Statesmen Take One on First Day of Central Methodist Series

Fayette, Mo.--The William Penn baseball team held on to pick up a big Heart of America Athletic Conference victory as it faced No. 24 Central Methodist in a doubleheader Friday.

WPU (14-12, 7-7 Heart) lost the opener 14-5, but claimed the nightcap 10-9.

The navy and gold, who were outhit 14-9 in the opener, fell behind 4-0 to the Eagles (18-10, 12-6 Heart) right away and could not keep up.

The visitors used the long ball all day, including cutting the deficit in half with solo home runs by Aiden North (So., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Industrial Technology) in the third and Keoni Young (Jr., Las Vegas, Nev., Exercise Science) in the fourth.

Central Methodist scored four unanswered runs before Hector Dominguez (Jr., Fontana, Calif., Exercise Science) singled home Abraham Arroyo (Grad., Camuy, P.R., Master's of Sports Management) in the sixth frame.

The hosts put the game away with six more runs in the bottom of the seventh, while Bradley Soto (Jr., Davenport, Fla., Business Management) notched the final two runs for WPU with a two-run roundtripper in the seventh.

Young headlined the Statesmen with a perfect 3-for-3 outing.

The Statesmen, who overcame being outhit 11-9 in the nightcap, put seven runs on the board in the top of the first.

Soto started the scoring with a solo shot, while Ened Perez (So., Orocovis, P.R., Kinesiology) drove in Dominguez and Zach Otten (Sr., Mapleton, Ill., Business Management) with a single.

Froymer Ortega (Sr., Valencia, Venezuela, Wellness and Recreation) then singled in Young, and Carlos Herrera (Jr., Bronx, N.Y., Kinesiology) capped the huge frame by lifting a three-run shot.

The Eagles tallied two runs in the second, but WPU got both runs back (plus one) in the third.  North came in via a single by Dominguez, while Dominguez and Arroyo both touched home plate on a CMU error as William Penn pulled out to a 10-2 edge.

Central Methodist fought hard in the last three innings, scoring the last seven runs of the contest, but the Statesmen held on as Joseph Taylor (So., Hemet, Calif., Kinesiology) put the Eagles down in order in the seventh.

Taylor earned the save, going 2 1/3 innings and striking out three.

Soto and Herrera each recorded two hits, while North, Dominguez, Otten, and Ened Perez all finished with one hit and one walk.  Arroyo drew two bases on balls.

"It was good to get the split after a tough first game," Head Coach Mike Laird said.  "Dreyton LaVeine and Joseph Taylor threw well, while Bradley Soto, Carlos Herrera, Aiden Young, and Keoni Young all had big hits.  We need to do better about shutting down CMU's running game, along with attacking their hitters early."

Next Up: William Penn remains in Fayette, Mo. Saturday to face Central Methodist in a Heart doubleheader at 1 p.m.