In a Crusade of Runs, Nelson Falls Short

The Nelson Warriors' baseball team (5-16) dropped both ends of a doubleheader against the Madonna Crusaders at home, falling 18-14 in a wild, back-and-forth Game 1 and 11-4 in Game 2 to open a three-game series. The Warriors were outscored 29-18 across the twin bill, but Game 1 in particular was a rollercoaster that had the feel of a heavyweight slugfest between two evenly matched foes.

Game 1: Madonna 18, Nelson 14
The contest was a high-scoring, see-saw affair that lived up to the classic crusade of runs narrative from start to finish. Nelson fell behind 2-0 through 2.5 innings but erupted in the bottom of the third to take their first advantage. With runners on second and third, Brandon Ramirez lined a single to right to drive in Aaron Bazan. Ethan Gustafson followed with a two-run double to center that tied the game. Jimmy Holloway grounded out to second, but the infield dribbler allowed Ramirez to score for the lead. Matthew Schulz walked on five pitches, and Sam Hess doubled to center to drive in Gustafson, stretching the lead to 5-2. Adrian Nunez then reached on a wild pitch that scored Schulz, and Josue Franco Jr. singled to right to plate Hess, capping a six-run inning.

In a sign that no lead was safe for either team, Madonna answered with four runs in the top of the fourth to tie it at 6-6. The Warriors regained the edge when Gustafson crushed a two-run homer to straight center, his team-leading sixth of the season, making it 8-6. The Crusaders inched back with a solo homer in the fifth before dropping three runs in the sixth to take a 10-8 lead.

But Nelson refused to go quietly. In the bottom of the seventh, Franco Jr. singled in two runs to tie the game once again at 10 apiece. As if provoked, Madonna retaliated with two home runs in the top of the eighth to pull ahead 12-10. The Warriors fought back once more in the bottom of the eighth when Holloway doubled to right to drive in Paco, a wild pitch allowed Trenton Wright Jr. to score tying the game once again, and on a full-count pitch, Hess lined a ball deep between left and center that ricocheted off the wall allowing him to come all the way around for a triple, scoring Manny Bracamonte in the process, and giving Nelson a 14-12 lead with three outs to go.

Unfortunately, the euphoria was short-lived. Madonna scored six times in the top of the ninth – highlighted by a grand slam after a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch tied the game, followed by an error that allowed the sixth run. Nelson loaded the bases in the bottom half, and Ramirez singled in Bazan, but that was all they could muster in the ninth inning of a tough to swallow 18-14 loss.

Despite the defeat, Nelson set a season-high with 19 hits and 14 runs. The top of the order (Paco, Ramirez, Gustafson) and bottom (Hess, Franco Jr.) each had three hits, while Ramirez, Gustafson, Holloway, Hess, and Franco Jr. drove in at least two runs apiece.

Game 2: Madonna 11, Nelson 4 (7inn.)
The Crusaders carried the momentum from Game 1 into the second game, jumping on Nelson for two runs in the first and four more in the third to take early control. After Madonna pushed their lead to 9-0 in the 6th, Nelson finally broke through when Sam Hess crushed a solo home run to left center (his fourth of the season).

Madonna added two more runs in the top of the 7th pushing the lead to 11-1 before the Nelson men put together their best rally of the game in the bottom of the inning. Ethan Gustafson singled up the middle to drive in Gerardo Paco, Matthew Schulz walked with the bases loaded to plate Ramirez, and Hess was hit by a pitch on a 2-1 count to drive in Gustafson. But the Crusaders' new pitcher settled in, retiring the next three batters to end the threat, ending the game with the 11-4 Madonna victory.

After pounding Madonna pitching in game one, Nelson managed just six hits but drew seven walks in the second match. Meanwhile the Crusaders pounded Nelson pitching for 15 hits, while drawing six walks themselves.