CENTERVILLE — It wasn’t the Easter Bunny that delivered an early weekend gift to Indian Hills Falcon fans. That gift was delivered by Levi Grassley.

A perfect weekend at Pat Daugherty Field for the Falcons ended in perfect fashion as Grassley made his only second game at-bat count against Dakota Tech.

Grassley nailed his third home run of the season with the score tied at 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh inning. The solo shot capped a second-straight doubleheader sweep for the Falcons against Dakota Tech as Grassley provided IHCC with a 3-2 win in game two after the Falcons ended things early in game one with a 12-1, five-inning romp.

“They had a left-hander that kept up down most of that second game,” Indian Hills head baseball coach Cam Walker said. “We finally got two off of him in the sixth and Grassley had a huge walk-off to win it.”

Taylor Ostrich also went deep for Indian Hills on Saturday, drilling his second homer in game one as the Falcons broke open a 2-1 game with a nine-run third inning. Ostrich had one of five extra-base hits in the opener, which featured a 3-3 effort with a double and two RBI by Yuilcier Arias.

“The bats really came alive in that opening game,” Walker said.

Arias started IHCC’s comeback in game two as the Falcons trailed 2-0 going into the sixth. A two-RBI double Arias evened the contest heading into the seventh.

The four-game sweep of Dakota Tech gives Indian Hills eight wins in their past nine games, moving the Falcons to a season-best 18-15 record. IHCC returns to Region XI play Wednesday afternoon in Creston for a doubleheader at Southwestern starting at 2 p.m.

Indian Hills 12, Dakota Tech 1 (5)

Dakota Tech    001    00    —     1     3    2         

Indian Hills     209    1x    —    12    13    0

IHCC battery — Matt Lashlee (W) (5IP, 3H, R, ER, 6K, BB), Levi Grassley catching.

2B — Yucilier Arias, Jason Bonilla, Adam Deneke.

3B — Francis Marcelo.

HR — Taylor Ostrich.

Hits — Arias 3-3, Bonilla 2-3, Grassley 2-3, Kevin Arroyo 2-4, Kevin Brito 1-2, Marcelo 1-3, Ostrich 1-3, Deneke 1-4.

RBI — Arias 2, Deneke 2, Grassley 2, Marcelo 2, Arroyo, Bonilla, Ostrich.

Runs — Arroyo 2, Brito 2, Grassley 2, Arias, Bonilla, Deneke, Marcelo, Ostrich, Dylan Settle.

Indian Hills 3, Dakota Tech 2

Dakota Tech    001    001    0    —    2    5    0         

Indian Hills     000    002    1    —    3    6    0

IHCC battery — Tyler Sparger (IP, H, K, BB), A.J. McElderry (IP, K), Jake Stalzer (IP, H, R, ER, K, BB), Sam Ross (3IP, 3H, R, ER, 4K, 2BB) and Anthony Gagliardi (W) (IP, K), Raul Centeno and Grassley catching.

2B — Arias, Jeremy Delgado, Ostrich.

HR — Grassley.

Hits — Delgado 2-2, Grassley 1-1, Centeno 1-2, Ostrich 1-2, Arias 1-3.

RBI — Arias 2, Grassley.

Runs — Delgado, Grassley, Ostrich.



Falcons back over .500

Courier sports staff

CENTERVILLE — The Indian Hills baseball team will be getting a rare Sunday off for Easter. The Falcons will also get to stay right at home for the holiday weekend.

IHCC kicked off their special four-game holiday home series with Dakota Tech by getting back over .500 for the first time since the late stages of their season-opening trip to Arizona. The Falcons got excellent pitching and some timely hitting to produce a 2-1 comeback win in game one before taking a 5-1 win in the nightcap Friday at Pat Daugherty Field.

The story on the mound throughout the day was somewhat similar as a pair of pitchers gave up one run on five hits in each game. Starters Jordan Piche and Cashtyn DeLeeuw kept Dakota Tech hitters off balance throughout as Piche went six innings to get his sixth win while DeLeeuw had eight strikeouts in four innings of work.

Piche’s opening-game start didn’t not get off to a great beginning. Dakota Tech opened the doubleheader by scoring in their first at-bat to grab their only lead of the day.

“Piche started off a bit shaky, but recovered for a very good outing,” Indian Hills head baseball coach Cam Walker said.

While Piche and former Albia ace Jake Stalzer shut out Dakota Tech over the final six innings of game one, IHCC rallied back with a game-tying solo homer from Jason Bonilla in the third. Jeremy Delgado then scored the winning run later in the inning, reaching base on a two-out double before scoring on a Dakota Tech fielding error.

Delgado added another double in a 2-2 effort in game two as IHCC struck first in the nightcap with four runs in the third inning. Five different Falcons got hits and scored while DeLeeuw and Darwin Miranda again stymied the Dakota Tech hitters.

“DeLeeuw showed a better breaking ball and threw four really solid innings,” Walker said. “Miranda also kept things in check the rest of the way.”

Indian Hills (16-15) will look to head into Easter Sunday with plenty to celebrate. IHCC wraps up their two-day doubleheader series with Dakota Tech today at Noon in Centerville.

Indian Hills 2, Dakota Tech 1

Dakota Tech    100    000    0    —    1    5    1         

Indian Hills     002    000    x    —    2    3    1

IHCC battery — Jordan Piche (W, 6-1) (6IP, 5H, R, ER, 5K, 2BB) and Jake Stalzer (S, 1) (IP, 2K), Raul Centeno catching.

2B — Jeremy Delgado.

HR — Jason Bonilla.

Hits — Bonilla 1-2, Delgado 1-2, Guillermo Cruz 1-3.

RBI — Bonilla.

Runs — Bonilla, Delgado.

Indian Hills 5, Dakota Tech 1

Dakota Tech    000    010    0    —    1    5    1         

Indian Hills     004    100    x    —    5    6    0

IHCC battery — Cashtyn DeLeeuw (W, 3-1) (4IP, 3H, 8K, 3BB) and Darwin Miranda (S, 1) (3IP, 2H, R, ER, K, BB), Levi Grassley catching.

2B — Delgado.

Hits — Delgado 2-2, Adam Deneke 1-2, Dylan Settle 1-2, Yuliecer Arias 1-3, Taylor Ostrich 1-3.

RBI — Arias, Delgado.

Runs — Delgado, Deneke, Grassley, Ostrich, Settle.