Ida Baker’s Early Offense Leads To Victory Over DeSoto

Gabe Villaverde reached based three time in Tuesday's game.

Ida Baker got off to a quick offensive start Tuesday by scoring two runs in the first inning and then kept the lead the entire game, eventually defeating DeSoto County 8-4. The strong offensive performance was paired with dominant starting pitching.

After a quick 1-2-3 first from pitcher Bryce Vanhorn, the Ida Baker offense came out red hot in the bottom of the first. The hitters collected four consecutive hits and scored two runs.

The first run of the game was scored after senior catcher Gabe Villaverde hit a hard line drive into the right-center field gap. VillaVerde was then able to score from second on a ball hit by Dakota Kaytta to give his club an early 2-0 lead.

“He was throwing middle away and I just went with it,” Villaverde said.

DeSoto County (1-4) struggled to get anything going offensively against Ida Baker’s starting pitcher Bryce Vanhorn. Vanhorn pitched three solid innings without giving up a single hit. He only allowed two walks while he was on the mound.

“Just throw strikes,” Vanhorn said. “I just let them hit it.”

Ida Baker (3-0) was able to add to its lead in the bottom of the third inning, after two hit batters and a single loaded the bases for junior shortstop Christian Proffitt. Proffitt delivered big when he hit a two-run double to score pinch-runner Chris Sabo and Dakota Kaytta. Ida Baker scored a total of five runs in the third inning, making it a 7-0 advantage.

“We try not to do to much, just get guys on and get them in,” said Ida Baker manager Bob VenDeventer

Levi Osceola collects the first RBI for DeSoto.

The DesSoto Bulldogs quickly answered back in the top of the fourth when a single and a double were able to put runners on second on third and with no outs. Max Mckettirick drew a walk in order to load the bases. DeSoto County then hit into two consecutive fielder’s-choice putouts that got the job done by pushing two runs across the plate, cutting Ida Baker’s lead down to five.

Ida Baker tacked on one final run in the bottom of the fourth inning.

DeSoto’s Max McKettrick got the top of the sixth started with a hard-hit double over the head of the center fielder. Mckettrick advanced to third on a ground ball and scored on a ground ball hit by Peyton Smith, to give DeSoto its third run of the night. It would only score one more run, this coming in the seventh inning after Robb Adams hit a ball off the right field fence to score Grant Potter.

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