The Deer Creek Shockers used a strong relief performance from Chase Nordlund and timely hitting to pick up a 4-0 victory over the Urbank Bombers on June 27 at Elmer Becker Field in Deer Creek.
It was the second straight win for the Shockers after defeating New York Mills 5-3 the night prior at the Russ Jacobson Field in New York Mills. Scott Schroeder, Jayme George and Gannon George provided the strong night of pitching to slow down the Millers in their season-opener.
Nordlund followed up two scoreless innings from Gannon George to pick up the win in relief. Nordlund fired seven scoreless innings and allowed just one hit. At one point, Nordlund retired 14 straight Bombers, allowing his offense to have an opportunity to take the lead late in the game.
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Jakob Bradsteen helped the Shockers with his leather throughout the game. He started at third and moved over to short and came up with several strong plays, which halted Urbank rallies. He robbed a single in the first, which saved a run for Urbank with a strong play down the third base line.
It was strong defense which helped the Shockers in the first as well. Zac Schertler turned a double play, which helped erase the threat. Levi Arnold led the game off with a single, while Drew Johnson walked, before the double play and the play down the line by Bradsteen.
Urbank threatened in the third inning against Nordlund, really the only time he was in trouble during his seven innings of work. Nordlund started the inning with a walk, which was followed by a walk with two outs. Nordlund induced a ground ball for a force at second and eventually escaped further damage with a line drive to Bradsteen at third.
Max Phillips showed off the arm in the fourth inning after Logan Nibbe hit a single. He fired home and cut down Erik VanTyle at the plate, cutting off Urbank’s attempt to take the lead.
Levi Arnold matched the zeroes on the scoreboard for Urbank. He pitched five scoreless innings and allowed two hits. He struck out eight batters and walked one and hit one batter. He did not factor in the decision.
The Shockers grabbed the lead in the sixth inning when Bradsteen reached base. He eventually stole second and came around to score when Jonathan Goeden reached on an error, allowing Bradsteen to score.
Bradsteen was at the start of another rally in the eighth inning. The Shockers scored three more runs to put the game away. Bradsteen singled and moved to third on a double by Goeden. Max Phillips followed with a hard ground ball up the middle that found its way through, allowing a pair of runs to score. Noah Roers plated the final run of the game with an RBI single, which made it 4-0.
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Nordlund worked around a hit batter and an error in the ninth to close out the win. Bradsteen reached base four times and scored twice. He finished with one hit, reached on a walk and was hit by a pitch. Goeden added a double, while Phillips finished with a hit. Wyatt Weber, Joey Price and Gannon George had a hit each. Noah Roers had a pair of hits and drove in a run as well for the Shockers in the win.
The victory capped off a weekend with a pair of wins for the Shockers. They are 1-0 in Hi-10 play, while improving to 1-1 in exhibition games.
