feature six shutout innings from Dawson Weller, who retired eight of the first nine Fort Dodge hitters in the doubleheader. The Dodgers (15-9) would threaten that shutout string by putting runners in scoring position in three of the final five innings, loading the bases in the sixth as Weller neared the end of his night facing Bo Marsh while nearing 90 pitches.
"I started to get tired and my pitches started going everywhere but the strike zone," Weller said. "I just had to settle in and bear down. Those situations make you better as a pitcher."
Weller responded, pumping his 93rd and final pitch of the game past Marsh to record his fifth and final strikeout preserving Ottumwa's 2-0 lead. Landon Boney recorded his first save by pitching a scoreless seventh, working around a two-out infield single by Royce Peterson by coaxing Jaxson Dencklau into a game-ending groundout to Brayden Larkin at first base clinching Jaeger's 299th career head coaching win.
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"I was just hoping to get out of that inning and give my team a chance to win the game," Weller said. "I knew the game was in my hands at that point. I just had to throw strikes and trust my defense."
That proved to be more problematic in the second game as Mitchell struggled on the mound early with command, walking three batters in the first two innings while allowing Fort Dodge to score the first run in the first inning on a balk. Ottumwa would commit four errors in the field against the Dodgers in the nightcap while four different Bulldog pitchers were responsible for 11 walks, four hit batters, two balks and four wild pitchers that allowed runners to score from third in the final three innings.
"You've got to mentally stay in this for over four hours in a doubleheader, which is a long period of time," Jaeger said. "It's also about life lessons. You have to stay focused in life as well even when things don't go your way. You've got to figure out how to regroup."
Ottumwa (15-6) heads to Des Moines Lincoln on Monday for an Iowa Alliance Conference south division doubleheader starting at 3:30 p.m. The Bulldogs also travel to Iowa City Liberty on Tuesday night for a final doubleheader before the release of the Class 4A substate pairings.
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