Published: July 07, 2008 10:57 am            

Northeast boys advance

DURANT — Jeff Howe is facing a difficult decision.

He must decide whom he will start on the pitcher’s mound Tuesday when Northeast faces Davenport Assumption in the semifinal round of the Class 2A Iowa high school baseball District 10 tournament.

“I know I will have a tough time living with (Howe's son Jordan) the next two days if I tell him he can't pitch,” Howe said.

Coming back with his son on two days' rest might not be possible, though, so Ryne Lingle might get the call for Tuesday's 7 p.m. game in Durant against the second-ranked team in the state.

There never was any doubt that Jordan Howe would get the call in the tournament opener, however. The junior right-hander came through as hoped, too. He struck out nine batters and allowed just five hits and a walk while not giving up an earned run as Northeast defeated Durant-Bennett 7-3 on Saturday night to improve to 19-9.

“We can't think that way,” Jeff Howe said when asked if he had considered starting someone else Saturday and preserving his son for a possible matchup with last year's state runner-up team. Howe noted that Durant-Bennett's 9-20 record was deceiving because of the caliber of play in the Eastern Iowa Hawkeye Conference. “This makes our season, to win a playoff game on their home field.”

For the first four-and-a-half innings, Jordan Howe and Durant-Bennett starter Taylor Otto were locked in a pitchers' duel. Howe was given a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning with a pair of unearned runs.

“Getting two runs in the first gives you a little momentum,” Jordan Howe said. “It gives you a sense of comfort on the mound. I felt very good. I had all three pitches working pretty well all seven innings. Sometimes, lower in the order I didn't want to use my change-up, but I needed it, and it really helped me with my fastball. I hit my spots well.”

Shortstop Tanner Loots provided the early lead with a two-run double to left field. The two-out hit came after Spencer Lueders walked with one out and Matt Truninger followed by reaching on an error when third baseman Matt Sanders dropped his popup just behind the infield dirt.

“I knew I had to get a hit and score some runs,” Loots said. “That was a clutch hit for us. That got everybody pumped up.”

It also was the only scoring until Northeast tacked on four more runs in the fifth. Again, Loots played a key role.

The Rebels loaded the bases when Lueders reached on an error, Truninger walked and Jake Dever followed with an infield single. Before Otto threw a pitch to Loots, he balked, forcing in a run. Then, Loots grounded out to second base to score Truninger for a 4-0 lead.

“I knew we need some more runs in case they scored,” Loots said. “We needed insurance runs.”

Northeast built the lead to 6-0 before the inning ended - Shaun Eberhart and Marty Hansen delivered run-scoring singles - and the extra runs became quite important since the Rebels got a little sloppy on defense.

“Sometimes that makes you feel a little too relaxed,” Jordan Howe said of going out for the sixth with a six-run lead.

Although the Wildcats' Bryce Geurink struck out on a pitch in the dirt to open the sixth inning, he reached base when Dever, the catcher, couldn't pick the rolling ball out of the dirt. Loots then made an error at shortstop that put runners on first and second. Howe struck out the next two batters and should have been out of the inning, but given the extra out, the Wildcats got a run-scoring single from Skylar Dierikx, and a second run scored on the play on another error by Loots.

“I thought we got way too comfortable,” Loots said. “It was a rough sixth inning, especially for me.”

The Rebels got one run back in the bottom of the sixth when Howe led off with a double and scored later on Dever's squeeze bunt. Helped by two more errors, Durant-Bennett pulled within 7-3 on an unearned run in the seventh, but Northeast's lead was enough, and it was able to begin preparing for Assumption.

“We're extremely excited,” Jeff Howe said.

“I was impressed (watching Assumption),” Loots admitted. “Their whole lineup has good hitters.”

While they will head into Tuesday's game knowing they are underdogs, they don't plan to roll over.

“We have nothing to lose,” Jordan Howe said. “I hope we can come out loose.”

Score by Innings

Durant-Bennett 000 002 1 —3 5 3

Northeast 200 041 x —7 7 4

Taylor Otto, Matt Sanders (6) and Chad DeWild. Jordan Howe and Jake Dever. Two or more hits—D-B, Skylar Dierikx; NE, Shaun Eberhart. 2B—NE, Tanner Loots, Howe. RBIs—D-B, Dierikx, Bryce Geurine; NE, Loots 3, Eberhart, Marty Hansen, Dever.

Records—Durant-Bennett 9-20; Northeast 19-9.

        

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