Orioles Defeat Last Seasons Region 3S Champs

Orioles Defeat Last Seasons Region 3S Champs

At the end of the regular season last year, the Sioux Falls Christian Chargers had 11 wins and 3 losses and were declared as the top seed in Region 3 South. Lennox had earned 3 wins and 12 losses and they were the fourth seed. After Lennox fell to Canton, SFC went on to defeat Canton and then Tea and earn the Region 3 South Championship. SFC ended up losing to McCook in the Region 3 Championship but not before they had a great season.

Knowing this information set up the idea that SFC could be a very good team especially with 5 of their best players returning. They had TenNapel, Kowelwyn, Olson, Tornow and Van Egdom. Those five were killer to Lennox last year as Tornow hit three homeruns in the two games and Jackson Olson threw a no hitter against Lennox in their first matchup. However, Lennox with their new team and four different starters were prepared for a great battle. In this battle, SFC would throw the pitcher who dominated last year and that is Jackson Olson. The Orioles went a little gutsy and threw the freshman Brock Anderson.

In the top of the first, a strikeout, a ground out to Kayl and a fly out to Ludens made quick work of SFC. In the home half of the first, Lennox would have back to back strikeouts from Lackas and Leisinger. That brought up Oldenkamp who hit a single to left field. During Hinker’s at bat, Oldenkamp would steal second. After that, Jacob Hinker would hit a hard ground ball to short in which an error occurred. Oldenkamp decided to try and score and the left fielder Kowelwyn was going to try and throw him out. Oldenkamp was safe at home and the throw went over the catcher’s head and sent Hinker all the way to third. The first ended with a ground out from Stein. Lennox had a 1 to 0 lead. The top of the second was led off with a double to left-center from Tornow. After Olson walked, Anderson went to work. He got a fly out to McEntee and then a crazy play happened. Oldenkamp fielded the ground ball and tried to turn two but Leisinger’s throw was a little high and that sent Tornow trying to score. However, Jacob Hinker hustled over and threw out Tornow at the plate. The bottom of the second would’ve been a loss, but senior Jacob Lackas hammered a double to center to score two and take a 3 to 0 Lennox lead.

The third inning was uneventful along with the fourth and fifth innings as well. In the sixth, senior John Oldenkamp would come into pitch. The start of the sixth inning was not good for Lennox as TenNapel shot a double to left center and then Kowelwyn hit a single to center to score TenNapel and make it 3 to 1. However, a walk, a fly out to Ludens and two ground outs would end the inning with the score still 3 to 1. With the Orioles lead down to two, they knew that insurance runs would be nice for the seventh inning. With one out, Lackas would walk, Leisinger reached on fielder’s choice and Oldenkamp would be hit with the pitch. That brought up Jacob Hinker who would also be hit by pitch to score another one. Junior Brock Stein came up and hit a sharp one to short that the Chargers attempted to try and turn two. However, the second baseman bobbled it and his throw to first was late. Oldenkamp showing his hustle, would score from second to score two and make it 6 to 1 Lennox. The top of the seventh was scary. The bases were loaded and thanks to a great play by Collin McEntee, there was one out. Senior Jacob Lackas came in and he would walk the first batter and make it 6 to 2 Lennox. Then Lackas went to work and got a fly out to Hinker at first and then a fly out to McEntee in left to end the game. The Orioles had won 6 to 2 over SFC.

This was a big win for Lennox as they started the season off right and hopefully are beginning a nice and explosive season. The Orioles and Oriole fans could thanks Anderson, Oldenkamp and Lackas who all pitched well. Also hitters such as Lackas, McLaren and Oldenkamp who had big days at the plate. All in all, Lennox had played well and beaten a very good team.

The Orioles play tomorrow night at 5:30 in Salem vs McCook Central/ Montrose. Check out the next Oriole Article (hopefully coming out today) which will be a small preview of Lennox at McCook.

Thanks for reading, have a nice day, and GOOOOO Orioles!

Written By:

Grant Sweeter