Arlington Senior Legion infielder Barrett Nielsen put his track and field speed to use on the diamond Monday, legging out a bottom of the seventh inning double at the Washington County Fairgrounds.
“Give us a good shot at getting a run,” the Post 71 Eagle said, revealing his motivation.
The soon-to-be Dakota Wesleyan hurdler was left stranded, however, as South Sioux City left Arlington with a 1-0 victory. The loss left coach Ed Menking's team 7-9 overall before it lost 6-5 Tuesday against Columbus Lakeview.
Monday, though, Post 71 was unable to produce a run. Nielsen said Menking noted two South Sioux City pitches hit to the right side of the field during the postgame huddle, while 19 more went left.
“Grounding out to the third baseman every time isn't going to get you a win,” the Arlington infielder said.
Nielsen's first hit of the ballgame came during, arguably, the Eagles best chance to score during the second inning. Jack Bang, Wes Martens and he loaded the bases, but a groundout ended the frame.
Then, during the bottom of the seventh with one out, Nielsen saw an open patch of grass in left-centerfield and hit the ball there.
“That's kind of what I tried to aim for at least,” he said. “I'm not claiming I'm good enough to do that, but at least that's what happened.”
When the Eagle didn't make it home, Arlington pitcher Kaden Pittman took the complete game loss on the mound. He allowed just one run and used a breaking ball to clip the inside corner of the strike zone for a two-out, bases-loaded strikeout during the top of the sixth inning to keep his team's comeback hopes alive.
“Pittman did a great job on the mound,” Nielsen said.
On Tuesday, it was Nielsen who pitched. He went 5 2/3 innings before Nick Smith stepped in during the one-run loss to Lakeview. Menking said the game-tying run was thrown out at the plate during the seventh inning.
Post 71's Braden Monke went 2-for-3 with two RBIs in defeat, too. He notched a double and Logan Kaup tallied an RBI.
The loss dropped the Eagles to 7-10 this season.
Juniors lose 2
The Arlington Junior Legion baseball team, meanwhile, went 0-2 against South Sioux City and Lakeview, too.
The Eagles dropped Monday's game 9-5 before a 8-0 loss against Lakeview on Tuesday. Post 71 is now tentatively scheduled to start Ralph Bishop League Tournament play Saturday.
