Young Greene Co. baseball team gained momentum towards the end of the year

Special to the Jefferson Herald

With three seniors and no juniors on their roster the young Greene County baseball team grew up throughout the summer. 

Although their final record wasn’t what the Rams wanted to see, the intangibles that aren’t shown in the stat book are where Greene County seemed to grow up the most. 

The young Greene County squad were able to fight through several tough Conference games. At the end of the season they stood toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in the state for more than a few innings. 

Although the Rams finished the season with a record of 3-19 the varsity experience that several of the young players on the roster received will only be a benefit for the Rams in the coming years. The Rams had just three upperclassmen on the team. 

Matthew Hovick, Dakota Mobley and Brayden Roberts were the only three seniors. All three of them contributed to the lineup in one form or another. 

Roberts led the team with 17 hits this season. He had the only home run on the team and he drove in 15 RBI, leading his team. 

Hovick scored six hits on the season with the only triple recorded by a Greene County member this year. 

Mobley scored two runs and had three RBI. 

The month of May started off decently for the Rams. After falling to Denison-Schleswig 14-4 in the season opener, the Rams gained an early 4-3 win over Nodaway Valley. 

In that game the Wolverines took an early 3-0 lead, but Greene County responded back with two runs scored in the bottom of the sixth inning. Another two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning gave the Rams a win. 

In that victory Hovick scored a run, and that was the game where he had the triple. Noah Hinote also scored a run after walking twice. 

Crew Connor scored a run after being hit by a pitch. Camden Jacobs also scored a run. 

Isaac Carman had a two RBI single to help the Rams score the win. 

Noah Hinote pitched a complete game that day in May. He gave up five hits, three earned runs and struck out nine batters. 

From May 24-June 15 the Rams struggled against both conference and non-conference teams. In that stretch of 11 games the Rams had a close game against Winterset, falling 7-2, and also put up a fight against South Hamilton in a 9-4 setback. 

On June 15 the Rams played a double header against Roland-Story. There they were able to split the games, winning the first game in dramatic fashion. 

Roland-Story built an early 5-0 lead after two innings. The Rams scored three runs in the third, but Roland-Story added a sixth run in the bottom of the fourth. 

Greene County scored a run in the top of the fourth and added three more in the top of the fifth to take the win. 

Brayden Roberts led the team with two hits, a single and a double, in the game. 

Gavyn Winters, Adam Bills, Lane Fields and Noah Hinote all had a hit each. Winters, Bills, Fields and Carman all scored once. Hinote scored two runs. 

Hinote once again was the starting pitcher for the Rams. He pitched a complete game. Overall he allowed eight hits, six runs, four of them earned. He struck out four batters, walked two and hit one. 

Roland-Story won the second game of the double header 14-2.

Greene County had some close contests as the month of June came to a close. They fell 3-2 against Perry on June 21. Against Carroll on June 23 they fell 5-1. 

Then, on June 27, the Rams had their best offensive game of the year as they took down Southeast Valley 11-2. 

The Rams led 2-1 after the first inning. They added seven runs in the third inning and two more runs in the sixth inning to take the victory. 

Gavyn Winters had three hits with a double and two runs scored that night. Noah Hinote and Roberts both had two hits. 

Jaron Jacobs scored three runs. Camden Jacobs scored two runs. Hovick, Lane Fields, Hinote and Isaac Carman all scored one run each. 

Hinote was the winning pitcher. He allowed just five hits and two runs, one of them earned. He struck out 11 Jaguar batters and walked one and hit another. 

The regular season ended with a 6-1 defeat against Saydel. In the first round of the district tournament Greene County fell to No. 2 ranked North Polk 6-1. 

Roberts led his team with 17 hits. Noah Hinote added 15 hits with four doubles and six RBI. HE also scored eight runs. 

Gavyn Winters scored 13 times this season. He also had 11 hits with three doubles and six RBI. 

Camden Jacobs crossed the plate 13 times. He had 14 singles on the year with two RBI. 

Adam Bills had 12 hits with one double and three RBI. He scored four runs. 

Lane Fields had 10 hits with a double and two RBI. He scored five runs.

Another five runs were scored by Hovick. Hs had six hits with a triple and two RBI.

Crew Conner had three hits and two runs scored. Mobley had one hit with three RBI and two runs scored. 

Winters led his team with 13 stolen bases. Camden Jacobs added 11 stolen bases. Hinote had 10 stolen bases. 

Lane Fields recorded seven steals on the season. Jaron Jacobs had six. Adam Bills had five this year. Isaac Carman also had five stolen bases.

Hovick had three stolen bases. 

Conner and Mobley both had one steal. 

Hinote finished the season 3-4 on the year. In 41 innings he gave up 36 hits, 36 runs, 24 of which were earned. He struck out 38. 

Gavyn Winters pitched in 15 and a third innings. He gave up 27 hits, 17 runs and he struck out six batters. 

Hovick was 0-6 on the mound. He pitched in 31 and two-thirds innings. He gave up 36 hits, 45 runs, 25 of them earned. He struck out 23.

Camden Jacobs was 0-4 this season. He gave up 29 hits, 27 runs, 21 earned. He struck out eight batters. 

Isaac Carman and Teagan Chisholm both went 0-2 this season. Carman finished with nine hits and eight earned runs. He struck out five batters. 

Chisholm gave up 23 hits, 26 runs, 13 earned runs. He struck out 10 batters. 

As a team the Rams finished with a 6.53 ERA. 

North Polk made the State baseball tournament. In the first round the Comets took down Spencer 3-1. They played Carlisle in the state semifinals on July 19.