Beckman tops Pella Christian in unconventional, exciting state baseball quarterfinal

CARROLL — Unexpected and unconventional.

Effective and exciting.

Victory may not have come the way Dyersville Beckman planned but the result was exactly what it wanted.

Luke Schieltz hit a two-out RBI double to force extra innings, Eli Kluesner scored from second on a possible inning-ending double play turned error the next inning and the No. 3 Blazers survived Pella Christian, 5-4 in eight innings, in a Class 2A state baseball quarterfinal game Tuesday at Merchants Park.

Beckman (23-9) faces West Lyon (25-2) in Thursday’s semifinals at 7 p.m. The Wildcats beat Van Buren County, 6-5.

“I knew we were going to break through,” Schieltz said. “I just didn’t know when. Didn’t want it to come down to the last out but all our guys believed we could come back and win this game.”

Beckman’s final rally was unusual after Jackson Oberbroeckling’s leadoff single up the middle. Kluesner bunted and reached when the throw pulled the defender off the bag. Jake Schmidt followed with a sacrifice bunt and loaded the bases when the pitcher looked at third, causing a late throw to first.

After a strikeout, Drew Thier’s grounder to third resulted in a force at home, but the throw to first popped out of the defender’s glove and onto the dirt behind first base. Kluesner raced around third and scored without a play.

“They were playing on the grass so I knew I could get somewhat of a big lead,” Kluesner said. “I saw the ball hit on the ground. (Beckman Coach Ryan) Mabe always teaches us to round third hard because you never know. Saw the ball got passed and sent me in.

“I heard ‘Go, go, go’ and I just knew I had to run as fast as I can.”

Kluesner was greeted by jubilant teammates and was doused in the face with water after he crossed the plate to secure a second straight state semifinal appearance.

“It was Nate Offermann,” Kluesner said about the Blazer with the water blast. “It was the emotion. We should have done it to him. He gave us a good game. Hats off to him.”

Offerman (10-0) demonstrated why he is Beckman’s ace. Outside of the four-run fifth, he stymied the Eagles. He threw all eight innings, scattering 11 hits, striking out seven and walking just one. Offerman reached his pitch count on the last batter, who singled to left. Luke Sigwarth threw out the potential go-ahead runner at home on the same play to end the eighth and preserve a tie.

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“He’s just a horse,” Mabe said of Offerman. “(Assistant coach Nick Schmidt) Schmitty is like do you want to take him out. I was like I can’t. You just have to ride the horse that got you there.

“Just a heck of a job. He’s done it all year for us.

The Blazers struggled with timely hits earlier in the game. They stranded the bases loaded four times. Mabe said he continued to encourage the Blazers and they were on the verge of taking control.

“I told them we were right there, we had to keep grinding, get guys on base and eventually we’re going to break through,” Mabe said. “It finally did for us. I’m just proud of the way they worked.”

The extra-inning heroics were set up by Schieltz. With Beckman down to its final out in the seventh, he smacked a low curveball for a double inside the right-field line that drove in Schmidt to tie the game, 4-4.

“I told my guys in the dugout that very inning you live for these moments,” Schieltz said. “You want to be that guy when it is two outs and you’re the last hope for your team. I told them I’d do it for them, and they trusted me.”

Pella Christian (18-17) defeated defending state champion and top-ranked Van Meter, 2-1, in 10 innings to reach state. The Eagles positioned for another upset in the fifth thanks to four straight singles from the bottom of the batting order and an RBI single by Lincoln Vander Molen for a 4-1 lead.

Beckman chipped at the lead with two in its half of the inning. Matt Florence hit a leadoff double and scored on Kluesner’s RBI single. Kluesner scored on a Dylan Recker single, which is how Beckman got on the board in the fourth.

“We never put our heads down,” Kluesner said. “Our chins are always up. We’ll do anything to win. Anyone will go out there and do the job at the end of the day.”

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