Baseball: Stillman Valley stays alive with four-run sixth inning, but Dixon answers with six-run sixth to win big

DIXON – The Dixon and Stillman Valley baseball teams played a tight game for three innings Tuesday evening at Veterans Memorial Park, but the Dukes rattled off 12 runs between the fourth and sixth innings to pull way for a 13-4 Big Northern Conference win.

Dixon opened the scoring in the bottom of the second when a Jake Gaither sacrifice fly scored Bryce Feit.

The game remained 1-0 in the Dukes’ favor up until the bottom of the fourth, when they added three more runs for a 4-0 lead.

Feit drew a walk to start the rally, then Kyan Adkins was hit by a pitch, and Trey Scheidegger hit a well-placed bunt along the third-base line to load the bases. Gaither grounded out to third next, scoring Feit, and Beau Evans was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, scoring Adkins. Up next, Max Clark flew a single out to center field, plating Scheidegger and capping the three-run inning.

“We pretty much went up there and thought that we should take an aggressive approach and just swing,” Adkins said of the fourth inning. “Because we weren’t really producing too many runs, and we weren’t really energetic, but that inning, something just kind of awoke in us. That kind of just fired us up.”

“We just kind of finally settled down, not getting too anxious in the box,” Gage Burdick added. “And we let the pitches come to us and we just placed them with every pitch.”

Dixon built its lead to 7-0 with another three-run inning in the bottom of the fifth. Feit led off this time with a single deep into left field, then scored on an Adkins double to left field in the next at-bat. Scheidegger singled to score Adkins next, then Gaither singled, followed by an Evans single to score Scheidegger.

“[Burdick’s pitching performance] was big because he held them to zero runs all throughout five innings,” Gaither said. “We didn’t get hot until the fourth inning, so that helped big-time.”

Stillman Valley made things interesting in the top of the sixth when it got four runners around the bases. With two outs in the inning and a runner on first, the Dukes made a pitching change, subbing Feit for Burdick.

In the next at-bat, Kale Rauman singled to short, scoring Evan Davidson, then Luke Tompkins flew a single to right field, plating Axel Lovgren. A wild pitch against Griffin Smits brought Rauman home on the next-bat, and Dixon’s lead dwindled to 7-4.

“It was a little concerning, but I knew we had our bats,” Gaither said of the four-run Stillman rally. “We know we can hit, so I wasn’t so much concerned as if we weren’t a good hitting team and they got four runs.”

Said Burdick: “Not very concerned. I know what our bats can do. I know it’s never over until it’s over, so I just had faith in our team.”

Those bats proved Gaither and Burdick prophetic, as the Dukes quickly regained the momentum with a six-run sixth inning to seal the win.

Mikey Bivins led off and grounded a double down the left-field line to start the rally, then Ethan Van Horn followed with a one-out single to right field, scoring Bivins. Feit singled to right field next, and Van Horn and Feit came home after Adkins ripped a double deep into right field.

Up next, Gaither singled to short and rounded the bases on Evans’ double to left field. Finally, Clark capped the scoring with a single into right, plating Chris Sitter, the courtesy runner for Evans, for a 13-4 Dixon lead.

“It’s super fun. It’s always fun seeing new guys go out there to run for us,” Adkins said about the Dukes batting around in the sixth inning. “And just be able to see everybody hit in one inning, it’s just fun. It’s really enjoyable to watch.”

In the top of the seventh, the Dukes got a flyout and Feit notched two final strikeouts to secure the win.

“We’re really putting the ball in play a lot, we’re hitting very well,” Adkins said. “But we need to step up on defense a little bit more, and we also gotta get some bunts down as well.”

Leading hitters for Dixon were Gaither and Clark, who each went 3 for 5 with two RBIs; Adkins, who went 2 for 2 with three RBIs and two walks; Feit, who went 3 for 3; Evans, who went 2 for 4 with two RBIs; and Scheidegger, who went 2 for 3 with one RBI.

Burdick was the winning pitcher, allowing one run on two hits, walking four, and striking out 10 over 6 2/3 innings.

“We’ve got some mistakes we gotta fix, but other than that, 13 runs, that’s big for us,” Gaither said. “Especially against a good Stillman team. This is big going on, moving forward for Thursday against Stillman.”