Drew Thier comes up clutch for Dyersville Beckman in doubleheader split with rival Cascade

DYERSVILLE — Drew Thier understood the strategy.

The Dyersville Beckman senior also accepted the challenge that came with Cascade’s repeated decision to intentionally walk his teammate Luke Sigwarth with first base open.

The tactics backfired and Thier delivered a three-run double in the bottom of the fifth inning, lifting the Class 2A third-ranked Blazers to a 7-5 victory over the rival Cougars in the opener of a River Valley Conference North Division doubleheader split Thursday at Tom Jenk Field at Commercial Club Park. Cascade responded with a 6-3 win in the nightcap.

Their tallied three hits and drove in five runs in Game 1. He had consecutive run-scoring hits in Beckman’s last two at-bats. They came on the heels of three intentional passes to Sigwarth, who owns a .510 batting average.

“I was like you can use that for fuel because they think you’re an easier out than the person in front of you,” Thier said. “It makes you want to stick it to them, especially with a crosstown rival.”

Beckman Coach Ryan Mabe said Thier has a history of clutch contributions. He recalled Thier’s extra-inning, game-winning RBI in last year’s state quarterfinal win over Pella Christian. Don’t forget he’s also batting .414 this season.

“He’s a guy who has been there before,” Mabe said. “He’s been hitting like crazy all year.

“I trust Drew. We can’t be a one-man team and we’re not a one-man team. Luke Sigwarth is one of the best hitters in 2A. Great, but we have other guys who can hit well. We have to be able to rely on them to come through and he did.”

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Thier doesn’t shy away from those high-pressure situations. He embraces those moments.

“I like it,” Thier said. “I trust other guys, too, but I always want to be up to bat or have the ball in my hand when the game is on the line. I just feel more comfortable really.”

The Blazers (12-4, 6-2) trailed by two in the fifth. Eli Kluesner led off with a single. Chase White drew a two-out walk and Dylan Recker hit an RBI single to bring up Sigwarth, who reached to load the bases and set up Thier’s heroics.

Interestingly, Thier said he had struck out against Cascade reliever Cooper Hummel in the past. He won this time.

“I wasn’t going to back down because I’m competitive,” Thier said. “I knew I was going to get him. I was seeing the ball good. I just trusted myself.”

This came after his RBI single to score Mathias McDermott in the fourth and his double that scored Sigwarth in the two-run first.

Kluesner finished 3-for-4 as well, smacking an RBI double in the first. Recker pitched 3 1/3 innings of relief for the win, coming in when starter Jake Schmidt felt elbow discomfort. Blazers catcher Matthew Florence left the game after a play at the plate before returning to play outfield for the second game.

“I was proud of our guys,” Mabe said. “That could have gone sideways. Flo goes down. Jake feels something in his elbow. I think he’s OK but he didn’t feel great. It ended up being OK, but it ended up being a lot of gut punches. We took the gut punches and bounced right back.”

The Cougars (6-6, 4-4) were able to close the nightcap. They erased a 2-0 deficit, receiving an RBI single from Eli Fritz and a run-scoring groundout from Leo Noonan that brought in Mick Hoffman to tie the game.

Florence singled and scored on a Kluesner sacrifice fly to give Beckman a 3-2 lead in the third.

Cascade answered with a two-run fourth. Nathan Schockemoehl singled and scored on a wild pitch. Hoffman walked and came in on a Noonan single, making it 4-3.

The Cougars closed with two runs in the seventh.

“We responded really well,” Cascade Coach Roamn Hummel said. “One thing this team has to find in themselves is that grittiness and resiliency. We’re a good team, regardless of what our record is or anything like that.”

Fritz tossed a complete game for the victory. He allowed just four hits but none the last three innings.

“Eli Fritz did a wonderful job,” Hummel said. “He kept them off balance, keeping them on the outer half, like he does. He gives us a chance to win all the time. When you have a guy like that on the mound, not going to beat himself or walking guys and all this sort of stuff, it gives our guys confidence to know one of our guys is going to give us a chance.”

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