NIACC baseball team completes sweep of DMACC
By JARED PATTERSON, Of The Globe Gazette
MASON CITY — Blake Whitecotton admitted it would have been easy to leave the NIACC baseball program after a year.
And really, nobody would have blamed him.
Whitecotton spent his freshman season as the team's bullpen catcher, stuck buried on the depth chart on a talented NIACC roster.
But instead of dogging the coaches or the program, Whitecotton opted to put in the work. Now, it's paying off.
Aside from being a reliable defensive catcher, he's fitting right in for a Trojans team adept at playing long ball. Whitecotton smacked three homers Monday as NIACC (18-8, 5-3) finished a four-game sweep of DMACC with 19-8 and 15-8 victories.
"I would say the coaches (are why I stuck around)," Whitecotton said. "You could talk bad and say they didn't give me a chance, but I worked my butt off in the bullpen. I think I earned my spot behind the dish."
You won't find an argument from NIACC coach Travis Hergert, who watched his team blast 21 home runs and score 65 games in the four wins.
"We really liked him defensively in the fall," Hergert said. "He got better over the summer. He's put in the work, put in the time. It says a lot about a kid when you stick with it. Now he's leading us behind the plate. I don't know where we'd be without him."
For as disappointing as losing three of four to open conference play at Southeastern was a week ago, these four games against DMACC offered a glimpse into just how potent NIACC's offense can be.
Aside from Whitecotton's three homers, Robbie Glendinning, Malique Ziegler and Connor Enochs each had two homers Monday.
For Enochs, only one of those left the yard.
Trailing 8-7 in the sixth inning of Game 2, Enochs laced a ball off the fence in left-center field. After the DMACC defender went crashing into the fence, he picked up a ball but realized it wasn't the game ball and raised his hands in the air. With Enochs already near third base, he sprinted home for an inside-the-park two-run homer. After a conference, the umpires upheld the ruling of a home run.
"There was a ball buried somewhere out there," Hergert said. "He picked up a different ball. I've never seen anything like that. I'm glad we were on the positive side of that."
Another call, on a sinking liner in the eighth inning with NIACC clinging to a one-run lead, also went the way of the home team.
DMACC centerfielder Luke Fegen appeared to catch the ball that would have ended the inning. Instead, it was ruled he trapped it. NIACC ended up scoring six runs with two outs as Spencer Halloran and Whitecotton each homered in the frame.
If it could go right for NIACC in this series, it did. The bullpen combination of Tyler Jacobsen and Danny Beizer combined for five shutout innings as NIACC overcame an 8-5 deficit in the 15-8 win. The Trojans have a key ICCAC series on the horizon as they travel to Kirkwood, 8-0 in the league, this weekend.
"I would say we needed this, especially defensively," Whitecotton said. "It's good to get the bats going, but that will always be there with us. Last week, it just wasn't NIACC baseball. That's not how we are brought up to play."
NIACC 19, DMACC 8
DMACC 203 30 – 8 5 2
NIACC 1(11)7 0x – 19 11 0
Eric Jagers (1K, 4BB), Christian Michener (2) (0K, 6BB), Nick Johnson (3) (1K, 1BB) and Sean Noel. Tony Grabowske (6K, 4BB) and Blake Whitecotton. HR – Jacob Adams (D), Michael Michalak (D), Michel Leius (D), Malique Ziegler (N), Jonathan Cruz (N), Connor Enochs (N), Whitecotton. Multiple hits – Leius 2, Ziegler 2, Whitecotton 2, Cruz 2. Multiple RBIs – Leius 3, Adams 2, Michalak 3, Ziegler 2, Robbie Glendinning (N) 2, Troy Bullingham (N) 2, Whitecotton 3, Cruz 4.
NIACC 15, DMACC 8
DMACC 040 400 000 – 8 8 2
NIACC 203 013 06x – 15 19 3
Levi Schreiner (9K, 0BB), Cody Harmon (7) (2K, 3BB), Zac Repinski (8) (0K, 0BB) and Noel. Mat Hudson (2K, 2BB), Tyler Jacobsen (5) (3K, 0BB), Danny Beizer (8) (1K, 1BB) and Whitecotton. HR – Michalak (D), Leius (D), Ziegler (N), Spencer Halloran (N), Glendinning (N) 2, Whitecotton 2, Connor Enochs (N). 2B – Repinski, Austin LaDoux (N) 2, Brandon Michie (N). Multiple hits – Ziegler 2, Enochs 3, Glendinning 2, Troy Bullingham (N) 3, LaDoux 2, Michie 2, Whitecotton 2, Fischer Durbala (N) 2. Multiple RBIs – Leius 3, Nick Moffitt (D) 2, Enochs 2, Glendinning 4, Halloran 2, Whitecotton 3.
