Baseball: Manogue pushes ahead for win in 10 innings

Over the course of three hours and 15 minutes, the Douglas and Manogue baseball teams combined for a little bit of everything.

A pitcher flirted with a no-hitter for five full innings, yet the two teams combined for 14 hits on the day.

The two teams posted 14 scoreless frames, yet combined for 13 runs.

Douglas stranded 11 runners on base and Manogue hit four batsmen with pitches.

In the end, Manogue pulled out a 9-4 win in 10 innings to take Game 1 of a three-game series in Minden Thursday afternoon.

"It's just one of those games that you hope you can learn from it," Douglas coach John Glover said. "We didn't deserve to win it. Manogue beat us and we made too many mistakes.

"We're at a point where we have to figure out how to win close baseball games and hit with guys on base. We're not doing a very good job at the plate right now. It's frustrating."

Manogue's Sean DeWeese kept the Tigers hitless over the first five innings while the Miners built a two-run lead with an unearned run in the top of the second and a two-out run-scoring double in the top of the fifth.

DeWeese struck out four, walked three and hit four Douglas batters with pitches, and took his exit heading into the bottom of the sixth with a 2-0 lead.

Cody Begovich welcomed Kevin Berry to the mound with a leadoff pinch hit single to start the sixth and break up the no-hitter.

Brett Hartley then belted the second pitch he saw over the left field fence to tie the game at two.

"That was a big pinch-hit at -bat right there," Glover said. "We were just looking for someone to get the ball in play with guys on base. Brett filled that role well. That was a big spot in the game and it got us right back in it."

Scott Rudnick followed that by drawing a walk with no outs, but the Tigers couldn't move him any further and were forced out fo the inning on a pair of strikeouts and a line drive to center field.

Douglas junior Kameron Van Winkle pitched eight innings in the game, striking out six, walking two and scattering five hits while allowing one earned run.

"Kameron kept us in it on the mound," Glover said. "He did a great job today and gave us a chance to be in a game even though we didn't deserve it as a team today."

The teams held each other scoreless through the seventh and eighth innings before Manogue loaded the bases on a pair of walks and an infield single. Ben Hewson then drew a bases-loaded walk to put the Miners up 3-2 with no outs.

Douglas reliever Ryan Ford then came on to pitch and managed to get out of the bases-loaded jam allowing just one more run.

Ford came back to lead off the bottom half with a double and Kyle Ford later hit a home run to deep center to tie the game at four.

"Those are big at-bats," Glover said. "We can't rely on that to win games. We need to be more consistent at the plate. That's the bottom line."

Manogue came back in the top of the 10th and put one on with two outs before the floodgates opened and they score five runs on four hits and a walk.

Douglas went 1-2-3 in the bottom half to end the game

Begovich led the Tigers, going 2-for-2 at the plate with a run scored.

Hartley and Kyle Ford's home runs and Ryan Ford's double were the team's only other hits on the day.

Justin Boman went 4-for-5 at the plate with three doubles and two RBIs to lead the Miners.

The teams will meet up Saturday in Reno for a doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m.