The Allen Community College baseball team looked in mid-season form on Monday in Iola as they blasted Ottawa University’s junior varsity 5-0 and 10-0 in their season-opening doubleheader.
To obtain the pair of shutouts, Allen used seven pitchers and all proved to be effective.
Sophomore Jacob Butterfield got the start in game one and was brilliant with four shutout innings while allowing only two hits and no walks to go with five strikeouts.
Fellow sophomore Chase Gooding was maybe even more spectacular in relief of Butterfield. Gooding pitched the final three innings of the 5-0 victory and didn’t allow a hit while he walked two and struck out five.
“Our staff really filled up the strike zone and that isn’t something you always get on opening day,” Allen coach Clint Stoy said.
Although the Red Devils lost a lot of their power hitters to graduation last season, they were able to demonstrate that they still have to ability to hit the ball with authority up and down the order.
“Our power numbers are going to be there,” Stoy said. “We are just going to have more guys one-through-nine who can juice the ball out of the yard, instead of just three or four guys.”
In the third inning, a two-out double from center fielder Aaron Mason set the table for right fielder Roberto Enriquez to break a scoreless tie with a two-run homer over the right field fence.
Mason went deep himself during a three-run sixth inning to bust the game wide-open.
Allen left fielder Nathan Best also had a wonderful day at the plate as he went 2-for-3 with a couple of doubles.
Game two was even more lop-sided with Allen scoring runs in the first and second inning, before a six-run third inning broke the game open.
The Red Devil offense was good in game two, but once again the pitching was even better.
Sophomore Jesse Kutzke threw three perfect inning before being relieved to begin the fourth inning.
The 6-5 pitcher from Topeka added five strikeouts to his no-hit, no-walk dominance.
The Red Devil bullpen was able to keep the shutout by throwing three innings amongst four pitchers and only surrendering two hits. Conner Bond, Joseph Polanski, A.J. Rolle and Derek Sallee all saw work out of the bullpen.
Sallee was the most dominant among the relievers. The sophomore struck out the side in a 1-2-3 sixth frame.
“Sallee is a guy that you figure into the mix, that you might have not been to start the year,” Stoy said. “If he goes out there a does that, now he is going to be a go-to-guy.”
Former-Humboldt standout Jacob Haviland was warming up to enter the game in the seventh inning, but the Red Devils were able to win before they needed their local freshman.
Enriquez led off inning with his second home run of the day and the Red Devils pushed across an additional run to run-rule the Braves 10-0 in six innings.
In addition to Enriquez, the top hitter for the Red Devils in game two was freshman third baseman Sky-lar Culver. The left-handed hitter — who played first base in game one — went 4-for-4 and had a RBI and scored a run.
UP NEXT
Allen will be out of town this weekend for a four-game series at Northern Oklahoma College.
