Piche Tabbed Big 12 Newcomer of the Year

CENTERVILLE --- Former Indian Hills baseball player Jordan Piche certainly made an impression in his first season of NCAA Division I competition.  Now at Kansas University, Piche was named the Big 12 Conference Newcomer of the Year and was also selected to the All-Big 12 First Team.

A righthanded pitcher from Greeley, Colorado, Piche capped his junior season at KU by appearing in all four of the Jayhawks’ games in the Big 12 Championship this past weekend.  And Piche continued his stellar pitching out of the KU bullpen, hurling shutout baseball in those four contests.  He allowed only five hits in a total of six innings, with no walks and six strikeouts.

The Jayhawks, thanks to Piche, went undefeated in pool play and advanced to the championship game where they were beaten by Oklahoma.

Piche ended the season with a 6-4 record and a 1.68 ERA and recorded 12 saves in 32 appearances.  In 64 1/3 innings, he allowed only 53 hits and 12 earned runs with 49 Ks and 10 walks.

The former all-region pitcher at IHCC finished his first Big 12 season with a 3-3 record and five saves in league play en route to the Newcomer of the Year honors.  He is only the second Jayhawk to claim the award.  Piche was the recipient of  three Big 12 Newcomer of the Week honors this spring, becoming the first player to earn more than two in a single season since the award began in 2011.

“It’s a great compliment to the year Jordan had,” Kansas head coach Ritch Price said about the postseason honors.  “Look at the impact he’s made on our team………we finished 12-12 in our league largely because he’s been so special at the back end of our games.”

Piche was 2-2 with a 3.00 ERA and five saves as a freshman for the Falcons and, after being moved into the starting rotation fulltime, posted a 9-4 record and 2.66 ERA his sophomore season.

Nine Falcons Earn All-Region Honors

Centerville --  Nine members of the Indian Hills baseball team were named to the All-Region squads announced by the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference.  The Falcons had three first-team choices, five players on the second team and an honorable mention selection.

Representing IHCC on the first team are sophomore pitcher Jake Stalzer (Albia, Ia.), sophomore first baseman Taylor Ostrich (Carroll, Ia.) and freshman outfielder Caleb Ratzman (Winneconne, Wis.).

Second-team picks are pitcher Christian Torres (Canovanas, Puerto Rico), infielders Tyler Hermann (Eau Claire, Wis.), Junior Santos (Lynn, Mass.) and Dario Polanco (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic), and outfielder Joel Booker (Columbus, N.C.).  Hermann is the only sophomore in that group.

Sophomore catcher Kevin Cicali (Absecon, N.J.) made the honorable mention list.

Stalzer and Ostrich received all-region recognition for the second straight year.  Ostrich was second team as a freshman and Stalzer was honorable mention.

Ostrich and Ratzman were key contributors in an IHCC offense that was much-improved over the 2012 unit.  Ratzman led the team in hitting with a .372 average, stole 28 bases in 31 attempts and had an on-base percentage of .522.  Ostrich led the region in RBIs with 41 and hit .345 with 14 doubles and four homers.

Stalzer posted a 4-3 record with a 3.14 ERA.  He struck out 56 in 51 2/3 innings.  Torres also won four games (4-2) and fashioned a 2.38 ERA, allowing only 27 hits in 41 2/3 innings pitched.

The other four second-team picks all had solid offensive years.  Hermann hit .336 with 40 RBIs; Santos had a .366 batting average and team highs in doubles (15), triples (four) and hits (56) along with a .575 slugging percentage; Polanco batted .352 with four homers and 38 RBIs; and Booker recorded 31 RBIs, three home runs and a .365 average.

Cicali was productive while playing in 22 games, hitting .369 with 19 RBIs.

Season Ends with Loss to MCC

Muscatine, IA -- The Indian Hills Falcons staged a come-from-behind victory in their first game of the Region 11 postseason tournament, but couldn't duplicate the win the second day of the tourney and saw their season end short of the championship game.

The Falcons scored twice in the bottom of the 8th to win a 4-3 decision against Marshalltown on Friday.  That put IHCC in the winner's bracket and earned them a shot at Iowa Western on Saturday.  IWCC posted a 6-2 win in that contest and Marshalltown then turned the tables on the Falcons by coming from behind for a 10-6 final.

Junior Santos started the game-winning rally Friday with a leadoff single.  Taylor Ostrich brought Santos home with a double to tie the score at 3 and, after a Joel Booker sacrifice bunt moved Ostrich to 3rd, he scored on Tyler Hermann's sacrifice fly.

Hermann walked and scored the first IHCC run; Booker was hit by a pitch and came around to score their second tally. 

Derek Kawlewski pitched around a two-out error in the 9th to save the win for Jose Marin, who pitched a scoreless 8th in his only inning of relief.  Jake Stalzer and Matt Lashlee combined for the first seven innings for the Falcons, giving up six hits with seven strikeouts.

Indian Hills got their four runs against MCC's Cory Ceponis, who had beaten the Falcons twice during the regular season.

The Falcons didn't play well defensively in the two games Saturday and that hurt their chances.  They committed four errors in the loss to Iowa Western and five in the MCC defeat.

Iowa Western broke a 1-1 tie with a run in the 3rd, then scored three in the 4th and one in the 5th, all against IHCC starter Luke Schneider.  Only three of the runs were earned.

Hermann, Jordan Berry and Kevin Valera each had two hits for Indian Hills.

A four-run 1st gave the Falcons an early jump on MCC in the elimination game, but the Tigers battled back by scoring at least one run in five of the first seven innings.  Four in the 7th broke open a 6-5 game.

Playing his final game as a Falcon, Hermann had another two-hit game and Booker also picked up two hits.  Indian Hills left 13 runners on base and failed to take full advantage of four MCC errors, five walks and two hit batsmen.

Indian Hills ended the season with a 32-22 record.  Three sophomores -- Ostrich, Hermann and Berry -- were in the starting lineup for the finale and Sam Ross was the only soph of the five pitchers that were used.

Falcons Impressive in Gaining Split

Centerville -- Indian Hills recovered from a frustrating day on Monday to sweep a doubleheader from regular-season conference champ Iowa Western on Tuesday, thus gaining the Falcons some much-needed momentum heading into this weekend's Region 11 postseason tournament.

IHCC used a late-game rally to win game two, 5-4, at Pat Daugherty Field after claiming a 6-3 win in the opener.  The victories came after Monday's action, which was moved to Ottumwa's Legion Field because of wet conditions on the Falcons' home diamond, when Iowa Western shut down the IHCC offense in 4-0 and 2-0 wins.

Tuesday's sweep ended when the Falcons' Joel Booker lined out to right field with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 8th and Junior Santos came home with the game-winning run.  Indian Hills forced extra innings in the bottom of the 7th as Taylor Ostrich scored on Juan Figueroa's infield grounder.

In that game, IHCC scored single runs in the first two innings to take an early lead.  Iowa Western tallied a run in the 4th and three more in the 5th and it was 4-3 going into the Falcons' last at-bat when they rallied for the victory. 

Ostrich homered leading off the 5th inning, his second home run of the day.  The sophomore had a big three-run roundtripper in the first game, part of a four-run 3rd inning.

The two teams used a total of 17 pitchers with the head coaches looking ahead to the postseason and wanting to have everyone on the staff fresh for the weekend.

Matt Burnham, the fourth Indian Hills hurler of the second game, got the win.  First-game starter Sam Ross picked up the win with a strong relief effort from Derek Kawlewski.

The Falcons were held to five hits in game two with Ostrich and Edgar Lebron getting two each.  Ostrich also had two hits in the opening game and Caleb Ratzman, Lebron and Figueroa had two hits apiece.

Indian Hills struggled offensively on Monday, managing only six hits for the day.  They were blanked on two singles in the first game and had three singles and a Junior Santos double in the second.

Iowa Western scored a couple of runs in the 2nd inning of game one off IHCC starter Jake Stalzer and added single runs in the 4th and 7th.  Only one of the three runs charged to Stalzer was earned.

Christian Torres pitched well in the second game for Indian Hills, but was saddled with the loss.  He gave up six hits and one run in five innings.

Indian Hills had only two innings in the two games when they had two runners on base at the same time as IWCC pitchers permitted only four walks and six hits.

Next up for the Falcons (31-20, 15-9) is their first game of the region tourney in Muscatine.  They have the number-two seed and take on third-seeded Marshalltown CC at 2:00 Friday afternoon.  It's a double-elimination tournament with Iowa Western opening against Muscatine at 11 a.m.

IHCC Battles Back for Split

Liberty, Mo. -- Strong relief pitching by Derek Kawlewski and a three-run rally in the 4th inning allowed Indian Hills to come back and gain a split in Wednesday's doubleheader at Maple Woods (Mo.).  After their high-powered offense was held in a check in a 4-1 loss in the opener, the Falcons spotted the Monarchs a 3-1 lead in the nightcap, then scored three in the 4th and two more in the 7th to post a 6-3 win.

Kawlewski came on in the bottom of the 3rd when Maple Woods scored all three of their runs.  He contributed 4 1/3 innings of four-hit, shutout relief with no walks and four Ks.

The Falcons battled back to tie the score at 3 on an RBI-single by Dario Polanco and a sacrifice fly by Juan Figueroa before Kevin Valera's run-scoring single game them the lead.  A Monarchs' throwing error led to two insurance runs in the 7th. 

Valera had a solo homer in the 3rd to start the IHCC scoring.  The IHCC catcher, Joel Booker and Edgar Lebron all had two-hit games.

Two Maple Woods pitchers held the Falcons to six hits a lone run in the first game.  Valera's single drove in Booker, who had doubled.

The Monarchs got their first two runs against Matt Lashlee, who took the loss, and then got two more against Alsis Herrera in the 5th.

Wednesday's DH was moved up a day to take advantage of good weather in Missouri.  Indian Hills is slated to host Iowa Western for a four-game series to conclude the regular season this Saturday and Sunday. 

Conference Honor for Ostrich

OTTUMWA --- Indian Hills Community College sophomore Taylor Ostrich has been named the Scholar-Athlete of the Week in the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference.

A tremendous week at the plate propelled Ostrich to the weekly award.  A first baseman from Carroll, Iowa, Ostrich was 11-for-23 in seven games with 16 RBIs.  He drove in six runs in a game twice in a weekend series against Marshalltown CC.  Ostrich was very productive hitting in the third spot in the IHCC order with six doubles, a triple and a home run and he also scored eight runs.

For the season, Ostrich has a robust .376 batting average with 14 doubles and 34 RBIs.  He was named second-team All-Region last year after hitting a team-leading .346.

The Old Dominion University signee has a 3.56 grade point average and plans to pursue a degree in Sports Management at the Virginia school after graduating from IHCC this month.

Santos Fuels IHCC Sweep

Trenton, Mo. -- Junior Santos did not have a home run this season and  Joel Booker had only one going into Tuesday's doubleheader with North Central (Mo.).  When the first game of the twinbill ended, both IHCC freshmen had three homers for the spring.  Santos connected for three roundtrippers and Booker two as the Falcons pounded North Central, 22-8.  IHCC (28-17) then finished the sweep with an 11-0 win in game two.

In addition to his three long balls, Santos rapped out two singles and a double, scoring five runs and driving in six in his 6-for-6 performance.  Both Santos and Booker hit three-run homers in an 8-run 7th inning.

They weren't the only hitting stars for Indian Hills.  Tyler Hermann went 4-for-5 with five RBIs -- he also homered -- and Dario Polanco was 3-for-6 as part of a 19-hit barrage. 

Marcco Lovato started and went the first four innings for the Falcons and got the win.  Joelfi Arias came on after North Central had scored seven times in the 5th and threw 2 1/3 innings of hitless relief.

The Falcons also got a multi-homer game in the second game, from catcher Kevin Valera, and a home run from Juan Figueroa in finishing the sweep.  Valera hit two-run HRs in the 2nd and 3rd innings.  The last five batters in the IHCC lineup -- Nicholas Perez, Edgar Lebron, Figueroa, Valera and Zach Sims -- all had two hits and Figueroa collected five RBIs. 

Luke Schneider gave the Falcons five-hit shutout pitching with seven strikeouts and one walk as he went the distance in the second game.