Alta-Aurelia rallies late to edge Sioux Central 8-7

Alta-Aurelia needed every bit of its late poise to turn back Sioux Central, and Ridge View showed a different kind of command by burying Lawton-Bronson early. The two Wednesday results gave Buena Vista County baseball a clear split-screen view of midseason form: one game decided by pressure at the finish, the other by a lineup that kept stacking runs until the margin was out of reach.

At Alta-Aurelia High School, the Warriors opened fast and then had to finish faster in an 8-7 Twin Lakes Conference win over Sioux Central. Alta-Aurelia led 3-1 after one inning, traded runs in the third, and pushed ahead 6-2 in the fourth before the Rebels answered with five runs in the top of the sixth to take a 7-6 lead. Alta-Aurelia steadied itself from there, scoring once in the bottom of the sixth and again in the seventh to close it out.

The Warriors finished with seven hits, and the offense was spread across several contributors. Miles Edwards, Sam Sennert and Gabe Olsen each had two hits. Brody Bush added a single and drove in two runs, while Sennert, Olsen, Maddux McCoy and Alex Daughenbaugh also picked up RBIs. Sennert and Bush scored twice apiece, and Camden Reinert earned the win in relief by working 1.2 hitless, scoreless innings.

The comeback mattered on more than the scoreboard. Alta-Aurelia had dropped a 10-2 decision at Ridge View on June 16 before rebounding one night later, and the win left the Warriors at 4-11 overall and 2-4 in conference play. MaxPreps listed them eighth in the Twin Lakes Conference after the game.

Ridge View’s answer was much louder. In Holstein, the Raptors scored five runs in the first inning and never let Lawton-Bronson back in the game, rolling to a 15-5 Western Valley Conference win at Ridge View High School. Ridge View added runs in the third and then put the game away with a six-run fifth, finishing with 10 hits.

Ryan Barry led the Raptors with three singles and three RBIs, while Kinnick Jensen added a triple and the win on the mound despite allowing five runs over four innings. Luke Braunschweig and Aiden Myrtue each doubled, and Wandrey and Blake Myrtue drove in two runs apiece. Aiden Myrtue also had three RBIs, reinforcing why he had already been listed among the team’s season leaders in hits.

The result fit Ridge View’s recent stretch. The Raptors entered at 10-4, had won four of their previous five games and had outscored opponents 45-24 in that span. They had already beaten Woodbury Central 14-0 on June 12 and West Monona 15-5 on June 8, and the latest lopsided win suggested their offense is still setting the pace in the area.