Packer senior step up in opening win over JM
Published 8:21 pm Thursday, April 4, 2024
Peyton Ransom hurls a pitch for the Packer baseball team in a win over Rochester John Marshall at Seltz Field Thursday. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Austin’s Gage Helgeson scoops up a grounder against JM. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Austin’s Isaac Osgood camps under a fly ball in center field. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Isaiah Conway trots home to score a run for the Packers Thursday. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Cooper Napton takes a swing for the Packers. Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
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The Austin baseball team is still warming up, but the Packers showed that their experience will be valuable to them this season as they opened the year with a 9-6 win over Rochester John Marshall in Seltz Field Thursday.
The senior trio of Peyton Ransom, Isaiah Conway and Isaac Osgood allowed just three total hits and one earned run in the victory in a game that was played in cold weather and rough conditions.
Ransom struck out eight in five innings on the mound and he also went two-for-three with a double and two RBIs.
“We practiced outside a little bit during Spring Break, but this has been our first time outside since then and it was our first time with live pitching and hitting this year,” Ransom said. “The dirt was as soft as I’ve ever seen and I knew it was going to be tough for the defense. I tried not to let it faze me and I just focused on pitching.”
JM pulled to within 8-6 with two runs in the top of the sixth inning, but Austin added an insurance run off a JM throwing error in the bottom of the sixth and Isaac Osgood pitched out of a jam where JM had runners at first and second with no outs to score the save in the seventh. Austin senior Isaiah Conway made a running grab in center field for the first out of the inning and then Ransom turned a double play to end the game.
“I wasn’t really nervous, I just wanted to throw strikes and let my defense back me up,” said Osgood, who also had a double and an RBI in the win. “Thank God, Peyton backed me up and made that play at the end.”
The Rockets (0-3 overall) took an early 3-0 lead, but Austin tied the game up at 3-3 when Cooper Napton singled in two runs with two outs in the bottom of the first. Austin tacked on five runs in the bottom of the second as Ransom and Ethan Anderson had key RBI singles in the frame.
Austin (1-0 overall) has eight seniors on its roster this year and the group has plenty of trust in each other.
“We’ve been playing together since we were third and fourth graders and it’s going to be fun to see how the year goes,” Ransom said.
JM 300 012 0 – 5 3 3
Austin 350 001 X – 9 8 4
Austin pitching: Peyton Ransom (W) 5 IP, 3 H, 3 BB, 5 R, 1 ER, 8 K, HBP; Isaiah Conway, 1 IP, 4 BB, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 K; Isaac Osgood (S) 1 IP, 1 BB, 0 R
Austin hitting: Isaiah Conway, 0-for-3, R, HBP; Osgood, 1-for-3, double, RBI, 3 R, BB; Ransom, 2-for-3, double, 2 RBIs, 2 R, BB; Dakota Retterath, 1-for-3, double, BB; Ethan Anderson, 1-for-3, R, HBP; Cooper Napton, 1-for-3, 2 RBIs, R; Brody Steinbach, 0-for-3; Gage Helgeson, 1-for-3, R; Noah Dunlap, 1-for-2, R, HBP
