Hammer provides the hammer on mound, at plate in Prairie win

CEDAR RAPIDS - Brennan Hammer was tired of getting nickel and dimed to death on the mound, so he used his bat to help produce a million-dollar inning.The Cedar Rapids Prairie pitcher had a two-run triple in a six-run third that lifted his team a 7-1 win over Ottumwa in a Class 4A prep baseball substate opener last night. It was the perfect response to a slew of well-placed grounders that plagued him early.“I wanted to help out as much as I could, help myself,” Hammer said. “You don't want to leave any runners on, especially in substate. I was tense. As soon as we got those runs, I was good from there. I think it relaxed everyone else, too. It settled us down.”Ottumwa (19-19) kept putting the ball in play against Hammer (7-1), a left-hander who doesn't have overpowering stuff. The Bulldogs had two hits in the first, two infield hits and a single through the shortstop hole in the second and another infield single in the third.A wild pitch finally put them on the board in the top of the third, but Prairie (23-17) responded with a mammoth two-out rally in the bottom half. Ty Mougin doubled in Caleb Davison, who tripped and fell on his way to the plate, to tie it, the first of six straight Hawks to reach base.Tyler Votroubek and Bryce Alberts had RBI singles, and Hammer his big triple, a slicing liner to left.“They came out like we wanted to come out,” said Prairie Coach Matt Thede. “But we finished strong.”“You could definitely tell that (rally) relaxed us,” Mougin said. “Especially with Brennan out there. We've got Hammer on the mound, and we're all real confident with him.”Hammer finished with an eight-hitter. Prairie plays at Muscatine (25-11) in a substate semifinal Monday night.“In our scouting report, on paper, it showed that they don't strike out very much,” Hammer said. “I knew that coming in. But it is a little more frustrating when you get into the game. You get to that 0-2, 1-2 count, you just want to finish them. I just tried not to get too frustrated with myself.”

AT C.R. PRAIRIE

Ottumwa 001 000 0 - 1 8 1

C.R. Prairie 006 100 x - 7 7 2 Kyle Keck, Blake Mooney and Lucas McIntosh. Brennan Hammer and Dylan Pond. WP-Hammer (7-1). LP-Keck (5-5).

Highlights: Hammer with two-run triple to highlight six-run third for Prairie (23-17). Jason Velvick tripled in the fourth and scored on a Ty Mougin sacrifice fly. Eight Hawks reached base via hit or walk. Keck had two hits for Ottumwa (19-19).