It was a tough week for the young Steelville High School baseball team, who dropped three straight games to Salem, Valley and Kingston. The Cardinals are now 1-4 to start the year and have 12 games left in the regular season before postseason play begins. 

Steelville played a pair of road games on March 30 and March 31 against Richland and Pacific, respectively. The Cardinals will then host Arcadia Valley on April 6 and Cuba on April 9 before competing on April 10 and 11 in the Bismarck Tournament.  

March 23 vs. Salem

The Cardinals played their first road game of the season against the Salem Tigers. Steelville was plagued by five errors in the field, as Salem came away with an 11-3 victory despite the Cardinals having more hits than the Tigers. 

The game was close for the first five-and-a-half innings before the game got away from the Steelville in the sixth inning. The white and red struck first, tallying two runs in the first inning, highlighted by a single from Steelville’s lone junior, Garrett Richter. Salem added one run in the first, two in the second and one more in the third inning to take a 4-2 lead. 

The score remained the same until the sixth inning after both teams were held scoreless in the fourth and fifth innings. Steelville added a run in the top of the sixth to make it a 4-3 game, but Salem erupted for seven runs in the bottom half of the inning to balloon its one run lead to an eight run advantage. 

Despite the low scoring output, the Cardinals showed patience at the plate and speed on the base paths. Steelville walked six times and stole six bases, but were unable to put runs across the plate with runners in scoring position in key situations.

Senior Hunter Starbeck walked twice and stole two bases, freshman Ripken Halbert walked once and had two steals and freshman Carter Grandstaff earned two free passes. Fellow freshman Chace Grayson added an RBI single and Richter finished with two hits, a run scored and a run batted in to lead the Cardinals. Richter also started on the mound for the Cardinals and pitched five innings, striking out seven batters without walking one, but was hurt by the defense behind him. He gave up six runs, but just two were earned. Salem senior Aaron White led the Tigers with two hits and two runs scored. 

March 24 vs Valley

Steelville traveled to Caledonia to take on the Valley Vikings the following evening. The Cardinals got on the board in the first inning on a sacrifice fly from Garrett Richther that scored Ripken Halbert. Valley responded with two runs in the bottom of the first and one in the second inning to take a 3-1 lead over the Cardinals. The Vikings added three more runs in the fourth inning to make it a 6-1 game. Those would be the final runs either team would score as both team’s pitchers settled in and Valley walked away with a 6-1 victory.

The Cardinals were stifled by Valley pitchers Hunter Moore and Keller Loughary who combined to strike out 14 Cardinals across seven innings on the mound. All of Steelville’s base hits came from senior Trentin Garrison and freshman Chace Grayson, who each collected three singles and a stolen base. 

Sophomore Colin Orick started on the mound and went a third of an inning before being replaced by Carter Wallis who pitched the next two-and-a-half innings. Jackson Woods followed with an inning of work on the mound before Halbert pitched the final two innings. 

March 27 vs. Kingston

Steelville’s shaky play in the field continued in their game against the Kingston Cougars. The Cougars struck for four runs in each of the first two innings, thanks to numerous Cardinal errors that prolonged each inning. 

Steelville’s starting pitcher, Woods, was clearly frustrated with the defense behind him, but helped his own cause when he stepped to the plate with the bases loaded in the bottom of the second. After fouling a pitch off his leg that momentarily hobbled him, Woods summoned the strength to launch a pitch to the outfield fence, which scored all three Steelville runners. The Cards added one more and trailed 8-4 after two innings.

Woods settled down on the mound in the third inning to throw a scoreless frame, but got into trouble in the top of the fourth, loading the bases without recording an out. 

Steelville manager Ryan Weber brought in Halbert out of the bullpen, who flawlessly worked out of the bases loaded nobody out jam without giving a run. 

The resilient Cardinals battled back and scored three more runs to give themselves a chance at a comeback. After Kingston added one run in the sixth, The Cardinals had one last chance to send the game to extra innings or end it, trailing 9-7 on the scoreboard. Trentin Garrison roped a base hit to bring the tying run to the plate, but Steelville was unable to bring him home, and ended up taking the 9-7 loss.

Despite the loss, it was a valiant Cardinal comeback for a team that easily could’ve mailed it in down 8-0 in the second inning. 

Woods finished with three hits and four runs batted in to lead Steelville. Garrison also collected three hits, scored a run and had a run batted in. Halbert had two hits, scored twice and knocked in a run. Cameron Wallis also had two hits, two runs scored and a run batted in. Carter Wallis, Hunter Starbeck and Carter Grandstaff each added a basehit. Kingston senior Jackson Arnold pitched all seven innings and added two base hits at the plate to lead the Cougars.